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Smith Act
The Smith Act was the Alien Registration Act of 1940. The federal law made it a criminal offense to advocate the violent overthrow of the government or to organize or be a member of any group or society devoted to such advocacy. About 215 people were indicted under the legislation, including alleged communists, anarchists, and fascists. Prosecutions under the Smith Act continued until a series of U.S Supreme Court decisions reversed a number of convictions under the Act as unconstitutional. -
G.I Bill
The G.I Bill was introduced when President Franklin D. Roosevelt, signed into law. The purpose of the law was to provide veterans of the Second World War funds for college, education, unemployment insurance, and housing. Because of the act, hospitals, made low-interest mortgages, granted stipends covering tuition, and expenses for veterans attending college or trade schools were grossing. The first 5 years, nearly 9 million received 4 billion from the bill's unemployment compensation program. -
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Civil Rights
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The Iron Curtain
The Iron Curtain is a term that received prominence after Winston Churchill's speech. The Iron Curtain was the political, military, barrier that was constructed by the Soviet Union after the World War II. The purpose was the seal off itself and its dependent eastern and central European allies from open contact with the West and many other noncommunist countries prior to the decline of communism that followed the political events. The Iron Curtain came to an end when the Cold War ended, in 1991 -
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Cold War
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Truman Doctrine
The Truman Doctrine was enacted in 1947 and was introduced by President Harry S. Truman. The doctrine was an American foreign policy with a purpose to counter Soviet expansion geographically and politically during the Cold War. In 1948, the doctrine further developed when he pledged to contain threats to Greece and Turkey. Truman asked Congres for 400 million in military and economic assistance. He argued that if Greece and Turkey did not receive the aid they would inevitably fall into communism -
Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan became official when President Truman signed the Economy Recovery Act of 1948. It got its name due to George Marshall, who proposed the plan in 1947. The Plan was officially the European Recovery Program, which was an American initiative to aid Western Europe. This resulted in the United States giving 13 billion in economic assistance to help rebuild Western European economies after the end of World War II. It provided economic assistance to restore economic infrastructure. -
Berlin Airlift
The Berlin Blockade was one of the first major international conflicts of the Cold War. In response to the Soviet blockade of land routes into West Berlin, the United States developed a massive airlift of food, water, and medicine to the citizens of the other side of Berlin. For nearly a year, supplies from American planes sustained the over 2 million people in West Berlin. Because of the Airlift the blockade soon came to an end because it was clear that the Soviet Blockade of West Berlin failed -
The Fair Deal
In 1949, President Truman declares that American citizens have a right to expect from the government a fair deal. Truman announced his ambitious set of goals that include national health insurance, public housing, civil rights legislation and federal aid to education. He prescribed an increase in minimum wage, and assistance to farmers, and an extension on Social Security as well as anti-discrimination policies in employment. When Truman left office in 1953, his Fair Deal was a mixed success. -
Korean War (Forgotten War)
The Korean War was a war between North Korea and South Korea. Many of its tension increased when North Korea had the support of China and the Soviet Union. As for South Korea, they had received the principal support of the United States. The war sparked as North Korea invaded South Korea following a series of clashes along the border. The United States, as a principal force came to support South Korea. China came to the aid of North Korea. This resulted in Korea being split into two regions. -
Joseph McCarthy
In 1946, Joseph McCarthy was elected to the U.S Senate. In 1950, he publicly charged that 205 communists had infiltrated the U.S State Department. Senator McCarthy spent almost five years trying in vain to expose communists and other "loyalty risks" in the U.S government. During the Cold War, the insinuations of disloyalty were enough to convince many Americans that their government was packed with traitors and spies. He investigated gov't departments, resulting in what would be the Red Scare -
Beat Generation
The Beat Generation was considered a literary movement that was commenced by a group of authors whose work influenced the culture and politics surrounding America in the post-World War II. Poet, Kenneth Rexroth, influenced the development of the "Beat" aesthetic which rejected academic formalism and the materialism of the American middle class. The term beat generation was coined by Holmes, who wrote in his journal "Kerouac speaks to Harrington about 'beat generation' the 'generation of furtive' -
