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Ronald Reagan
was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th President of the United States from 1981 to 1989 -
PLO
Palestine Liberation Organization- created in 1964
~purpose of the "liberation of Palestine" through armed struggle, with much of its violence aimed at Israeli civilians -
California v. Bakke
Court ruled unconstitutional a university's use of racial "quotas" in its admissions process, but held that affirmative action programs could be constitutional in some circumstances -
Moral Majority
political action group formed to further a conservative and religious agenda, including the allowance of prayer in schools and strict laws against abortion -
Sandinistas
Nicaraguan Revolution-ended in 1990
~member of a left-wing Nicaraguan political organization -
Supply-Side Economics
The Laffer Curve is a theory developed by supply-side economist Arthur Laffer to show the relationship between tax rates and the amount of tax revenue collected by governments. -
Trickle Down Economics
also referred to as trickle-down theory, is an economic theory that advocates reducing taxes on businesses and the wealthy in society as a means to stimulate business investment in the short term and benefit society at large in the long term. -
Religious Fundamentalism
Christian fundamentalism, movement in American Protestantism arose in reaction to theological modernism (anti-evolution) -
Walter Mondale
~serves as vice president under President Jimmy Carter till 1981
~losses as democratic candidate to Reagan and bush -
AIDS
a disease in which there is a severe loss of the body's cellular immunity, greatly lowering the resistance to infection and malignancy -
Sandra Day O'Connor
First woman to serve on supreme court -
Ronald Reagen
was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th President of the United States from 1981 to 1989. -
Economic Recovery Tax Act
law that lowered income tax rates and allowed for expending of deppreciable assets -
PACTO Strike
Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization- strike the that was declared illegal but broken by Reagan Administration -
Saddam Hussein
Following his capture on 13 December 2003, the trial of Saddam took place under the Iraqi Interim Government, then was convicted by an Iraqi court of crimes against humanity and sentenced to death by hanging because of the killings in 1982 -
SDI
Strategic Defense Initiative- develop a sophisticated anti-ballistic missile system in order to prevent missile attacks from other countries, specifically the Soviet Union -
Geraldine Ferraro
Lawyer activist, women's rights activist, democratic, -
Boland Amendment
term describing three U.S. legislative amendments between 1982 and 1984, all aimed at limiting U.S. government assistance to the Contras in Nicaragua -
Glasnost & Perestroika
Perestroika (listen) is a political movement for reformation in Communist Party of Soviet Union, widely associated with Gorbachev and his glasnost (openness) policy reform -
Iran-Contra Affair
The U.S. illegally sells weapons to anti-communists in Iran so the will fight communism for us -
Bob Dole
American former politician and attorney who represented Kansas in Congress from 1961 and served as the Republican Leader of the United States Senate until 1996 -
William Rehnquist
appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court by President Richard Nixon in 1971. He was elevated to the post of chief justice by President Ronald Reagan -
Immigration Act of 1986
law criminalized the act of engaging in a "pattern or practice" of knowingly hiring an "unauthorized alien" and established financial and other penalties for those employing illegal immigrants under the theory that low prospects for employment would reduce undocumented immigration -
INF Agreement
Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty: required the U.S. and Soviet Union to eliminate and permanently forswear all of their nuclear weapons and missiles -
"Tear Down This Wall"
Line from a speech made by Reagan in West Berlin calling for Gorbachev to open up the barrier (Berlin Wall) which had divided West and East Berlin -
John McCain
Unites States Senator -
"Read my lips, no new taxes."
