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GI Bill
The GI Bill was a law that provided a numerous amount of benefits for returning World War II veterans. This law was desgined by the American Legion, the goal was to give rewards to all WWII veterans after returning, for their service. Benefits range from tuition payments and living expenses in college, low-cost mortgages, low-interest loans. It was available to all veterans whether they were exposed to combat or not. -
Period: to
The 1950's
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Iron Curtain
"Iron Curtain" was the term given to the boundary that divided Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War 2 in 1945. It lasted up until the end of the Cold War in 1991. The curtain was used to block out any sort of western contact, and the right side only consisted of Soviet-Influenced areas. -
Period: to
Cold War
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Atomic Bomb
The atomic bomb is the first type of explosive device that derives it's force from the nuclear reaction named nuclear fission. The very first test of an Atomic Bomb was made in July of 1945, just about a month before the bomb droppings in Japan. This first test bomb released the same amount of energy as about 20K tons of TNT. -
Establishment of the 38th Parallel
When Japan surrendered in August of 1945, they established the 38th parallel as the boundary between Soviet and American zones. It almost splits the Korean peninsula in the middle. In 1948 the parallel became the boundary between North Korea and South Korea. -
Little Richard
Richard Way Penniman, aka Little Richard, is an American musician, singer and songwriter. Being very influential in the pop music and culture for more than 6 decades, his best works date from the Mid-50s. His music laid down the essential foundation for rock and roll. Not only that, but his music also led to the creation of Soul and Funk music. -
Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan was an American initiative in order to aid our Western European Allies. We gave them over $13 billion dollars in economic support in order to assist in rebuilding the ruins that were left behind from World War 2. This was also used to modernize industry, rebuild, remove trade barriers, and prevent the spread of communism. -
Fair Deal
The fair deal was a set of proposals addressed by President Harry Truman in his State of the union address. He proposed to continue the New Deal liberalism, however, only a few of his proposals became law due to the Conservative Coalition controlling congress. The most important proposals were aid to education, health insurance across the nation, the Fair Employment Practices Commission, and repeal of the Taft-Hartley Act. -
Beat Generation
The Beat Generation was a literary movement that rose due to works of authors who explored and influenced American Culture and politics during the post-World War II time. They centralize their movement on rejection of standard narrative values, spiritual quest, exploration of American and Eastern religions, rejection of materialism and others such as use of LSD. -
Ike Turner
Ike Turner was an American musician, bandleader, songwriter, arranger, talent scout, and record producer. He's one of the very first musicians that based his music across rock and roll. He's most known for his popular work in the 60s and 70s with his then-wife Tina. -
Bill Haley and The Comets
Bill Haley and The Comets were an american band that based their music all around rock and roll. It was founded in 1952 and lasted up until the death of Haley in 1981. This group was one of the earliest groups of white musicians to bring rock and roll to its popularity in America. -
Polio Vaccine
Polio Vaccines are use to prevent Polio. There are two types of vaccines: one that is given by injection, and a weaker version of it that is given orally. These two vaccines by themselves have almost eradicated polio from most of the world emphasizing its success. -
Dr. Jonas Salk
Jonas Salk was an American medical researcher and virologist. He developed the very first successful polio vaccine. He tested his vaccine in many ways, as most scientists do, he tested it on monkeys, which was successful. He then went on to give it to people who never had polio, it was successful, not a single volunteer was infected with polio. -
Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley was an american singer and actor. He's seen as one of the most influential cultural icons of the 20th century, and is often most times referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll." His music is known as being energized and having a sexual sort of dancing style to it. -
Earl Warren Supreme Court
Earl Warren was an American Jurist and politician, who was appoint as the 14th Chief of Justice of the United States by President Dwight D. Eisenhower. He is best known for the decisions he made based on liberalism, which outlawed segregation in public school, transforming many areas of "American Law." He made the Supreme Court a more powerful center to even it out between Congress and the President. -
Brown v. Board of Education
The Brown v Board of Education was a case that went up to the United States Supreme Court, in which the resulting finish declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students to be unconstitutional. This decision countered that of the Plessy v Fergusson case of 1896 which allowed segregation. -
Period: to
Civil Rights
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Albert Sabin