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The 1950s
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Bill Haley's Comets
Founded in 1952, Bill Haley and His Comets were an American rock and roll band and continued until Haley's death. The band was also known as Bill Haley's Comets. The group placed nine singles in the Top 20, one of those a number one and three more in the Top Ten. Many fans consider them to be as revolutionary in their time as the Beatles were a decade later due to the band's matching plaid dinner jackets and energetic stage behavior. -
Brown V. Board of Education
Brown V Board of Education of Topeka was a Supreme Court Case in which it declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students to be unconstitutional. The court case overturned the Plessy V Ferguson decision, which allowed state-sponsored segregation, in applied public education. The Warren Court's decision emphasized that 'separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.' The ruling paved the way for integration and was a major victory of the Civil Rights -
Jonas Salk
In 1947, Salk attended the University of Pittsburgh. There he began conducting research on polio. By 1951, Salk had determined that there were three distinct types of polioviruses and was able to develop a vaccine that kills the virus. The vaccine used polioviruses that had been grown in a laboratory and then destroyed. The polio vaccine began in 1952, the shot was given mostly to children. When the vaccine was approved for general use in 1955, Salk became a national hero and received a ceremony -
Little Richard
Little Richard helped define the early rock 'n' roll era of the 1950s with his flamboyant sound. With his croons, wails, and screams he turned many of his songs into huge hits and influenced such bands as the Beatles. Richard stepped into the recording studio and pumped out "Tutti-Frutti," an instant Billboard hit that reached number 17. The development of rock music has never been questioned by him. Little Richard was one of the 10 original inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. -
Elvis Presley
Musician and actor Elvis Presley rose to fame on the radio, TV and the silver screen and continues to be one of the biggest names in rock 'n' roll. In 1955, Presley began to develop a following with fans being drawn to his unusual music style. He was also recognized for his contributions to several musical genres, most notably rock, country, and gospel. He was one of the first to be inducted in Rock n Roll fame. Since his death, Presley has remained one of the world's most popular music icons. -
Polio Vaccine
Polio vaccines are used to prevent poliomyelitis. One type was the one that is used for the inactivated poliovirus, which is the injection. Another way is used is for the weakened poliovirus and is given by the mouth. The first polio vaccine was the inactivated polio vaccine. It was developed by Salk and came in the general use in 1955. The oral polio vaccine was later developed by Albert Sabin and came into use in 1961. It was the most effective and safe medicines needed in a health system -
Rosa Parks
Rosa Parks was a Civil Rights Activist who refused to give up her bus seat to a white passenger making it the spark of the Montgomery Bus Boycott and other efforts to end segregation. Her efforts helped launch nationwide efforts to end segregation of public facilities. The city of Montgomery had no choice but to lift the law requiring segregation on public buses. Rosa Parks received many accolades during her lifetime, including the NAACP highest award. Was known "the first lady of Civil Rights" -
Emmett Till Tragedy
Emmett Till was a 14 year old African-American who was lynched in Mississippi. The reason being was because a white women accused him of offending her at her family's grocery store. The brutal outcome and murder and how his killers were acquitted drew attention to the long history of violent persecution of African Americans in the United States. Till case became one of an important factor for people to view the injustice done and how African Americans were treated inhumanely. -
Ike Turner
Ike Turner made a string of R&B hits with singer and wife Tina Turner. In 1956, he met a teenager and singer named Anna Mae Bullock. He married her and helped create her stage persona, Tina Turner. They performed as the Ike and Tina Turner Revue and scoring a string of R&B hits, including "I Idolize You." Turner was frequently been referred to as a "great innovator" of rock and roll by contemporaries such as Little Richard and Johnny Otis. -
Sputnik
On October 4, 1957, the Sovie Union successfully launched Sputnik I. The world's first artificial satellite was about the size of a beach ball. The successful launch came to a shock to experts and citizens in the United States, who had hoped that the United States would accomplish the scientific advancement first. Because of the launch, many feared that the Soviets' ability to launch satellites also translated into the capability to launch ballistic missiles from Europe to the United States. -
