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1950's: G.I Bill
This Bill often named the G.I Bill was for former veterans. It was the Servicemen's Readjustments Act of 1944. This bill offered WWII veterans very low interest rates on future homes. The bill also fully paid off their college tuition and business loans, the G.I Bill is still around till today. -
Cold War: Marshall Plan
This plan only applied to western Europe and was created by George Marshall. This gave loans to western Europe to prevent coming communism, this was to restore faith in capitalism. The Marshal plan also gave them technology such as: farming/ american labor machines and manufacturing. -
Cold War: Truman Doctrine
The Truman Doctrine stopped communism by helping countries fight communism no only in a specific area but communism all around the world. This resulted in economic and military aid. The war-torn western Europe was most vulnerable to communism because of how the war had left it, caused by the massive amounts of bombing and extreme poverty. -
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Cold War
After World War II, the United States and its allies and the Soviet Union and its satellite states began a decades-long struggle for supremacy known as the Cold War. Soldiers of the Soviet Union and the United States did not do battle directly during the Cold War. Ronald Reagan never claimed to have bested the Soviet Union and won the Cold War. The idea that there was a winner of the long rivalry between the superpowers was a political formulation rather than one based on the historical facts. -
Cold War: Berlin Airlift
Stalin was upset over there being capitalism in the middle of the soviets which led to him sealing off the border. He regretted dividing Berlin into 4 military zones. U.s and British planes used to supply Berlin with air shipment, this gave supplies daily. Stalin gave up after a year and reopens the borders he shut down. -
Cold War: Korean War (The Forgotten War)
Officially a conflict and not a war. U.S and the U.S.S.R divide divide and split at the 38th parallel. South Korea U.s backed and pulled back their troops. U.S withdraws and South Korea because they said it was expensive and wasn't as important. However, they promised weapons and money to help deter communist. -
Cold War: 2nd Red Scare
Americans thought we were losing the Cold War. This led to the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) originally caught the Nazi's. However now the would go after Americans with communist sympathies. Hollywood had been implicated for being communist and were now being targeted by HUAC. Many actors testified to congress and many careers were ruined and or destroyed. -
Cold War: Joseph McCarthy
Joseph McCarthy was a senator in Wisconsin. Joseph claimed that he had a sheet of paper that held the list to communist names in 1950, however this was just a prop. He attacked democrats and famous people along with government officials. This was very intimidating and led to McCarthy beginning to ignore facts and make up charges. Eventually he pushes his luck and goes too far, he is later called out and after the people demanding to see the list, he is found a fraud by congress. -
1950's: Elvis
Elvis made rock n' roll a phenomenon! He was originally born in a deep poverty and during his poverty, made a music tape for his mother's birthday and that was how he was discovered. He adopted rhythm and later the blues. He also melds rock with gospel and also country. HE created a "sexual suggestive dance" and for this was later called the "Elvis Pelvis" -
1950's: Bill Haley and the Comets
During their leisure time, kids finally had the opportunity to do basically anything. They had money, time, and energy to work and feel rebellious. The first song to big was by Bill Haley and the Comets and was named "Rock Around the Clock" this song suggested sexual behavior and was a main reason rock n' roll took off as much as it did. -
1950's: Rock N' Roll
African rhythm and blues is where rock n' roll originated. This type of music often referred to slang for sexual intercourse. This music mainly affected teenagers and the youth (mainly whites.) The term "teenager" was invented right after WWII and was resulted in the way "teenagers" would be rebellious towards their parents. -
1950's: Beat Generation
The Beat Generation was a form of "early hippies," they were artist, novelist, and poets who rejected everything about American culture and materialism. They even rejected ownership, careers, and marriage. They believed in "individual freedom" (basically drugs and sex) Here is where whites borrowed slang from blacks such as "dig it" and "man" -
1950's: Dr. Jonas Salk