Albert Sabin was a Polish American medical researcher, who is best known for developing the oral version of the polio vaccine. This oral vaccine was a major key in assisting with eradicating polio from most of the world. The difference between his and Salk's vaccines is that his is easier to give, and its effects last longer. -
Emmett Till
Emmett Till was an African-American teenager who was beat to death in Mississippi after he allegedly flirted with a white woman. The sight of his body in the open casket funeral drew the attention to the long history of violent prosecution of African Americans in the United Sates. Emmett Till soon became an icon of the Civil Rights Movement. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
The Montgomery Bus Boycott is one of the starting events in the Civil Rights Movement. It was a political and social protest campaign that was against the policy of racial segregation on public transportation systems of Montgomery, Alabama. The campaign started when Rosa Parks, an African American woman, was arrested for not giving up her seat to white person, and it ended on December 20, 1956. -
Little Rock Nine
The Little Rock Nine was a group of 9 African American students who registered to the Little Rock Central High School in 1957. This was followed by a crisis in which they were prevented from entering the racially segregated school by Orval Faubus. They later got to attend the school after President Dwight D. Eisenhower intervened and got the national guard to escort them into the school. -
Civil Rights Act of 1957
The Civil Rights Act of 1957 was enacted September 9, 1957, it was the first legislation passed by Congress since the act that was also enacted in 1875. This Act was a way for Congress to show its support for the case of Brown v. Board, which had eventually led to the integration of public schools. After the enactment, Southern whites began a massive resistance which led to violence rising against blacks. -
Sputnik
The Sputnik was the first Earth satellite to be launched, it was launched by the Soviets. The only function of the Sputnik was to broadcast radio pulses, this triggered the Space Race between the US and the Soviets. This launch influenced new political, military, technological, and scientific developments. -
NASA
NASA was established by President Einsenhower in July 29, 1958. It began its operation on October 1, 1958. One of the most important influences of NASA's entry into the Space Race with the Soviet Union was the technology from the German rocket program. -
Peace Corps
The Peace Corps is a program that is run by the United States. It's a volunteer program in which the mission is to provide technical assistance, helping other people from different parts of the world understand the American Culture. Their work is most related to developing a country socially and economically. This was formed in March 1, 1961. -
Bay of Pigs
The Bay of Pigs Invasion was a failed military invasion of Cuba operated by the CIA's paramilitary group Brigade 2506 on April of 1961. This group consisted of Cuban exiles that were trained and funded by the CIA. The intended on overthrowing the communist government of Fidel Castro. Brigade 2506 was defeated in three days by the Cuban Revolutionary Armed forces. -
Freedom Riders
Freedom Riders were activists from the Civil Rights who rode interstate buses into the segregated south of the US in 1961. They did this to challenge the decision from two previous supreme court cases which stated that segregated public buses were unconstitutional. The segregated south ignored such rulings and the federal government did nothing to enforce the rulings. -
Fallout Shelter
In the US in September of 1961, the federal government started the Community Fallout Shelter Program. This type of protection from nuclear bombs was advised by President Kennedy at the time, during the height of nuclear attack threats. The shelter is a enclosed space designed to protect those inside from fallout in the event of a nuclear explosion. -
Use of Agent Orange and Napalm
Agent Orange is a herbicide and defoliant chemical that was widely used during the Vietnam War. People who were exposed to it suffered major health problems, in addition to that it was damaging to the environment. Napalm is a liquid that is extremely flammable, it was used during the Vietnam war in clusters, as it was dropped from planes. These were meant to incinerate and burn anything as soon as it detonated. -
Assassination of JFK
John F. Kennedy was assassinated on November 22nd in 1963 at 12:30 PM in Dallas, Texas while riding in a convertible vehicle. He was shot allegedly shot "twice" by Lee Harvey Oswald. Once in the neck which went clean through and also hit John Connally, the governor of Texas. The second shot fatally hit Kennedy's head which blew part of his cranium off. At 1:00 PM Kennedy was declared dead after all heart activity had stopped. -
Lee Harvey Oswald
Lee Harvey Oswald was the person who assassinated US President John F. Kennedy. He was a former US Marine who was honorably discharged from the Corps, and defected to the Soviet Union. Following the President's assassination, he was originally arrested for the murder of a police officer he also murdered about 45 minutes after Kennedy was shot. He was later charged with Kennedy's murder. Two days later he was fatally shot while being transferred to the country jail by Jack Ruby. -
Jack Ruby
Jack Ruby was an American, who lived in Dallas, Texas where he owned a nightclub. On November 24, 1963 he fatally shot Lee Harvey Oswald while he was being transferred to the county jail. He was found guilty by a Dallas jury and he was sentenced to death. His conviction was appealed later and he was granted a new trial. However he fell ill and died in his prison cell from lung cancer. -
LSD