Orval Faubus
Orval Faubus was an American politician who was the Governor of Arkansas from 1955 to 1967. Faubus was well remembered for the stand against desegregation of the Little Rock School District during the Little Rock Crisis. When Little Rock nine wanted to enter an all-white school, he ordered the Arkansas National Guard to prevent the black students from attending Little Rock Central High School. His first political race was in 1936, when he contested a seat in the Arkansas House of Representatives -
Civil Rights Act of 1957
In 1957, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed into law the Civil Rights Act o 1957. The Act ended segregation in public places and banned employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin is considered one of the most legislative achievements of the civil rights movement. The Act empowered federal prosecutors to obtain court injunctions against interference with the right to vote and established civil rights section of the Justice Department. -
Little Rock 9
The Little Rock Nine was known for a group of nine black students who were enrolled at an all-white Central High School in Little Rock, in September 1957. Their arrival at the school was a test of Brown V. Board of Education, a landmark Supreme Court that declared segregation in public schools unconstitutional. On Sept. 4, 1957, the first day of classes at Central High, Governor Orval Faubus called Arkansas Guard to block the black students' entry. Eisenhower sent troops to led them into school -
NASA
In 1958, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs an act that creates the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. He called the signing a historic step, further equipping the United States for leadership in the space age. Since the time, most US space exploration efforts have been led by NASA, including the Apollo Moon landing missions, the Skylab space station, and later the Space Shuttle. NASA science is focused on better understanding Earth through the Earth Observing System. -
Politics (Nixon & Kennedy)
In 1960, the debate between Kennedy and Nixon became the first televised presidential debates in American history. The debates not only had a major impact on the election outcome but they developed a new era in which public image and taking advantage of media exposure became one of the major essentials of a successful political campaign. The debate became controversial because the people who viewed the debate on television believed Kennedy won, however the people who listened believed Nixon won. -
New Frontier
The New Frontier was used by presidential candidate John F. Kennedy in his acceptance speech in the 1960 United States presidential election. Kennedy purpose and or ambition was to eradicate poverty and to raise America's advance America through the space program. After all, Kennedy's goal was to land a man on the moon. During his administration, there was aid in improving housing and transportation, funds were allocated to continue the construction of a national highway system. -
OPEC
OPEC was founded in 1960 in Baghdad by the first five members- Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela. The mission of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries is to coordinate and unify the petroleum policies of member countries and ensure the stabilization of oil markets in order to secure an efficient, economic and regular supply of pretroleum to consumers, a steady income to producers and a fair return on capital for investing in the petroleum industry. -
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The 1960s
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Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee
The Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee was a civil- rights group formed to give younger blacks more of a voice in the Civil rights movement. SNCC grew out of the southern christian leadership conference, led by Martin Luther King Jr. The organization was formed by black college students dedicated to overturning segregation in the south and giving young black blacks a stronger voice in the civil rights movement. They were encouraged to perform nonviolent protest as a political tactic. -
Nashville, Tennessee
In Nashville, Tennessee, sit-ins were part of a nonviolent act campaign to end racial segregation at lunch counters. The sit-ins campaign was coordinated by the Nashville Student Movement and Nashville Christian Leadership Council and were notable for its early success and emphasis on disciplined nonviolence. Sit-Ins were done at numerous stores in the central business district. Participants, who were mainly black college students, were physically and verbally attacked by white onlookers. -
Peace Corps
In 1961, President Kennedy signed a congressional legislation creating a permanent Peace Corps that would in a way promote world peace and friendship. The same day Kennedy asked Congress for a permanent funding for the agency, which would send trained American men and women to foreign nations to assist in development efforts. The Peace Corps caught the eye of the U.S public, and during the week after its development, thousands of letters poured into Washington from young Americans to volunteer. -