Polio has debilitated thousand of children and adults, one including FDR. Polio had left him and many others paralyzed after coming in contact with the disease. However, to the thanks of Dr. Jonas Salk, the vaccine for polio was created in the 1950's. They did this by basically adding a dead polio virus into the body which would make the body familiar to it, thus preventing it from growing. -
1950's: Little Richard
Born with an original name of Richard Wayne Penniman was born in Macon, Georgia. Little Richard helped define the early rock 'n' roll era of the 1950's with his driving, flamboyant sound. However much of his talent and songs were stolen and adopted by whites during these times. -
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1950's
During the 1950's, a sense of uniformity pervaded American society. Conformity was common, as young and old alike followed group norms rather than striking out on their own. Though men and women had been forced into new employment patterns during World War II, once the war was over, traditional roles were reaffirmed. Korean War begins when North Korea invaded South Korea in June. The country had divided after the end of World War II with the North becoming Communist and the South Capitalist. -
Cold War: North Korea Invades South Korea
Kim Il-Sung was being supported by Stalin, Stalin who wanted dispersion of U.S resources; He wanted them to leave. North surprise attacks south and takes the Seoul and allies were forced to the edge of Korea. Truman realizes the screw up he had made and calls in more troops to go back in the U.N International Force, which were mainly Americans. -
1950's: Fair Deal
Truman adds to the New Deal, he wishes to add universal healthcare, public housing, education and public works. Sadly, to Truman this did not happen due to Korea. The anti-communist agenda needed bi-partition support. Truman however, did continue to fight for the New Deal. -
Cold War: Election of 1952
Dwight D. Eisenhower who was a republican and carried a motto of "I Like Ike!" Eisenhower helped win WWII and Americans admired him. Dwight obviously won with a drastic amount. The solution to the Korea situation was that he threatened to use atomic bombs which resulted in a ceasefire and stalemate. The Forgotten War resulted in a stalemate and nothing really happened. -
1950's: Television
WWII slowed the introduction of the television however, after the second world war, over 75% had black and white TV's. Eventually this led to entertainment shows such as "I Love Lucy" along with other reality television shows. These shows were often perceived as propaganda, the perfect white family in a home with a working father. -
1950's: Politics
After the big boom of televisions being made and bought, my political officials used the media to their greater benefit. One main uses of this strategy was the one and only Richard Nixon. Nixon used TV to gain votes and the public's hearts. Kennedy also later joined this and takes advantage of the debates with Nixon. -
Civil Rights: Brown v. Board
Linda Brown (a black citizen) was forced to walk 2 miles to school when a white school was right around her block. This court case made because of her wanting to have a school closer to her home, although there was, it was only allowed for whites. In her case she was assisted by Thurgood Marshal who was funded by the NAACP and used psychological evidence to over turn the Plessy v. Ferguson case. In the end it was ruled "separate but equal" was not right. -
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Civil Rights
The civil rights was a "freedom struggle" by African Americans in the 1950's and 1960's to gain equality. The goals of the movement were freedom from discrimination; equal opportunity in employment, education, and housing; the right to vote; and equal access to public facilities. It was an for activism for equal rights of African Americans in the United States. During this period, people rallied for social, legal, political and cultural changes to prohibit discrimination and end segregation. -
Civil Rights: Emmett Till
Emmett traveled to Mississippi from Chicago with a ring of his fathers given to him by his mother after his dad died in WWII. When he had arrived to Mississippi he was challenged to hit on a white girl, 4 days later her brother and brother in law kidnapped him and drove him to a shed. Here they beat him severely then proceeded by throwing him into a truck then dropping him off near a river where they shot him in the back of the head with a shotgun... He was later found by the ring on hi finger. -
Civil Rights: Montgomery Bus Boycott
Four months after Emmett's death Rosa Parks refused to offer her seat to a white male. Joe Ann Robinson began spreading of the boycott idea, to boycott bus rides since most riders were Africans. This ended up being very successful and continued on. The bus companies began going out of busness and many Africans began carpooling, however this was followed with many bombing targets. -