In the mid-60s, the counterculture in San Francisco, had adopted the use of recreational hallucinogenic drugs, including LSD. A group named the "Merry Pranksters" sponsored "The Acid Test", a series of events that took place in San Francisco. This involved taking LSD while being at light shows, and psychedelic music. The Merry Pranksters helped in making the use of LSD popular. -
Freedom Summer
Freedom Summer also known as the Mississippi Summer Project was a campaign in the US that was launched in June 1964. This was an attempt to register as many African-American voters as possible in Mississippi. Since the turn of the century, African-Americans had been cut off from having the chance to vote due to voter registration laws. The project set up dozens of locations in small towns throughout Mississippi to local blacks. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was enforced on July 2, 1964. It was a US labor law that outlaws discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or origin. This allowed for people of all types to be able to apply and register for voting, attend school without any racial segregation, be employed without any discrimination, and any public accommodations. -
Daisy Girl Ad
The "Daisy Girl" advertisement was a controversial political advertisement aired during the 1964 election by Johnson's campaign. It's considered to be one of the important factors in Johnson's victory and a turning point in political and advertising history. The ad is about a little girl picking flowers, then she is cut off with a count to ten, then a bright flash simulating an atomic bomb occurs. This assisted LBJ's campaign in getting votes. -
Great Society
The "Great Society was a set of domestic programs in the US that was started by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964-65. The main goal was to eliminate poverty and racial injustice across the United States. On a larger scale, the Great Society in a way resembled the New Deal agenda of Franklin D. Roosevelt. -
Hippies
Hippies are members of a liberal counterculture, it was originally supposed to be a youth movement. This started in the United States and the United Kingdom during the mid-1960s. Hippies were used to describe beatniks as well. Hippies created their own communities, listened to psychedelic music, based their movement around the sexual revolution, and heavily used recreational drugs such as marijuana and LSD. -
Voting Rights Act of 1965
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a federal legislation in the United States that prohibits racial discrimination in voting. It was signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson during the climax of the Civil Rights Movement halfway through 1965. The act was amended five more times by congress to expand it protections. It also enforced the voting rights that were allegedly guaranteed by the 14th and 15th Amendments. -
Death of MLK
Martin Luther King Jr. was the leader of the Civil Rights Movement who was fatally shot at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968. The bullet that hit King hit him in the jaw and severed his spinal cord. He was pronounced dead at 7:05 PM. He was very well known for his use of nonviolence and civil disobedience during the Civil Rights movement. James Earl Ray was a fugitive who was charged and sentenced to 99 years in prison for the murder of Martin Luther King Jr. -
Barry Goldwater
Barry Goldwater was an american politician and businessman who was a five term Senator from Arizona, the Republican Party's nominee for President of the United States in the election of 1964. Although he did lose the election by a landslide, he is known for sparking the resurgence of the American Conservative political movement in the 60s. He also had an impact on the libertarian movement. -
Apollo 11
Apollo 11 was the very first spaceflight to successfully land two humans on the Moon. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin both being American, landed on the moon on July 20, 1969. Armstrong was the first to take step onto the moon's surface on July 21. -
Environmental Protection Agency
The EPA is an agency of the federal government of the US which was created for the sole purpose of protecting human health and environment by writing and enforcing regulation based on laws passed by congress. Nixon proposed the establishment of this and it began operating on December 2, 1970, after Nixon signed an executive order. The order that established the EPA was ratified by hearings in the house and senate. -
Period: to
1970's
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Roe v. Wade
The Roe v. Wade Supreme Court Case was one of the most important cases in US history that was based on abortion. It was decided that a right to privacy under the Due Process Claude was extended to any woman's decision to have an abortion. Although they decided that, the right had to be balanced between the state's interests in regulating abortions, which is protecting women's health and protecting the potential of human life. -
Watergate
Watergate was a major political scandal that occurred in the US in the 1970s. After a break-in at the Democratic National Committee HQ at the Watergate office complex, Nixon along with his administration attempted to cover up its involvement. They resisted to reveal that they were part of it which led to constitutional crisis. It led to the discovery of the administration abusing power, which then led to the resignation of Nixon. 48 from the administration were found guilty. -
Title IX
