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PLO
A political movement uniting Palestinian Arabs in an effort to create an independent state of Palestine (Palestinian Liberation Organization). -
William Rehnquist
William Hubbs Rehnquist was an American lawyer and jurist who served on the Supreme Court of the United States for 33 years, first as an Associate Justice from 1972 to 1986. -
California v. Bakke
A landmark decision by the Supreme Court of the United States. It upheld affirmative action, allowing race to be one of several factors in college admission policy. -
Moral Majority
Political action group formed in the 1970's to further a conservative and religious agenda, including the allowance of prayer in schools and strict laws against abortion. -
Supply-Side Economy
Supply-side economics is a macroeconomic theory that argues economic growth can be most effectively created by lowering taxes and decreasing regulation. -
Trickle-Down Economics
This is an economic theory that states the benefits of the wealthy trickle down to everyone else. -
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th President of the United States from 1981 to 1989. -
Economic Recovery Tax Act
This act was created to encourage economic growth through reductions in individual income tax rates. -
PACTO Strike
This particular strike involved PATCO workers who wanted $10,000 wage rise, a shorter work week, and better retirement benefits. They were forced to go back to work due to Reagan stating that contracts would be cancelled and lifetime employment ban would take place in 48 hours. -
Sandra Day O'Connor
Sandra Day O'Connor was the first women to serve on the Supreme Court, as a Justice. She was appointed by Ronald Reagan in 1981 and served until 2006. -
Religious Fundamentalism
Movement whose objectives were to return to the foundations of the faith and to influence state policy where every word of the bible is interpreted literally. -
Walter Mondale
Walter Frederick "Fritz" Mondale is an American politician, diplomat and lawyer who served as the 42nd Vice President of the United States from 1977 to 1981. -
Saddam Hussein
Was the leader of Iraq during the middle of the Cold War. Although initially supported by the U.S. to fight Iran, his invasion of Kuwait made him a prime enemy of America. -
Boland Amendment
A term describing three U.S. legislative amendments between 1982 and 1984, all aimed at limiting U.S. government assistance to the Contras in Nicaragua. -
Beirut Bombings
Two truck bombs struck buildings housing Multinational Force in Lebanon (MNF) peacekeepers, specifically against United States and French service members, killing 241 U.S. and 58 French peacekeepers, 6 civilians and the 2 suicide attackers. A group called Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the bombings and said that the attacks were to get the MNF out of Lebanon. -
SDI
SDI was Reagan's intent to pursue a high technology missile defense system which was referred to as SDI or Star Wars. -
Sandinistas
Members of a leftist coalition that overthrew the Nicaraguan dictatorship of Anastasia Somoza in 1979 and attempted to install a socialist economy. The United States financed armed opposition by the Contras. The Sandinistas lost national elections in 1990. -
Geraldine Ferraro
Geraldine Anne "Gerry" Ferraro was an American attorney and Democratic Party politician who served in the United States House of Representatives. She was the first female vice presidential candidate representing a major American political party. -
Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev, GCL is a Russian and former Soviet politician. He was the eighth and last leader of the Soviet Union, having been General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991. -
Iran-Contra Affair
A political scandal in the United States that occurred during the second term of the Reagan Administration. Senior administration officials secretly facilitated the sale of arms to Iran, which was the subject of an arms embargo. -
Glasnost & Perestroika
Refers to the reconstruction of the political and economic system established by the Communist Party. -
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 -
Immigration Act of 1986
A 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. -
AIDS
April 23, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Margaret Heckler announces at a press conference that an American scientist, Robert Gallo, has discovered the probable cause of AIDS: the retrovirus is subsequently named human immunodeficiency virus or HIV in 1986. -
"Tear down this wall"
"Tear down this wall!" is a line from a speech made by US President Ronald Reagan in West Berlin, calling for the leader of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, to open up the barrier which had divided West and East Berlin since 1961. -
INF Agreement
The Treaty Between the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on the Elimination of Their Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles. -
"Read my lips, no new taxes."