Civil Rights: Little Rock Nine
Whites resisted integration, said they didn't mind parks, buses, and libraries but NOT SCHOOLS. Many refused and protested against integrating schools. Central High School slowly integrated. Mobs began forming around the school and around the 9 black children. Eventually this escalated and resulted in the new laws being enforced. -
1960's: Earl Warren Supreme Court
Earl Warren and the Chief of Justice and was the most liberal SCOTUS in history and conservative tenements were shot down. He was involved in many SCOTUS cases, a few being Engel v. Vitale, Brown v. Board, Loving v. Virginia, Miranda v. Arizona, and Griswold v. Connecticut. -
1960's: Counter Culture
The Counter Culture were a group of teenagers and other youths who took after the Beatniks. They rejected middle class values and the "perfect family" ideals. They also rejected material items and possessions. They often used drugs to "enhance" their thinking and mind, they explored their "inner-selves and spirituality." Many lived -
1960's: Hippies
Hippies were peace keeping and living the moment without inhibition. Hippies took on rock music and were a catalyst in spreading in Counter Culture. Many artist transformed music to match Counter Culture ideal lives such as Bob Dylan and The Beatles. They even had our form of Coachella called "Woodstock." -
1960's: Feminism
A big part of feminism was Helen Gurley who created the "Sex and the Single Girl" This was about the women empowerment through sexuality. It encouraged women to "explore their own sexuality" and to "stay single till your looks fade." Betty Friedman created the "Feminine Mystique" that basically stated the women could do anything men could do. -
1960's: New Frontier
The New Frontier was an idea that was thought of an made by our own John F. Kennedy. This was made to raise minimum wage and it cut business taxes by around 90%! Kennedy wanted to land the first man on the moon, this was due to the soviets being ahead in space technology. -
1960's: Anti-War Movement
The protests were part of a movement in opposition to the Vietnam War and took place mainly in the United States. (Students for a Democratic Society, Free Speech Movement.) The growing anti-war movement alarmed many in the U.S. government. -
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1960's
A lot happened in the 1960's, but some very major issues that had happened were the following. The Sixties dominated by the Vietnam War, Civil Rights Protests, the 1960's also saw the assassinations of US President John F Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Cuban Missile Crisis, and finally ended on a good note when the first man is landed on the moon. These are a few of the events that occurred during this momentous time. -
1960's: Peace Corps
The Peace Corps was brought up by Kennedy himself. It was intended specifically for the young college graduates who were working in poor countries. The Peace Corps involved humanitarian projects and aimed sadly was largely unaccomplished due to conservatives not liking the liberals agenda. -
Civil rights: Birmingham Bombing
The nickname "Bombing-ham" was given after the Birmingham Bombings. This was when a bomb was smuggled into a black baptist church on 16th street in September, 1963. after the explosion 4 young girls ranging younger than 14; this was the fault of the KKK, due to their reaction to MLK"s march. The men responsible were never put on trial until after 2000. Some are still in jail till today. -
1960's: Assassination JFK
In the election 1964, Kennedy was campaigning for the election. At the southern democrats were upset over the civil rights and he was still holding fundraisers in Houston, San Antonio, Austin and Dallas. However, he died in Texas. He was driving in a open roof car and was shot in the head, his face blew completely away, however he still lived until later in the day. -
1960's: Lee Harvey
The murderer of Kennedy was named Lee Harvey. Harvey was an ex-marine and a communist. He begged the U.S.S.R to accept him and they did, however this did not last and he ended up coming back. Supposedly claims he was the only shooter, saying he was on the sixth floor when it happened. He shot at Kennedy five times and only two got him. -
Civil Rights: Freedom Summer
An attempt to try and get rural blacks vote. Mississippi was the mainly the biggest target for desegregation. The turning point for the movement in the south was trying to enforce the governments intervention. This gave experience for the left activist and feminist, the media ignored the black-only protest because they needed whites to protest WITH blacks. This result in whites helping rural blacks register for votes. -
Civil Rights: Civil Rights Act 1964