Title IX is a part of the Education Amendments of 1972 of the US that no person in the US will be excluded from participation, benefits, or subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance due to sex. Many would believe that the Civil Rights Act of 64 would did this already, but it did not direct it to the public education system, only in the area of employment. -
Endangered Species Act
The Endangered Species Act of 1973 is one of the few of US environmental laws that were passed in the 1970s. It was designed to especially protect species who were prone to extinction due to human activity in development. The act was signed into law by President Richard Nixon on December 28, 1973. The act is administered by the US Fish and Wildlife Service ad he National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. -
Nixon's Resignation
From the loss of political support and the certainty that he would be impeached for the events at Watergate, President Nixon resigned presidency on August 9, 1974. He delivered his resignation speech from the oval office and was carried live on the radio and TV. He allegedly stated that he resigning for the good of the country, he then went on to review the accomplishments of his presidency. -
Rise of the N.R.A. to national politics
After 1977, the NRA organization expanded itself by focusing heavily on political issues and forming coalitions with conservative Republicans. The NRA started seeing its members as political resources other than just as members of services and goods. The politicization of the NRA has been consistent. It established its lobbying arm, the Institute for Legislative Action. -
Three Mile Island
The Three Mile Island accident was caused by a nuclear meltdown that occurred on March 28, 1979. The meltdown originated in reactor number 2 of Three Mile Island. It is deemed as one of the most significant accidents in US commercial nuclear power plant history. On the International Nuclear Event Scale, it was rated a 5, which is out of 7 points, meaning that it was an accident with bigger resulting consequences. -
Moral Majority
The Moral Majority was an American Political organization that was part of the Christian Right and Republican Party. It was founded by Baptist minister Jerry Falwell in 1979, but later dissolved in the 1980s. It was apparently a major key in the mobilization of conservative Christians as a political force, and supposedly in presidential victories for the republican party. -
Iran Hostage Crisis
The Iran Hostage Crisis was a diplomatic conflict between the US and Iran. 52 American diplomats and citizens were held hostage for 444 days. This occurred because of a group of Iranian students who supported the Iranian Revolution took over the US Embassy in Tehran. It's described as the longest hostage crisis in recorded history. The hostages were released just a few minutes before Ronald Reagan was sworn in as president. -
Home Video Game Systems
Technological advances in the 70s led to the development of the Intellivision in 1980. In 1982 the Commodore 64 changed the whole market due to it's high performance and low price tag. This decade of video games featured the use of 3D games in a lot of the game systems that were released such as the NES, Game Boy, Sega Genesis, and others. This time period was considered the second generation of consoles video games in the US before it's video game market crash in 1983. -
Period: to
1980s
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Robert Johnson
Robert Johnson, not the blues singer from the 20's, but the entrepreneur, was an African American who was the founder of BET. BET was sold to Viacom in 2001. He also founded RLJ Companies, a company that invests in various business sectors. Johnson is formally known to be the majority owner of the Charlotte Bobcats. He is the first known african american to become a billionaire. -
AIDS Crisis
The epidemic of the immunodeficiency disease AIDS began in the early 1980s in the United States. It was first found among gay men in 1981 in Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco. Originally the disease was called GRID (Gay-Related Immune Deficiency) but by the following year it was found that the disease was able to be transmitted by other means. Not only that but it seemed as if the name "GRID" stigmatized homosexuals so it was changed to AIDS. -
Reaganomics
Reaganomics refers to policies that were promoted by US President Ronald Reagan during the 80s that had to do with the economy. His four pillars of his policy were to reduce the growth or government spending, reduce the income tax, reduce government regulation, and tighten the money supply in order to reduce inflation which was a big issue at the time with oil. -
MTV
MTV is an american television channel owned by Viacom Media Networks and HQ'd in New York City. The channel was originally aired to stream music videos, the main target audience of MTV was young adults, but over time it has developed a new target of teenagers, particularly older teenagers, like high school and college students. Now it's not only basing it's channel off of music videos, it now has reality, comedy, and drama programs as well. -
Sandra Day O'Connor
Sandra Day O'Connor used to be an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, being appointed in 1981 by Reagan, she served until her retirement in 2006. She is the very first woman to ever serve as a Justice of the Supreme Court of the US. Before being appointed to the Supreme Court she was a judge in Arizona. When she announced her retirement she declared she'd wait until a confirmed successor was hear, which turned out to be Samuel Alito. -
Strategic Defense Initiative