Lee Harvey Oswald
Lee Harvey Oswald was an ex-Marine and Marxist who was responsible for the assassination of President John F Kennedy. Oswald was honorably discharged from the Marine Corps and defected to the Soviet Union. About 45 minutes after Oswald assassinated Kennedy, he shot and killed a Dallas police officer on a local street. He later went into a movie theater, where he was arrested for murder and stated that he was a "patsy". Two days later Oswald was fatally shot in the basement of Police Headquarters -
Jack Ruby
Jack Leon Ruby, was a Dallas, Texas, nightclub owner who was responsible to fatally shot Lee Harvey Oswald, while he was in police custody after being charged with assassinating President John F. Kennedy. A Dallas jury found him guilty of murdering Oswald, and he was sentenced to death. Ruby's conviction was later appealed and was granted a new trial. But in 1967, as the date for his new trial was set, Ruby became ill in his prison cell and died of a pulmonary embolism from lung cancer. -
Assassination of JKF
In 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas where his political advisers were preparing for the next presidential campaign. While in Dallas, Kennedy was riding in a presidential motorcade in Dealey Plaza as well as his wife, Jacqueline, Texas Governor, John Connally, and Connally's wife, Nellie, when he was shot. 30 minutes later, Kennedy was pronounced dead. Former U.S Marine and Marxist, Oswald, was later arrested about 70 minutes after the initial shooting. -
Barry Goldwater
Barry Goldwater was an American politician, businessman, and author who was a five-term U.S Senator from Arizona. In 1964, he became the Republican Party's Nominee for President of the United States. Although he lost the 1964 presidential election in a landslide, Goldwater is the politician most often credited with sparking the resurgence of the American conservative political movement in the 1960s. While he supported other federal right measures, he was a vocal opponent of Civil Rights Act 1964 -
Counterculture
This was a period when long-held values and norms of behavior seemed to decrease, mostly surrounding the young people. Many college men and women became political activists and were the driving force behind the civil rights and antiwar movements. Much of the 1960s counterculture originated on many college campuses. The 1964 Free Speech Movement at the University of California, Berkeley, which had its roots in the Civil Rights Movement of the southern United States was an example. -
Daisy Girl Ad
Daisy Girl, other known as "Peace, Little Girl" was a controversial political advertisement that aired on television during 1964. The advertisement aired during the presidential election of Lyndon B. Johnson. Though only aired once, by his presidential campaign, it is considered to be the important factor in Johnson's landslide victory over Barry Goldwater and an important turning point in political and advertising history. The advertisement remains one of the most controversial political ad. -
Anti-War Movement
In 1965, the movement against the U.S being involved in the Vietnam War began among small peace activists and leftist intellectuals on college campuses and gained prominence further throughout the years after the United States began bombing North Vietnam. Anti-War marches and protests attracted a widening base of support of people over the years. For instance, there was a protest organized by Students for a Democratic Society attracted supported for the next 3 years, peaking in early 1968. -
Lester Maddox
Lester Maddox was an American politician who served as the 75th Governor of the State of Georgia from 1967-1971. Maddox didn't believe in desegregation and as a populist Democrat, Maddox came to prominence as a staunch segregationist when he refused to serve black customers in his Atlanta restaurant. This became controversial due to "disobeying" the Civil Rights Act. He later served as Lieutenant Governor during the time that Jimmy Carter was governor. -
Death of MLK
Martin Luther King Jr., an American civil rights leader, was shot at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. He was rushed to St. Joseph's Hospital, and was pronounced dead. He was a prominent leader of the Civil Rights Movement and Nobel Peace Prize laureate who was known for his use of nonviolence and civil disobedience. After his death many riots sparked. The assassination riots came to be known as Holy Week Uprising. His death led to anger and disillusionment. -
Earl Warren Supreme Court
Earl Warren was best known for his liberal decisions of the Warren Court. The Waren Court was best known for outlawing segregation in public schools and transformed many areas of American law, especially regarding the rights of the accused, ending public school sponsored prayers, and requiring "one man-one vote." It expanded civil rights, civil liberties, judicial power, and federal power in dramatic ways. The court brought an end to racial segregation in the US, incorporating Bill of Rights. -