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was created by none other than the one and only Johnson, he gets this act passed. This act banned segregation in public business and public spaces. It was now illegal to not hire someone based solely on their color, race, and or religion. Voting rights were still in need after this however. -
Cold War: Gulf of Tonkin Incident
American destroyer "attacked" by north Vietnam supposedly right after we bombed them secretly. Nearly two days later, another "attack" happened, however many do not believe this due tot eh fact that there were no ships around, and nothing showed on the radars. In the end it was all a set up by Johnson administration. -
1960's: Great Society
The "Great Society" was created by Lyndon B. Johnson (LBJ) in the 1960's. He was one of the 20th century great legislators and a very crude person, he got the most legislation through right behind FDR. This promised education, good standard of living and beautification. His thinking and actions had gone far beyond the New Deal. -
Civil Rights: Selma March
The Selma March was carried out on March 7th, 1965. 600 marched to Montgomery to protest for voting rights, they walked 50 miles. The county police waited at the end of the Edmond Pettus Bridge. They ordered to go back and break up the march. Protesters when arriving got on their knees and began praying, when this happened they were all beaten and gased by the county police. -
Civil Rights: Malcolm X
Malcolm was a member of a nation of Islam and converted after meeting Elijah in prison after he was sentenced for 6 years. He thought Islam was for blacks only, to honor past slaves and hardships towards blacks, he named himself "X" to resemble the others. He had different goals from blacks (southern one's) he disagreed with non-violent protests and believed in violence. -
Civil Rights: Watts Riots
This was carried out in a poor area that also had high unemployment rates and poor schools with large drug uses. Black men were arrested for drunk driving and ect.. Many residents rioted and many areas were being burned for 6 days, eventually this led to the national guard being called in. -
Cold War: Tet Offensive
Generals believed war was almost over and many enemies had been killed, Johnson says "victory is coming soon!" However, later Vietcong and north Vietnam launch massive strike on the south and led to 100 towns attacked and showed that the end to the war was long away. People saw this and began turning against the government. -
1970's: OPEC
(Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) U.S embargoed for supporting Israel, and OPEC had controls for a majority of the world's oil. There were long lines for gas and speed limits dropped to 55 mph. Nixon convinces Israelis to give some territory so the embargo could end. -
1970's: Silent Majority
Nixon solicits angry voters over liberal policies. He disliked programs intended for minorities. Thus brought up the New Deal programs, Nixon had begun cutting the Great Society programs, not all but many. Nixon then appoints conservative justices and wanted to scale back on segregation. Busing policies, where whites would bus around towns to get to school, resistance comes from the north. -
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1970's
The decade was a continuation of the 1960's. Women, African Americans, Native Americans, gays and lesbians and other people continued their fight for equality, and many Americans joined the protest against the ongoing war in Vietnam. The Great Inflation of the 1970's, and the stock market messy. It lost 40% and for close to a decade few people want anything to do with stocks. Economic growth is weak, which results in rising unemployment that eventually reaches double-digits. -
1970's: Watergate Hotel
This scandal took place in the Headquarters of the Democrat Party. Five of Nixon's "plumbers" would go in and bug the place in search of dirt on the democrat officials. With this information they would blackmail them with the stolen information. However, one day a wire broke and a "plumber" had to go in and fix it, however this ended with him getting caught and arrested. -
1970's: Nixon Tapes
After the Watergate scandal was brought to the surface, investigations were held all around Nixon. One main evidence were the tapes he was constantly recording and had the proof of his scandal. He refused to show the tapes after being asked, and this led to him eventually editing the tapes and sending the edited ones to SCOTUS. They saw this and demanded the real tapes and Nixon was found guilty. -
1970's: Roe v. Wade
Roe v. Wade, 1973, was a large decision that was issued in 1973 by the United States Supreme Court on the conflict of the constitutional laws that criminalized or restricted access to abortions. After this moment abortions were now legal, as before they were not. -
