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Trickle-Down Economics
Leading economic theory of the 1920s where wealthy Americans prospered and their increased profits would theoretically help the middle class and poor. Similar to Reaganomics. -
California v Bakke
The Court ruled unconstitutional a university's use of racial "quotas" in its admissions process, but held that affirmative action programs could be constitutional in some circumstances. -
Sandinistas
A Marxist regime that had taken over Nicaragua -
Moral Majority
Political action group formed to further a conservative and religious agenda, including the allowance of prayer in schools and strict laws against abortion -
Religious Fundamentalism
Christian fundamentalism, movement in American Protestantism arose in reaction to theological modernism (anti-evolution) -
AIDS
Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome - broke out during the 1980s and federal funding was increased during the mid 1990s -
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan was elected president in 1980 and put an end to the Democratic dominance of Congress -
Supply-Side Economics
Also known as Reaganomics, and created tax cuts based on the belief that it would reduce government spending, would increase investment by the private sector, and lead to increased production, jobs, and prosperity. -
Economic Recovery Tax Act
A law that lowered income tax rates and allowed for expensing of depreciable assets -
PACTO Strike
Reagan fired thousands of striking federal air traffic controllers for violating their contract and decertified their union. -
Sandra Day O'Connor
First woman on the Supreme Court -
William Rehnquist
The Supreme Court Chief Justice during the Reagan Administration -
Boland Amendment
Prevented any government agency from providing aid to the Nicaraguan contras -
Beirut Bombings
An Arab suicide squad bombed the U.S. embassy in Beirut after the U.S. supported the Israel invasion of Southern Lebanon -
Geraldine Ferraro
First woman to run for vice president -
Walter Mondale
Jimmy Carter's vice president and was the democratic candidate in 1984 -
SDI
Federal government of the United States
The Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) was a proposed missile defense system intended to protect the United States from attack by ballistic strategic nuclear weapons -
Glasnot and Perestroika
Reforms created by Gorbachev that moved the Soviet Union to greater political freedom for its citizens and worked on restructuring the economy -
Mikhail Gorbachev
Leader of the Soviet Union who ended political repression and began restructing the economy -
Iran-Contra Affair
Reagan administration used the profits of arms deals with Iran to fund the contras in Nicaragua -
Immigration Act of 1986
The law criminalized the act of engaging in a "pattern or practice" of knowingly hiring an "unauthorized alien" and established financial and other penalties for those employing illegal immigrants under the theory that low prospects for employment would reduce undocumented immigration -
"Tear Down This Wall"
Speech made by Ronald Reagan that demanded Gorbachev to open up the divide between East and West Berlin -
INF Agreement
Gorbachev and Reagan agreed to remove and destroy all intermediate-range missiles -
PLO
The U.S. set up a homeland for the PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization) in the West Bank territories occupied by Israel and the PLO leader would agree to recognize Israel's right to exist -
Yasser Arafat
Leader of the PLO who would go and recognize Israel as a state -
George H.W. Bush
Bush was elected president in the election of 1988 -
Tienanmen Square
Prodemocracy students demonstrated for freedom in Beijing's Tienanmen Square, The Chinese Communist government killed hundreds of protesters. -
Lech Walesa
Member of the Solidarity movement and was elected in Poland in 1989 -
Fall Of The Berlin Wall
The Cold War had begun to thaw and East Berlin's communist party said that citizens were allowed to cross to the West -
Panama Invasion
U.S troops ordered to invade Panama in order to stop the country from being used as a drug pipeline. -
Saddam Hussein
Iraq's dictator who invaded Kuwait for oil and threatened U.S. oil sources in Saudi Arabia and the Persian Golf. -
"Read My Lips, No New Taxes"
Speech made by Bush, but he would late violate his speech by agreeing to Congress' proposed $133 billion in new taxes. -
Americans With Disabilities Act
Prohibited discrimination against citizens with physical and mental disabilities in hiring, transportation, and public accommodation. -
Breakup Of The Soviet Union
Slowly countries under the USSR declared independence until they all were all dissolved. -
Boris Yeltsin
First President of the Russian Federation -
Start I and II
Reduced the number of nuclear warheads to under 10,000 and then to 3,000. -
Persian Golf War
War attempting to remove Iraq from Kuwait. Iraq was forced to defeat in 1991. -
Clarence Thomas
Conservative judge who replaced Thurgood Marshall in the Supreme Court. -
Internet
The invention of the internet increased national productivity and made made e-commerce a part of American life -
Ross Perot
Entered the presidential race of 1992 as an independent and represented the people who opposed Washington and deficit. -
Bill Clinton
Elected President in 1993 -
Failure of Health Reform
Clinton's complicated proposal for managed health care rain into opposition form the insurance industry and small business organizations. -
"Don't Ask, Don't Tell"
Lifted the ban on gay and lesbian service members in the military, on basis that they would not talk about their sexuality and people would not ask about their sexuality. -
Brady Bill
A provision of US federal law that requires a waiting period for handgun purchases and background checks on those who wish to purchase handguns. -
EU
The European Union became a unified market of 15 nations where 12 adopted a unified currency, the euro. -
NAFTA
North American Free Trade Agreement - created a free-trade zone with Canada and Mexico. -
NRA
National Rifle Association - Defending 2nd Amendment and served as opposition to Clinton's policy -
West Bank and the Gaza Strip
The Palestinians were returned home rule of the Gaza strip and parts of the West Bank territories -