The SDI was a missile defense system that was proposed by president Reagan to protect the United States from attacks by ballistic missiles. These were missiles that were capable of intercontinental travel that carried nuclear warheads. The system was to use ground based units and space technology in order to function as explained by Reagan. The SDI was nicknamed "Star Wars" due to it's concept having to do with space technology that would take down weapons of mass destruction. -
Reagan Doctrine
The Reagan Doctrine was a strategy that was established by the Reagan Administration to overwhelm the global influence of the Communist Soviet Union in an attempt to end the Cold War. Under this doctrine, the US provided overt and covert aid to anti-communist guerrillas and resistances in an effort to revert soviet-influenced communist governments in many countries across the world. The goal was to eventually disintegrate Soviet influence among these countries. -
Iran-Contra Affair
The Iran-Contra Affair was a scandal that occurred during Reagan's second term of presidency. Administration officials secretly facilitated the sale of arm to Iran, which was the subject of an arms embargo. The officials hoped to fund Contras in Nicaragua whilst trying to negotiate the release of several US hostages. Further funding of the Contras was prohibited by Congress. Reagan was a supporter of the Contra cause being seen as the one who authorized the diversion of iranian arms sales. -
Challenger Explosion
On January 28, 1986, the NASA Space Shuttle Challenger broke apart and exploded 73 seconds into its flight. It killed all seven crew members, which consisted of 5 NASA astronauts, and two payload specialists. An O-Ring seal in the right rocket booster failed at liftoff, allegedly the O-Ring was not designed to fly under cold conditions as in this launch. It was said that not all the astronauts died in the initial explosion but the impact of the crew compartment was too violent to be survivable. -
Persian Gulf War
The Gulf War also known as Operation Desert Shield, was a war waged by coalition forces form 35 countries led by the United States against the Iraqi Military. This was in response to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait. Iraq accused Kuwait of exceeding its OPEC quotas for oil production. This resulted with a plummeting price in oil, as low as $10 a barrel. Iraq described it as a form of economic warfare, which they say Kuwait was drilling across their border for oil. -
Period: to
1990s
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Rodney King Incident
Rodney King was a taxi driver who became internationally recognized for being beaten by LA Police officer after a high-speed pursuit on March 3, 1991. One witness pretty much got most of the beating on camera and sent it to his local new station. Parts of the footage was revealed around the world, this raised concern about police treatment of minorities in the United States. -
Balkans Crisis
The Balkans Crisis, mostly known as the Yugoslav Wars was series of war that were solely based on ethical issues, in which insurgencies from 1991 to 2001. These wars resulted in the breakup of the Yugoslav state, although republics declared independence, minorities still had ethical issues mostly Serbs, Croats, and Albanians. The wars are considered to have affected only most of the former Yugoslav republics. -
Ross Perot
Henry Ross Perot is an American business magnate and former politician. In 1962 he found Electronic Data Systems, which he sold 20 years later for $2.4 billion. He was an independent presidential candidate in 1992, he surprisingly received 18.9% of the popular vote, which is astonishingly the highest percentage for an independent or third-party candidate since 1912. In 96', he was the Reform Party's presidential nominee. -
World Trade Center Attack - 1993
The 1993 World Trade Center Bombing was a attack induced by terrorists on the World Trade Center, that occurred on February 26, 1993. There was a truck below the North Tower, the truck was loaded with 1336 pounds of urea nitrate-hydrogen gas enhanced device. This explosion was intended to make the North Tower Collapse and hit the South Tower bringing both towers down to kill thousands of people. It was successful but the even did kill 6 people and injured over a thousand. -
Don't Ask, Don't Tell Policy
"Don't Ask, Don't Tell" was the certified US policy set on military service by gays, bisexuals, and lesbians, which was enforced by the Clinton Administration on February 28, 1994. The policy basically prohibited military personnel from discriminating against or harassing closeted people with different sexual orientations. The policy also prohibited these people of different orientation from disclosing any sort of information that could deem them gay, lesbian, or bisexual. -
Contract with America
The Contract with America was a document released by the United States Republican Party during the 94' congressional election. The contract detailed the action Republicans allegedly promised to make happen if they were become the majority party in the US House of Representatives for the first time in 40 years. The proposals of the Contract his different destinations, some became laws, some failed to pass the house or senate, or some were vetoed by President Clinton. -
Lewinsky Affair
The Lewinsky Scandal was an American very well known political sex scandal that involved President Clinton and 22 year old white house intern Monica Lewinsky. They both had a sexual relationship that took place between 1995 and 1996. Clinton ended with a television speech with him saying "I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky", this was nationally televised. This scandal ended with the impeachment of Bill and his law license being suspended for 5 years. -
Welfare Reform