1970's: Gerald Ford
Gerlad Ford's presidency lasted for 2 years. He was a very modest person and never sugar coated anything from the public. During his presidency he pardons Nixon for the Watergate scandal, this led to the large distrust we have in the government today. He thought the pardoning of Nixon would blow off the issue but it only added to the distrust in Washington DC. -
1970's: Heritage Foundation
The Heritage Foundation promoted the conservative policies. This meant free enterprise with limited government along with individual freedom, family values, and a strong, firm national defense. It coincidentally was also a non-profit lobbying group in the 1970's. -
1970's: Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter's presidency was decided during the election of 1976. He was a very down on earth person and often walked around the white house with his wife with no protection. He invented the Domestic Policy. This policy pardoned the 10,000 draft dodgers and created the department of education. He also tried to end the recession by increasing the gov. spending cuts and taxes, however this didn't work how he planned and inflation surged in 1978. -
1970's: Iran Hostage Crisis
Shah of Islam was a major oil supplier. He was also a cruel dictator who killed his own people and was an anti- communist. He was obviously very unpopular with his people and really unliked, this led to the beginnings of riots. Ayatoilah Khomeini led Islamic revolution in 1977, he heavily mistrusted the U.S and this led to us giving amnesty to Shah. 52 Americans were held for 444 days and were released in 1981. -
1970's: Panama Canal
during Carter's presidency he also signed a treaty to give the canal to Panama. However, until the year 2000, the canal was completely given back to Panama. This was our way of righting our wrong doing to them years before. -
1980's: Iran Contra Affair
The Iran Contra Affair involved Sandinistas who were pro-communism and took over Nicaragua in 1979. Reagan secretly had been giving arms to Contras and when confronted by congress he completely denied everything and worked on keeping it hidden harder and faster. However, Oliver North who was a general takes the blame for Reagan until soon after a plane of arms crashed and the affair was wide open. -
1980's: Election of 1980
This election was won by Ronald Reagan (republican) after he had gone against Jimmy Carter (Democrat) Reagan was a former governor of California and was united with conservative coalition behind him. Carter entering the election during a bead economy and during the hostage crisis, after failing to rescue the people this held him down during the election. In spite the hostages were freed after Carter left presidency. -
1980's: Entertainment
Since many TV's were being and being bought like crazy, many television shows popped up everywhere and Cable TV was spreading like wild fire. Shows such as CNN, ESPN, MTV which brings us to Robert Johnson who became the first black billionaire. Video games such as Nintendo were invented and Mario games became big, along with this was VHS tapes. -
1980's: Discount Retailing
Discount retailing originated in the early 1960's and had a boom in business in the early 1980's. Stores such as Walmart, Home Depot, and Best Buy were being made all around that were chains of stores with low prices and more goods. This led to "Just-in-time-inventory", this is when stores ordered what they needed right in time for it to deliver the day the needed it. -
1980's: Reagonomics
After Reagan announced the "Reaganomics" he stated they were to cut income and corporate taxes. He claimed this would made business have to BOOM and after this boom there would be more money to be able to tax on. No problem right??? He reduced welfare spending and massively increased defense spending in order to defeat the soviets and eventually made them bankrupt. -
1980's: SDI
The Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) was often called "Star Wars" this was do the action of using satellite lasers to shoot down missiles coming or any near by. The U.S intended to sell give this to the soviets in order to balance things out to a stop. Meaning if they both had the same technology to constantly shoot down each other's missiles then what would be the point? However, instead of just giving it away they sold it to the soviets in ordered to make them bankrupt at the same time. -
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1980's
Between 1980 and 1982 the U.S. economy experienced a deep recession, the primary cause of which was the dis inflationary monetary policy adopted by the Federal Reserve. The recession coincided with U.S. President Ronald Reagan's steep cuts in domestic spending and led to minor political fallout for the Republican Party. -