A 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 -
Tiananmen Square
After several weeks of demonstrations, Chinese troops entered Tiananmen Square on June 4 and fired on civilians. Estimates of the death toll range from several hundred to thousands. -
Panama Invasion
Code named Operation Just Cause occurred between mid-December 1989 and late January 1990. It occurred during the administration of President George H. W. Bush and ten years after the Torrijos–Carter Treaties were ratified to transfer control of the Panama Canal from the U.S. to Panama by 1 January 2000. -
George H.W. Bush
George Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States from 1989 to 1993. Prior to assuming the presidency, Bush served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States from 1981 to 1989. -
Fall of the Berlin Wall
As the Cold War began to thaw across Eastern Europe, the spokesman for East Berlin's Communist Party announced a change in his city's relations with the West. -
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 -
Lech Walesa
A Polish politician, a former trade union and human rights activist, and also a former electrician. He co-founded Solidarity, the Soviet bloc's first independent trade union, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983, and served as President of Poland from 1990 to 1995. -
Persian Gulf
Operations leading to the buildup of troops and defense of Saudi Arabia and Operation Desert Storm in its combat phase, was a war waged by coalition forces from 35 nations led by the United States against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait. -
"Ethnic Cleansing"
A 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. -
NRA
National Rifle Association- to promote and encourage rifle shooting on a scientific basis. -
Nuclear Proliferation
The 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 -
Taliban
Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Sunni Islamic fundamentalist political movement in Afghanistan currently waging war within that country -
Americans with Disabilities Act
Civil rights law that prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities in all areas of public life. -
Breakup of the Soviet Union
Officially granting self-governing independence to the Republics of the Soviet Union. Dissolution of the Soviet Union into 15 independent republics, Conclusion of the Cold War. -
Boris Yeltsin
Was a Soviet and Russian politician and the first President of the Russian Federation, serving from 1991 to 1999. -
Start I and II
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. -
Clarence Thomas
President Bush tapped Thomas to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, the first African American to serve on the court -
Internet
ARPANET adopted TCP/IP on January 1, 1983, and from there researchers began to assemble the “network of networks” that became the modern Internet. The online world then took on a more recognizable form in 1990, when computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web. -
EU
European Union- Maastricht Treaty (formally known as the Treaty on European Union) -
Ross Perot
In 1992, Perot ran as an independent candidate for the U.S. presidency, winning nearly 19 percent of the popular vote. -
Yasser Arafat
Clinton presided over a historic meeting at the White House between Israeli premier Yitzshak Rabin and Palestine Liberation Organization leader Yasir. They agreed in principle on self-rule for the Palestinians within Israel. -
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. -
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. -
Al Gore
American politician and environmentalist who served as the Vice President of the US. -
Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton is known for being president during one of the longest periods of peace and economic expansion in American history. -
Hillary Clinton
She was the first inaugural First Lady to have earned a postgraduate degree and to have her own professional career up to the time of entering the White House.[146] She was also the first to have an office in the West Wing of the White House in addition to the usual first lady offices in the East Wing. -
Contract with America
A document released by the United States Republican Party during the Congressional election campaign -
"Don't Ask, Don't Tell"
A 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 -
Newt Gingrich
American politician and author and ultimately serving as 50th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. -
Oklahoma City Bombing
A domestic terrorist truck bombing on the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City -
WTO
An intergovernmental organization that regulates international trade. -
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 -
Madeleline Albright
An American politician and diplomat- the first woman to have become the United States Secretary of State, served under President Bill Clinton. -
Kyoto Accords
It was an international treaty which extends the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change that commits state parties to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. -
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. -
Clinton Impeachment
It was initiated by the House of Representatives and led to a trial in the Senate for the impeachment of Bill Clinton -
Deficit Reduction Budget
US refers to taxation, spending, and economic policy debates and proposals designed to reduce the Federal budget deficit -