Warren Burger Supreme Court
Warren Burger was the 15th Chief Justice of the U.S, serving from 1969 to 1986. Burger was best known to aid in securing the Minnesota delegation's support for Dwight D. Eisenhower at the Republican National Convention. After Eisenhower won the 1952 election, he appointed Burger to the position of Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Civil Division. In 1956, Eisenhower appointed Burger to the U.S Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and came to be known as Warren Court. -
The New Right
The New Right is a political movement of American conservatives whose agenda was to roll back liberal policies on foreign affairs, taxation, and government control over American life in general. The new right is a political movement made up especially of Protestants opposed especially to secular humanism, and concerned with issues especially of church and state, patriotism, laissez-faire economics. Been used to describe the emergence of Eastern Eu parties after the collapse of Soviet Union -
Stagflation
Economically, stagflation a combining of stagnation and inflation is a situation in which the inflation rate is high, the economic growth rate slows, and unemployment remains steadily high. The status raises conflicts for economic policy, since actions designed to lower inflation may exacerbate unemployment and other way around. The term is generally attributed to lain Macleod, A British Conservative Party Politician who coined the phrase in his speech to parliament in 1965. -
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The 1970s
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Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
The Environmental Protection Agency is an independent agency of the United States federal government for environmental protection. The President, Richard Nixon, proposed an idea called EPA and it began in 1970, after Nixon signed an executive order. The order establishing EPA was ratified by committee hearings in the House and Senate. EPA is not a Cabinet department, but the Administrator is normally given cabinet rank. The agency conducts environmental assessment, research, and education. -
Watergate
The Watergate incident was a major political scandal that occurred in the United States during the early 1970s, following a beak-in by five men at the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate office complex in Washington D.C, and President Richard Nixon's administration's subsequent attempt to cover up its involvement. After 5 burglars being caught, Watergate was investigated by U.S Congress. Nixon's administration resisted its probes, which led to a constitutional crisis. -
War Powers Resolution Act
In 1973, Congress passed a law in the aftermath of the Vietnam war. The War Powers Resolution is a federal law intended to check the president's power to commit the United States an armed conflict without the consent of the U.S Congress. This gives the United States President to send U.S Armed Forces into action only if Congress declares war. The War Powers Resolution requires the President to let Congress know within 48 hours of considering the U.S armed force to military action. -
Roe V. Wade
Roe V Wade is a supreme court that focused on the issue of the constitutionality of laws that illegalize abortion or restrict access to abortions. The court ruled 7-2 that a right to privacy under the Due Process Clause of the 14th amendment extend that it is a woman's decision to have an abortion, but that the right must be balanced against the state's interests in regulating abortions, which is protecting women's health and protecting the potentiality of human life. -
Endangered Species Act (ESA)
The Endangered Species Act is one of the few US environmental laws passed in the 1970s, and serves as the legislative to carry out the provisions that are required in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. It was proposed to protect critically imperiled species from extinction as a consequence of economic growth and development untempered by adequate concern and conservation. ESA was to prevent the extinction of species whatever the cost. -
Federal Election Commission (FEC)
The Federal Election Commission, abbreviated as FEC, is an independent regulatory agency serving the purpose to enforce campaign finance law in the United States federal elections. Created in 1974 through amendments to the Federal Election Campaign Act, the commission describes its duties as to disclose campaign finance information, to enforce the provisions of the law such as the limits and prohibitions on contributions, and to oversee the public funding of presidential elections. -
Nixon's Resignation
In 1974, President Richard Nixon announces his intention to become the first president American in history to resign. After two years of bitter public debate over the Watergate conflicts, Nixon was pressured b the public and leaders of his party to become the first president in American history to resign. He said himself, in his resign speech, that he no longer had a strong enough political base in the Congress to make it possible for him to complete his term of office. -