1980's: Space Shuttle Program
the very first space shuttle was announced in Columbia and launched in April 1981. On this was Sally Ride who became the first American women to go into space. This space shuttle was called the "Challenger", sadly after just a few moment of take off the shuttle exploded in mid air, this was followed by having no survivors. -
1980's: Sandra Day O'Connor
Sandra Day O'Connor was the first female into the Supreme Court of Justice. She had been nominated by Ronald Reagan himself and happened to be a moderate. She sided with conservative of the courts viewpoints and also sided with liberals later on. However, Sandra Day retired in 2006 because of her husband declining health. -
1980's: Reagan Doctrine
The Reagan Doctrine was a strategy orchestrated and implemented by the United States under the Reagan Administration to overwhelm the global influence of the Soviet Union in an attempt to end the Cold War. -
1980's: Challenger Explosion
The Space Shuttle Challenger exploded on its 10th flight during mission. The explosion occurred 73 seconds after liftoff and was actually the result of rapid deceleration and not combustion of fuel. No one got out alive. -
1990's: Persian Gulf War/ First Iraq War
Iraq had fought Iran in the 1980's and ended the hostage crisis until it ended in a stalemate. The U.S and Arab nations lent Iraq billions of dollars. Saddam Hussein (Iraqi Leader) blamed Kuwait for the cheap oil and this hurts Iraq. After Kuwait refused to forgive Saddam and his debt towards them he invades Kuwait. -
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1990's
The 1990's involved the issues that are the following: Persian Gulf War / 1st Iraq War, North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), Election of 1992, Health Care Reform, Lewinsky Affair, Contract with America, World Trade Center Attack - 1993, Technology, Entertainment, Black Entertainment Television (BET). It was the moment in which everything was becoming more current. -
1990's: Election of 1992
The election of 1992 involved William "Bill" Jefferson Clinton who was once the governor of Arkansas and was a very charismatic, and understanding person. His opponent being George H.W. Bush who was mainly popular because of his actions during the Persian Gulf War. And Ross Perot who was an independent was also a successful businessman, however Clinton wins by 43% of the votes. Perot took values away from Bush. -
1990's: NAFTA
NAFTA stands for North American Free Trade Agreement and was started in 1993. It encompassed Mexico, The U.S and Canada, NAFTA knocked down trade barriers and put rules in place for several industries, specifically agriculture and technologies. Americans lost many of their jobs because of NAFTA. This also stopped many Mexican knock offs of products. -
1990's: Health Care Reform
Clinton wanted a long-time liberal goal of nationalizing healthcare. This was a one hundred year goal and task given by Hillary Clinton. Many republicans were getting out of the media Blitz, they called this socialized medicine, however the healthcare reform failed later on during the year 2009. -
1990's: Lewinsky Affair
Clinton was caught having an affair with a women named Monica Lewinsky, a 23 year old women who was a white house intern. Kenneth Starr, a prosecutor, heard about this and began getting close to Monica. After Kenneth became close friends with Monica, he found that it was true spills the truth about the scandal. Clinton began denying this completely until Monica brought some evidence claiming different. -
Contemporary: Election Controversy
The Florida center of contested election, basically Florida decides who will be the winner of the election. This meant no one could decide who won the presidency in the state of Texas. Gore won by having 226, and Bush with 246 electoral votes. Counting along with all the lawsuits lasted over a whole month! Eventually Florida announced Bush as the winner. -
1990's: Personal Computers
These became more affordable and was bought by millions. Computer industries were flourishing and became lucrative. Along with this came the internet. The internet started on military bases in the 1960's but was bought commonly years after. It was mainly used on college campuses and in tens of millions of homes. -
1990's: DOMA
The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), enacted in September 21, 1996. It was initially introduced in May 1996, DOMA passed both houses of Congress by large, veto-proof majorities and was signed into law by President Bill Clinton in September 1996. -
1990's: Oprah
Created well known talk show and is the richest black women right now. Her show consist of current issues and trends going during the day. She supported Obama in 2008. -
1990's: Lionel Sosa