phrase spoken by then-American presidential candidate George H. W. Bush at the 1988 Republican National Convention as he accepted the nomination-promising no new taxes -
Panama Invasion
The U.S invades Panama in an attempt to overthrow military dictator Manuel Noriega, who had been indicted in the U.S. on drug trafficking charges and was accused of suppressing democracy in Panama and endangering U.S. nationals -
George H.W. Bush
Key focus is foreign policy, promised no new taxes, helped end Operation Desert Storm, Operation Just Cause, Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty -
Tiananmen Square
located in the center of Beijing, the capital of China, Chinese troops entered fired on civilians -
Fall of the Berlin Wall
spokesman for East Berlin's Communist Party announced a change in his city's relations with the West. Starting at midnight that day, he said, citizens of the GDR were free to cross the country's borders -
Bosnia and Kosovo
Serb attacks, initially sponsored by the Yugoslav National Army, began as a war between nation states. Kosovo, on the other hand, is a province of Serbia, which together with Montenegro makes up the new Yugoslavia -
Americans with Disabilities Act
Civil rights law that prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities in all areas of public life, -
Mikhail Gorbachev
first executive president of the Soviet Union -
Lech Walesa
Polish politician and labor activist, co-founded Solidarity (Soviet bloc's first independent trade union), won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983, and served as President of Poland -
Persian Gulf War
an international conflict that was triggered by Iraq's invasion of Kuwait; Egypt and other Arab nations joined the anti-Iraq coalition and contributed forces to the military buildup (AKA: Operation Desert Shieldnded) endingin 1991 -
NRA
National Rifle Association- to promote and encourage rifle shooting on a scientific basis -
Nuclear Proliferation
spread of nuclear weapons, fissionable material, and weapons-applicable nuclear technology and information to nations not recognized as "Nuclear Weapon States" by the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, commonly known as the Non-Proliferation Treaty -
"Ethnic Cleansing"
systematic forced removal of ethnic or racial groups from a given territory by a more powerful ethnic group, often with the intent of making it ethnically homogeneous -
West Bank and the Gaza Strip
Palestinian Territories-the southern limit of the Gaza Strip is the border with Egypt. Egypt renounced all claims to land north of the international border, including the Gaza Strip, in the Israel-Egypt peace treaty -
Taliban
Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Sunni Islamic fundamentalist political movement in Afghanistan currently waging war within that country -
Internet
a composed "network of networks" -
Boris Yeltsin
Soviet and Russian politician and the first President of the Russian Federation -
Breakup of the Soviet Union
The dissolution of the Soviet Union occurred on December 26, 1991, officially granting self-governing independence to the Republics of the Soviet Union. It was a result of the declaration number 142-Н of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union -
Start l and ll
START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) was a bilateral treaty between the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) on the reduction and limitation of strategic offensive arms -
Ross Perot
In 1992, Perot ran as an independent candidate for the U.S. presidency, winning nearly 19 percent of the popular vote -
EU
European Union- Maastricht Treaty (formally known as the Treaty on European Union) -
Beirut Bombings
241 US service personnel are killed by a truck bomb at a Marine compound in Beirut, Lebanon -
Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton is known for being president during one of the longest periods of peace and economic expansion in American history -
NAFTA
North American Free Trade Agreement-negotiated among the US, Canada and Mexico for the purpose of removing barriers to the exchange of goods and services among the three countries -
Brady Bill
a provision of US federal law that requires a waiting period for handgun purchases and background checks on those who wish to purchase handguns -
Failure of Health Reform
President Clinton proposed a health care security plan but failed -
Al Gore
American politician and environmentalist who served as the Vice President of the US -
Hillary Clinton
American politician, former diplomat, and First Lady of the United States from 1993 to 2001 -
Yasser Arafat
chairman of the PLO and was at the forefront of years of violence, border disputes and the Palestinian liberation movement, all centering on neighboring Israel -
"Don't Ask, Don't Tell"
policy restricting US military personnel from efforts to discriminate closeted homosexual or bisexual service members or applicants, while barring those who are openly gay, lesbian, or bisexual from military service -
Contract with America
document released by the United States Republican Party during the Congressional election campaign -
WTO
intergovernmental organization that regulates international trade -
Oklahoma City Bombing
domestic terrorist truck bombing on the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City -