Election of 1980
The United State presidential election of 1980 was the 49th presidential election. Republican nominee Ronald Reagan defeated incumbent Democrat Jimmy Carter. Due to the rise of convservatism some historians consider the election to be a realigning election that marked the start of the "Reagan Era." In result, Ronald Reagan won the election by a huge landslide (winning 49 out of 50 states). This election received the highest electoral votes towards any presidential nominee in American history. -
Reagonomics
Reaganomics is the economic policies of the former US president Ronald Reagan, associated especially with the reduction of taxes and promotion of unrestricted free-market activity. Named after president Ronald Reagan promoted these policies that are commonly associated with supply-side economics, referred to as trickle-down economics or voodoo economics by political opponents, and free-market economics by political advocates. -
Robert Johnson
Robert Johnson was born on April 8, 1946, in Hickory, Mississippi. Johnson is well known to be the founder of Black Entertainment Television, also known as BET in 1979 with his wife named Sheila. He was also known to be the first African American to become a billionaire after selling the network to Viacom in 2001. Johnson has since started a new business, the RLJ Companies, and has invested in an NBA team, a film company, and political causes and campaigns. -
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The 1980s
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AIDS Crisis
The AIDS epidemic, caused by Human Immunodeficiency Virus, found its way to the United States as early as 1960, but it was first noticed by doctors after they discovered clusters of Kaposi's sarcoma and pneumocystosis pneumonia in young gay men in Los Angeles, New York City, and San Francisco in 1981. Infected foreign nationals were turned back at the U.S border to help prevent additional infections. The US deaths from AIDS have declined sharply since the early years. -
Sandra Day O'Connor
Sandra Day O' Connor was elected twice in the Arizona state senate. In 1981, Ronald Reagan was nominated her to the U.S Supreme Court. She received unanimous Senate approval and made history as the first woman justice to serve on the highest court, which is the supreme court. O'Connor was the key swing vote in many prestigious cases, including the court case Roe V. Wade. She developed a solid reputation for being firm but just. She retired in 20016 after serving for 24 years. -
Space Shuttle Program
During the 1980s, Kennedy Space Center made a critical shift. Instead of moving relatively quickly from one human spaceflight program to another, as in the fast-paced, the spaceport's workforce and facilities now were geared toward preparing and launching a revolutionary new spacecraft that would further advance the capabilities called the space shuttle. Space shuttle Columbia was the first space-rated orbiter in NASA's Space Shuttle fleet. It launched for the first time on mission in 1981. -
Music Television (MTV
Music Television is an American cable and satellite television channel owned by Viacom Media Networks and headquartered in New York City. The channel originally aired music videos as guided by television personalities known as "video jockeys". To begin with, the target demographic was young adults but today it is primarily teenagers that attend high school or college. MTV had its first 24 hour video music channel, launched onto television sets and sparked the introduction of music videos. -
Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) "Star Wars"
The Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) promoted a missile defense system and its purpose was to protect the United States from attack by ballistic strategic nuclear weapons. The idea was first announced by President Ronald Reagan. Ronald voiced his doctrine of mutual assured destruction (MAD), which he described as a "suicide pact", and he called scientists and engineers of the US to develop a system. The SDIO was set up in 1984 within the US Department of Defense to oversee development. -
Iran-Contra Affair
The Iran-Contra affair also referred to as the Iran-Contra scandal, was a political conflict that occurred in the United States while Reagan's administration second term. The scandal began when an operation to free seven American hostages being held in Lebanon by Hezbollah, a group with Iranian ties connected to the Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution. The plan was that Israel would ship weapons to Iran, when the US would resupply Israel and receive the Israeli payment. -
Reagan Doctrine
In 1985, President Regan pledged his support for his anti-communists revolutions in what would become known as the "Reagan Doctrine". The Reagan Doctrine was a strategy implemented by the United States under Reagan's administration to overwhelm the global influence of the Soviet Union in an attempt to end the Cold War. Under the Doctrine, the US provided overt and covert aid to anti-communist guerilla and resistance movements. Also, diminish Soviet influence in regions to end the Cold War. -