Lionel Sosa was a Hispanic advertisement mogul. He created famous advertisements for big business' and big corporations along with presidential campaigns. -
Contemporary: Election of 2000
The candidates were Al Gore, a democrat, and George W. Bush, a republican. Al Gore was before Clinton's Vice President and environmentalist. George W. Bush was the governor of Texas during the 1990's and believed in ownership party. However, Ralph Nader, an independent/ Green Party, was also a former consumer rights advocate and environmentalist. This ended up being the closest elections in American history. -
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Contemporary
The more contemporary era of history involved many life changing events. A few of the many being: Affordable Healthcare, American Recovery and Reinvestment, the Great Society, the election of 2008 with Barack Obama, Hurricane Katrina, the Second Iraq War, the attack and fall of the twin towers, the PATRIOT ACT, along with the 2008, and all the controversial issues. The years of the 2000's were truly a revolutionary era. -
Contemporary: 9/11 Attacks
This was when the Al-Qaeda hijackers hijacked 4 planes. The first plane hit the World Trade Center and along followed the second one. The third plane hit the pentagon and the fourth attempted to hit the White house. However, since the White house is so well hidden, the White house was not hit. On the fourth the passengers fought and crashed on plain land, 2,973 died during this event. -
1990's: World Trade Center Attack
This attack is mostly known was "9/11." This was when the Al-Qaeda hijackers hijacked 4 planes. The first plane hit the World Trade Center and along followed the second one. The third plane hit the pentagon and the fourth attempted to hit the White house. However, since the White house is so well hidden, the White house was not hit. On the fourth the passengers fought and crashed on plain land, 2,973 died during this event. -
Contemporary: PATRIOT ACT
The PATRIOT ACT of 2001 was an act that expanded the government law enforcement powers. This was made due to security concerns that were a result of 9/11. Intelligent agencies conducted wide-sweeping searches and constant surveillance. They also detained immigrants and monitored bank accounts. Many began wire-tapping callers without a warrant to do so, this led many to believe that the presidents powers were being over-reached. -
Contemporary: 2nd Iraq War
The Second Iraq War involved Saddam Hussein and was all about the weapons of mass destruction. Saddam used chemical weapons to help him win the war against Iran in the 1980's. There was a rumor that supposedly tries to get nuclear and biological weapons. This led to Bush's Doctrine. The Doctrine was basically rid of terrorist and believed that Saddam was part of 9/11. Bush demanded UN weapons to be inspected in Iraq, Saddam refused. -
Contemporary: Hurricane Katrina
The Hurricane Katrina Disaster hit New Orleans and ended up putting it under water! Over 80% of New Orleans was sunk under the water and has stayed that way. This incident damaged Bush's public view even more and made his more unpopular. Because he hadn't acted fast enough and was unprepared and basically didn't know what to do, it ruined his image. -
Contemporary: Election of 2008
This election involved Barack Obama, a democrat, and John McCain, a republican. Obama was a first term senator from Illinois and was against the Iraq War. During his campaign he beat out Hillary with a nasty campaign. McCain was a former veteran and prisoner from the Vietnam War. He was also a former navy pilot and ran as a moderate. Both candidates promised to get out of Iraq. Obama wins. -
Contemporary: American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
Over 700 billion dollars were given in government spending. This created new jobs and saved existing jobs. This large action was an attempt to try and spur an economic growth to prevent the Great Recession from growing any further than it already had gone. -
Contemporary: The Great Recession
The economy went bust in the middle of the campaign during the fall of 2008. There were falling home prices, poor lending habits by banks, and risky investments. This led to massive foreclosures of homes and resulted in the government bailing out many industries. This was the worst economic collapse since the Great Depression. Bush bailed out financial issues and gives out 1 trillion dollars. At this point loans were almost impossible to receive. -
Contemporary: Affordable Healthcare Act
The Affordable Healthcare Act of 2009 was passed by Obama and called "Obamacare." He passed this to reforms to private healthcare.Basically this meant that everyone had to have health insurance of else they'd pay a fine. This made many liberals upset that there was not a single-payer system.