Newt Gingrich
American politician and author and ultimately serving as 50th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives -
Welfare Reform
Signed by Clinton, a comprehensive bipartisan welfare reform plan that will dramatically change the nation's welfare system into one that requires work in exchange for time-limited assistance -
G-8
Group of Eight- inter-governmental political forum from with the participation of the major industrialized countries in the world, that viewed themselves as democracies. -
Madeleine Albright
American politician and diplomat- the first woman to have become the United States Secretary of State, served under President Bill Clinton -
Kyoto Accord
international treaty which extends the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change that commits state parties to reduce greenhouse gas emissions -
Deficit Reduction Budget
US refers to taxation, spending, and economic policy debates and proposals designed to reduce the Federal budget deficit -
Clinton Impeachment
initiated by the House of Representatives and led to a trial in the Senate for the impeachment of Bill Clinton -
Bush V. Gore
decision of the United States Supreme Court that settled a recount dispute in Florida's 2000 presidential election -
Enron
Enron Corporation was an American energy, commodities, and services company based in Houston, Texas -
Bush Tax Cuts
changes to the United States tax code passed originally during the presidency of Bush and extended during the presidency of Barack Obama -
George W. Bush
President who led the US response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks and initiated the Iraq War. Before his presidency, Bush was a businessman and served as governor of Texas. -
9/11
series of four coordinated terrorist attacks by the Islamic terrorist group al-Qaeda on the United States -
Clarence Thomas
President Bush tapped Thomas to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, the first African American to serve on the court -
Al-Qaeda
militant Sunni Islamist multi-national organization founded in 1988 by Osama bin Laden, Abdullah Azzam, and several other Arab volunteers who fought against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan -
Osama Bin Laden
founder of al-Qaeda, the organization responsible for the September 11 attacks -
No Child Left Behind
federal law that provides money for extra educational assistance for poor children in return for improvements in their academic progress -
"Axis or Evil"
phrase used to describe governments that his administration accused of sponsoring terrorism and seeking weapons of mass destruction -
Homeland Security
The United States Department of Homeland Security is a cabinet department of the United States federal government with responsibilities in public security, roughly comparable to the interior or home ministries of other countries. -
WMD's
Weapon of mass destruction- weapon of mass destruction is a nuclear, radiological, chemical, biological or other weapon that can kill and bring significant harm to a large pop. or cause great damage to structures -
Operation Iraqi Freedom
Iraq War was a protracted armed conflict that began in 2003 with the invasion of Iraq by a United States-led coalition that overthrew the government of Saddam Hussein -
Abu Ghraib Prison
personnel of the United States Army and the Central Intelligence Agency committed a series of human rights violations against detainees in the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq -
Hurricane Katrina
extremely destructive and deadly Category 5 hurricane that caused catastrophic damage along the Gulf coast from central Florida to Texas, much of it due to the storm surge and levee failure -
Sarah Palin
Former Governor of Alaska -
Great Recession
period of general economic decline observed in world markets -the scale and timing of the recession varied from country to country -
Housing Bubble
real estate bubble affecting over half of the U.S. states. Housing prices peaked, and started to decline in 2006 -
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
government-sponsored enterprises- they are privately owned, but receive support from the Federal Government, and assume some public responsibilities -
Barack Obama
American politician who served as the 44th President of the United States -
D.C. V. Heller
Land mark case in which the supreme court app held the second amendment -
Sonia Sotomayor
Associate justice of the supreme court -
Tea Party
American conservative movement in the republican party -
Dodd-Frank Act
Places major regulations on the financial industry -
Affordable Care Act
Medical help plan -
Arab Spring
Violent and non-violent Arab revolutions -
Citizens United
Landmark U.S. constitutional law -
Syrian Civil War
Ongoing conflict in Syria, started in 2011 -
Mitt Romney
Republican party's nominee for the 2012 election -
John Kerry
American politician who served as the US Secretary of State -Democrat, previously represented Massachusetts in the United States Senate -
Debt Ceiling
A set limit of money the government can borrow -
Boston Marathon Bombing
Islamic Terrorism at the Boston Marathon in 2013 -
Shelby County V. Holder
Regarded the voting rights act of 1965 -
Same Sex Marriage
Allowed two people of the same sex to get married