Persian Gulf War
Leader, Saddam Hussein order invasion and occupation of approaching Kuwait. Arab powers such as Saudi Arabia and Egypt called on the United States and other Western nations to intervene the conflict. Hussein defied United Nations Security Council demands to withdraw from Kuwait, and the Persian Gulf commenced. After 42 days of attacks, President George H.W. Bush declared a cease-fire on Feb. 28, which most Iraqi forces in Kuwait had either surrendered or fled. -
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The 1990s
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World Trade Center Attack- 1993
In 1993, terrorists drove a rental van into a parking garage under the World Trade Center's twin towers and lit the fuses on a homemade bomb stuffed inside. Six people died and more than 1,000 were injured in the massive explosion, which carved out a crater several stories deep and propelled smoke into the upper reaches of the skyscrapers. Around the time it was considered one of the worse terrorist attacks to ever occur in the United States. It would eventually become minor after 9/11. -
Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton was an American politician who became the 42nd President of the United States in 1993. Clinton presided over the longest period of peacetime economic expansion in American history and signed the agreement called the North American Free Trade Agreement. Although he signed the agreement, he failed to pass the plan for national health care reform. Clinton became the first Democrat since Franklin R. Clinton passed the welfare reform and the State Children's Health Insurance Program. -
NAFTA
The bill passed the Senate on Nov. 20, 1993. NAFTA is an agreement signed by Canada, Mexico, and the United States, creating a trade block between the three. The agreement came into force in 1994. It made into affect the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement between the U.S and Canada. The agreement created one of the world's largest free trade zones and laying the foundations for strong economic growth and rising prosperity for Canada, the United States, and Mexico. -
Lionel Sosa
Lionel Sosa is a Mexican-American advertising and marketing executive. Sosa entered political advertising. Sosa's success in the Tower campaign led several national companies to seek his advice for reaching the Hispanic population. In 1980, he created a new Agency, Sosa and Associates, which eventually became the largest Hispanic advertising agency in the United States. Due to his experience with Tower, he became active in presidential politics, serving as an adviser to Republican campaigns. -
Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey is a talk show host, producer, actress, proprietor who is best known for her talk show The Oprah Winfrey Show. The show has the highest-rated television program of its kind in history and was nationally syndicated. She was considered the richest African American of the 20th century. The first multi-billionaire black women and has been ranked the greatest black philanthropist in American history. She is considered by many the most influential woman in the world. -
Welfare Reform
In 1996, Clinton proposed the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 a comprehensive bipartisan welfare reform plan that will drastically change the nation's welfare system into one that requires work in exchange for time-limited assistance. It is usually the gov't's attempt to change the social welfare policy of the country. These reforms are to limit the number of individuals or families dependent on government assistance. -
DOMA
Defense of Marriage Act was a law that specifically denied the same-sex couples all benefits and recognition given to opposite-sex couples. The benefits included many federal protections and privileges. DOMA mandated that states banning the same-sex marriage were not required to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states and further elucidated that, for the purposes of federal law marriage could occur only between a man and a woman. Act was introduced with the support in Congress. -
Lewinsky Affair
The Clinton and Lewinsky scandal, mostly considered as an American political sex scandal, involved President Bill Clinton and White House intern, Monica Lewinsky. The scandal came to light in 1998. Clinton ended a televised speech with the statement that he didn't have sexual relations with Lewinsky. An investigation led to charges of perjury and to the trial of impeachment. He was acquitted on all impeachment charges of perjury and obstruction of justice in a 21-day Senate trial. -
Election of 2000
The United States presidential election of 2000 was a contest between Republican candidate George W. Bush then-governor of Texas and son of former president George H.W. Bush, and Democrat candidate Al-Galore, who was the Vice-President then. The election was controversial over the awarding of Florida's 25 electoral votes, the subsequent recount process in that state, and the unusual event of the winning candidate having received fewer popular votes than the runner-up. It was the closest election -