The Welfare Reform is major federal law of the US. This bill was a cornerstone of the Republican Contract with America. President Bill Clinton signed the act into law on August 22, 1996, which also fulfilled his promise of ending welfare as americans have come to know it. The act established Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, which replaced the Aid to Families with Dependent Children. This was a way to reassure Americans of America's work ethic. -
Defense of Marriage Act
The Defense of Marriage Act was enacted on September 21, 1996. It was a US federal law that solely visioned marriage as the union of one man and one woman, this allowed states to refuse to recognize same-sex marriages. DOMA defined a recognizable marriage as a heterosexual couple. Until 2013 SCOTUS declared DOMA unconstitutional under the due process clause of the 5th amendment. -
9/11 Attacks
The 9/11 attacks were a series of four coordinated terrorist attacks that were done by the terrorist Islamic state named al-Qaeda on the US. The attack killed over 2,996 people, and injured over 6,000. Four passenger airliners were hijacked, two of which were crashed into the North and South towers. The third plane that was under terrorist control was crashed into The Pentagon. The fourth plane was heading to DC but crashed in a field after the passengers tried to over the terrorists. -
War on Terror
The War on Terror also is a metaphor essentially of war referring to the international military campaign that started right after the 9/11 attacks. The term has since been used to argue a global military, political, legal and conceptual struggle against terrorist organizations. President Obama that the US was no longer pursuing that sort of war, instead the US was going to focus on specific enemies. President trump has declared to put all his focus on the terrorist Islamic state. -
Period: to
Contemporary Era
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PATRIOT ACT
The USA PATRIOT Act is an act of Congress that was signed into law by Bush on October 26, 2001. The sole purpose of this act was to increase security from terrorists and do everything to prevent terrorist attacks. The whole title expanded is "Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tool Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001." The whole title basically explains what the Act was enforcing. -
No Child Left Behind Education Act
The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 was a US Act of Congress that changed the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. It supported the concept that setting high standards and high goals could improve one's outcomes in education. The Act required for states to develop assessments in basic skills (thanks Bush :/). To receive federal school funding, states were required to give these assessments to all students. In other words, for us KF students, No STAAR, no money for the school unfortunately. -
2nd Iraq War
The 2nd Iraq War was an armed conflict that began in 2003 with the invasion of Iraq by a US led coalition that took down the government of Saddam Hussein. Following the fall of Hussein's government and his death, the aftermath consisted of violence between Shias and Sunnis. The US responded with a troop surge in 2007. The winding down of US involvement in Iraq was sped up by President Obama. On December 18, 2011 the US completely withdrew all troops. -
The Great Recession
The Great Recession was a period of general decline in the economy of world market during late 2000s and early 2010s. How effective it was and how long it happened to different countries varied. Overall though it was declared the worst global recession since World War II. The Great Recession resulted in the scarcity of valuable assets in the market economy. -
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
The Recovery Act, was enacted by the 111th US Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama in February of 2009. This Act was developed in response to the events of the Great Recession, the main goal was to save existing jobs and create new ones as soon as possible. Other minor objectives included temporary relief programs for those affected by the recession, and investing in infrastructure, education, health, and renewable energy. -
First Hispanic SCOTUS Judge - Sonia Sotomayor
Sonia Sotomayor is an associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the US, who has served since 2009. She is known for being the first justice of Hispanic heritage, its third female justice as well. Barack Obama nominated Sonia Sotomayor on May 26, 2009. She's the second jurist to be nominated to three different judicial positions by 3 different presidents. She assumed office on August 8, 2009. -
Affordable Care Act "Obamacare"
The Affordable Care Act, or otherwise known as Obamacare, is US federal statute that was signed into law by Obama on March 23, 2010. Under Obamacare, hospitals and primary physicians would transform their practices financially, technologically, and clinically, to ensure better health outcomes, lower costs, and improve their methods of distribution and accessibility. This increased health insurance quality and affordability, and reduced the costs of healthcare. -
Undoing of DOMA
During the Presidency of Obama, his political platform endorsed the repeal of DOMA. On September 15, 2009, 3 democratic members of congress introduced legislation to repeal DOMA called the Respect for Marriage Act. Congressmen Barney Frank and John Berry said that DOMA could be overturned more quickly through lawsuits filed by Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders. In 2013 the Unites States v. Windsor case declared section 3 of DOMA unconstitutional.