Deficit Reduction Budget
Congress passed a deficit-reduction budget that included $255 billion in spending cuts and $241 billion tax increases. -
WTO
World Trade Organization was established to oversee trade agreements, enforce trade rules, and settle disputes. -
Contract With America
Republicans led an attack on federal programs and spending in their campaign manifesto, "Contract with America.: -
Newt Gingrich
Speaker of the house during the Clinton administration -
Bosnia and Kosovo
Former Yugoslav provinces that were victim to ethnic cleansing from the Serbian dictatorship -
Ethnic Cleansing
Serbian dictator killed hundreds of thousands of members of ethnic and religious minorities -
Oklahoma City Bombing
Domestic terrorist truck bombing in downtown Oklahoma City -
Welfare Reform
Clinton compromised with the left and the right by keeping Medicare and Social Security benefits intact and limited welfare benefits to five years. -
Bob Dole
The majority leader of the Senate who became Clinton's Republican opponent in 1996. -
Madeleine Albright
The first women to serve as secretary of state -
G-8
The world's largest industrial industrial powers -
Clinton Impeachment
The House voted to impeach the president on two counts, perjury and obstruction of justice. However, the impeachment charge was not upheld. -
Nuclear Proliferation
North Korea stepped up its nuclear reactor and missile programs and India and Pakistan tested nuclear weapons for the first time in 1998. -
Al Gore
Vice President of Clinton and would later gain the democratic nomination in the election of 2000 -
Bush vs Gore
Election of 2000 where it had to be settled by the Supreme Court. Bush won the electoral votes against Gore. -
George W Bush
Elected president in 2001 -
Bush Tax Cuts
Congress passed a $1.35 trillion dollar tax cut spread over ten years. -
9/11
Terrorist attack on the twin towards and the Pentagon. The attacks caused a sense a patriotism in the U.S. and the public encouraged Bush to take action -
Al-Qaeda
Terrorist group who orchestrated the 9/11 attacks -
Osama bin Laden
President Bush declared that we wanted Osama bin Laden and other Al Qaeda leaders "Dead or Alive." -
Taliban
The Taliban government was overthrown after they refused to to turn over Osama bin Laden -
Homeland Security
A new Homeland Security Department was created by combining over 20 federal agencies with 170,000 employees. -
Enron
Company who had "cooked their book" and hurt the stock market and consumer confidence in the economy. -
Housing Bubble
The end of the technology boom-bust cycle encouraged many investors to move into real estate, which created another speculative "bubble." -
WMD'S
Weapons of Mass Destruction - Bush claimed that the U.S. would be justified in using preemptive attacks to stop the acquisition and use of weapons of mass destruction by terrorists and by nations that support terrorism -
"Axis of Evil"
What Bush described governments that his administration accused of sponsoring terrorism and seeking weapons of mass destruction. -
No Child Left Behind
Aimed to improve student performance and close the gap between well-to-o and poor students in the public schools through nationwide testing of all students, student transfer rights to better schools, improved reading programs, and the training of high-quality teachers. -
Abu Ghraib Prison
Prisoners by U.S. troops at Abu Ghraib were treated horrifically, violating human rights -
Operation Iraqi Freedom
Initial name for the Iraq War where the U.S. launched air attacks on Iraq after it was declared that they had not compiled with U.S. resolutions -
John Kerry
Democratic candidate in the 2004 election -
Hurricane Katrina
Category 5 hurricane that caused lethal damage along the Gulf coast from central Florida to Texas -
Kyoto Accord
International treaty which commits state parties to reduce greenhouse gas emissions -
Great Recession
The Great Recession was a period of general economic decline observed in world markets during the late 2000s and early 2010s. -
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
Financial institutions that were taken over by the federal government -
Hillary Clinton
Early favorite of the democratic party to became the 2008 candidate -
Barack Obama
Became the first African American president in 2008 -
John McCain
Republican nominee in the 2008 candidate -
Sarah Palin
John McCain's running mate in 2008 -
Tea Party
The Tea Party movement is an American conservative movement within the Republican Party -
D.C. vs Heller
In which the Supreme Court of the United States held that the Second Amendment protects an individual's right to possess a firearm unconnected with service in a militia for traditionally lawful purposes -
Sonia Sotomayor
First Latina Supreme Court justice -
Affordable Care Act
Obama Care - Makes affordable health insurance available to more people and provides consumers with subsidies that lower costs for households in the federal poverty level -
Arab Spring
Series of protests and demonstrations across the Middle East and North Africa -
Citizens United
Political spending is a form of protected speech under the First Amendment, and the government may not keep corporations or unions from spending money to support or denounce individual candidates in elections. -
Debt Ceiling
An upper limit set on the amount of money that a government may borrow. -
Syrian Civil War
Conflict in Syria between forces of the Ba'ath government and forces who want to remove the government. -
Dodd-Frank Act
Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act that placed major regulations on the financial industry -
Mitt Romney
Republican candidate in the 2012 election -
Boston Marathon Bombing
Terrorist attack that occurred when two bombs exploded near the finish lone of the Boston Marathon, killing 3 people and wounding 260. -
Shelby County vs Holder
The Voting Rights Act of 1965, which was signed into law as a defense against discriminatory voting practices, was altered in a controversial decision in 2013. The Shelby County v. Holder decision struck down a key provision of the act, the preclearance section, calling it “unconstitutional.” -
Same Sex Marriage
Same Sex Marriage was legalized in the U.S. in 2015