Bush V Gore
Bush V Gore was a decision of the U.S Supreme Court that settled the controversial election a recount dispute in Florida's 2000 presidential election. The court preliminarily halted the Florida recount that was occurring. Eight days later, the court decided the closely related case of Bush v Palm Beach County Canvassing Board. The Supreme Court decision allowed the previous vote certification to stand, as made by Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris, for George W. Bush as the winner. -
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Contemporary
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George W. Bush
George W. Bush was the 43rd President of the United States in 2001. He was elected president of the U.S when he defeated Democratic Vice President Al Gore after a close and controversial win that involved a stopped recount in Florida. He became the fourth president to be elected President while receiving fewer popular votes than the opponent. He is only the second president to assume the the nation's highest office after his father, following the footsteps of John Adams and his son John Q. Adams -
9/11 Attacks
In 2001 19 militants that were in relation to the Islamic extremist group al-Qaeda hijacked four airplanes and carried out suicide attacks against targets in the United States. Two airplanes unfortunately were purposely crashed into the twin towers located at the World Trade Center in New York City. Later that day, a third plane hit the Pentagon just outside Washington DC. After the fourth plane crashed in a field in Pennsylvania. Almost 3,000 people were killed during the 9/11 terrorist attacks -
No Child Left Behind Act
No Child Left Behind Act authorizes several education programs that are administered by the states. The law is a reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. States are required to test students in reading and math in grades 3-8 and once in high school. All students are expected to meet or exceed state standards in reading and math. The purpose is to close student achievement gaps by providing all children with a fair equal and significant opportunity to obtain a good education -
2nd Iraq War
The Iraq War was a protracted armed conflict that commenced in 2003 with the invasion of Iraq by a United States-led coalition that overthrew the government of Saddam Hussein. The conflict continued for much of the next decade. The post-invasion Iraqi government estimated 151,000 to 600,000 or more Iraqis were killed. The U.S. joined by the United Kingdom and several coalition allies, launched a shock and awe bombing campaign. Iraqi forces were overwhelmed as US forces swept through the country. -
John McCain
John Sidney McCain was an American politician that served as the senior United States Senator from Arizona since 1987. In the Presidential election of 2008, he was the Republican nominee for the President of the United States. In result, he lost to Barack Obama. He is known for his work in the 1990s to restore diplomatic relations with Vietnam, and for his belief that the Iraq War should have been fought to a successful conclusion. He has chaired the Senate Commerce Committee. -
Barack Obama
Barack Obama is an American politician who became the 44th president of the United States in 2009. Obama became the first African American to assume the presidency, he was previously the junior United States Senator from Illinois. During his two years in office, Obama signed many landmark bills into law. Main reforms were the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which is referred as the Obamacare, the Dodd-Frank Wall Stree Reform, and Consumer Protection Act. -
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 is an economic stimulus bill that created to help the United States economy recover from an economic downturn that began in late 2007. The Act developed in response to the Great Recession. Its purpose was to save existing jobs and create new ones as soon as possible. Also provided temporary relief programs for those most affected by the recession and invest in infrastructure, education, health, and renewable energy. -
Sonya Sotomayor
Sonia Sotomayor was born on June 25, 1954, in the Bronx borough of New York City. On May 26, 2009, President Barack Obama announced his nomination of Sotomayor for Supreme Court justice. The nomination was confirmed by the U.S Senate in August 2009 by a vote of 68 to 31, making Sotomayor the FIRST LATINA SUPREME COURT JUSTICE in U.S history! Sotomayor has been among the majority in two landmark supreme court rulings- one known to uphold a critical component- Obamacare- in King V Burwell. -
Affordable Care Act- Obamacare
The Affordable Care Act, often referred to as Obamacare, is a federal statute enacted by the Congress and signed by President Barack Obama. Obamacare was first used by opponents, then reappropriated by supporters, and eventually used by Obama himself. With the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 amendment, it represents the U.S healthcare system's most significant regulatory overhaul and expansion of coverage since passage of Medicare and Medicaid in 1965.