Bush v. Gore
A decision by the United States Supreme Court that settled a recount dispute in Florida's 2000 presidential election -
Al-Qaeda
A 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
The founder of al-Qaeda, the organization responsible for the September 11 attacks -
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. -
Enron
Enron Corporation was an American energy, commodities, and services company based in Houston, Texas. -
9/11
A series of four coordinated terrorist attacks by the Islamic terrorist group al-Qaeda on the United States -
No Child Left Behind
A federal law that provides money for extra educational assistance for poor children in return for improvements in their academic progress -
"Axis of Evil"
A phrase used to describe governments that his administration accused of sponsoring terrorism and seeking weapons of mass destruction -
Homeland Security
Congress ultimately passed the Homeland Security Act of 2002 without the union-friendly measures, and President Bush signed the bill into law on November 25, 2002. It was the largest U.S. government reorganization in the 50 years since the United States Department of Defense was created. -
WMD's
Weapon of mass destruction- weapon of mass destruction is a nuclear, radio logical, chemical, biological or other weapon that can kill and bring significant harm to a large pop. or cause great damage to structures -
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 -
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 -
Hurricane Katrina
An 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 -
Great Recession
The Great Recession was a period of general economic decline observed in world markets during the late 2000s and early 2010s -
D.C. v. Heller
Held that the Second Amendment protects an individual's right to possess a firearm unconnected with service in a militia for traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense within the home, and that Washington, D.C.'s handgun ban and requirement that lawfully-owned rifles and shotguns be kept "unloaded and disassembled or bound by a trigger lock" violated this guarantee. -
Sarah Palin
Republican vice-presidential candidate with John McCain in the 2008 election, the second woman to run for vice president of a major party and the first Republican. -
Housing Bubble
A 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
The federal takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac was the placing into conservatorship of the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) and Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) by the U.S. Treasury in September 2008 -
John McCain
McCain entered the race for the Republican nomination for President in 2000, but he lost a heated primary season contest to Governor George W. Bush of Texas. He secured the nomination in 2008 after coming back from early reversals, but was defeated by Democratic nominee Barack Obama. -
Sonia Sotomayor
An Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, serving since August 2009. She has the distinction of being its first justice of Hispanic descent and the first Latina. -
Tea Party
The Tea Party movement is an American conservative movement within the Republican Party. Members of the movement have called for a reduction of the national debt of the United States and federal budget deficit by reducing government spending, and for lower taxes. -
Barack Obama
The first African American to assume the presidency, he was previously the junior United States Senator from Illinois from 2005 to 2008. Before that, he served in the Illinois State Senate from 1997 until 2004. -
Citizens United
A landmark U.S. constitutional law, campaign finance, and corporate law case dealing with regulation of political campaign spending by organizations. -
Affordable Care Act
The law has 3 primary goals: Support innovative medical care delivery methods designed to lower the costs of health care generally. -
Arab Spring
A revolutionary wave of both violent and non-violent demonstrations, protests, riots, coups, foreign interventions, and civil wars in North Africa and the Middle East.
2011 -
Syrian Civil War
An ongoing multi-sided armed conflict in Syria fought primarily between the Ba'athist Syrian Arab Republic led by President Bashar al-Assad. -
Dodd-Frank Act
It made changes in the American financial regulatory environment that affected all federal financial regulatory agencies and almost every part of the nation's financial services industry. -
Mitt Romney
An American businessman and politician who served as the 70th Governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 and was the Republican Party's nominee for President of the United States in the 2012 election. -
Boston Marathon Bombing
Two homemade bombs detonated near the finish line of the annual Boston Marathon, killing three people and injuring several hundred others, including 16 who lost limbs. -
Shelby County v. Holder
Requires certain states and local governments to obtain federal preclearance before implementing any changes to their voting laws or practices. -
Debt Ceiling
Limitations set on the amount of money the government is able to borrow. -
John Kerry
American politician who served as the US Secretary of State -Democrat, previously represented Massachusetts in the United States Senate -
Same-Sex Marriage
Held that the right of same-sex couples to marry on the same terms and conditions as opposite-sex couples.
