Transcript Chapter 27

Chapter 27
Entering a New Era
Chapter 27
Section 1: Politics in Recent Years
Scandal and Clinton’s Second Term
• Charges of scandal in Clinton’s first term, which Bob Dole had
emphasized in the 1996 campaign, continued into the new
administration. In what came to be known as the Whitewater
affair, Clinton was accused of having taken part in fraudulent loan
and land deals in Arkansas years earlier and of having used his
influence as then-governor to block an investigation of his business
partners. Attorney General Janet Reno appointed a special
prosecutor to look into these charges. As a result, some of Clinton’s
friends and former associates were convicted of various crimes and
sentenced to prison. Yet no evidence was found to link the
President to any wrong doing.
• Another charge made against Clinton, shortly after his reelection,
was that he had accepted illegal campaign donations in return for
political favors. A Senate committee found violations of campaign
finance laws by members of both political parties, but Clinton was
not directly linked to these violations.
Clinton is Impeached
• Clinton’s sixth year in office, 1998, began with good news: the
government had achieved its first budget surplus since 1969. This
bright moment was short-lived, however. Later that year, a scandal
erupted that engulfed Clinton, leading to only the second
impeachment of a President in the nation’s history.
• The crisis arose when the special prosecutor, Kenneth Starr, who
had been looking into the Whitewater affair, began to investigate
the relationship between Clinton and a young White House intern.
Under oath in a separate sexual harassment lawsuit Clinton had
denied having sexual relations with the intern. He repeated this
denial again to a grand jury convened by Starr in August. Eventually,
Clinton admitted to having had an “inappropriate relationship” and
to having “misled” his family and the country.
Clinton is Impeached cont.
• In September, Starr sent a report listing numerous grounds for impeachment
to the House of Representatives. Polls showed that while most Americans
criticized Clinton’s actions, a majority believed that he was doing a good job
as President and should not be impeached.
• Nonetheless, on December 19, the House voted to impeach Clinton on
charges of perjury and obstruction of justice. Most Republicans voted yes;
most Democrats voted no.
• The Senate trial that followed opened on January 7, 1999. Many senators
believed that Clinton had committed offenses, but debate centered on
whether these offenses qualified as “high crimes and misdemeanors,” the
constitutional requirement for conviction of a President. On February 12,
1999, the Senate voted to acquit the President.
• Support for Clinton throughout the process may have been bolstered by an
unprecedented economic boom. The Clinton presidency marked the longest
period of economic expansion in American history. As the economy
continued to grow, the nation maintained low levels of unemployment and
inflation.
The 2000 Election
• Leading up to the election, national polls showed that the Republican
candidate, Texas Governor George W. Bush, was virtually tied with Vice
President Gore the Democratic candidate. Polls also showed that many
Americans were not enthusiastic about either candidate.
• Much of the campaign debate focused on what the government should do
with the federal budget surplus. Bush and the Republicans wanted to give
much of this money back to the public in the form of a tax cut. Democrats
argued that most of Bush’s tax cut would benefit only the wealthiest
Americans, and that the surplus should be used to protect Social Security
and pay down the national debt.
• On election night, the votes in several states were too close to call; neither
candidate had captured the 270 electoral votes needed to win the
presidency. One undecided state, Florida, could giver either candidate
enough electoral votes to win the presidency. Because the vote there was
so close, state law required a recount of the ballots.
The 2000 Election cont.
• Democrats and Republicans argued bitterly over how
the recount should proceed. Charges were made on
both sides that the recounts were not fair or accurate.
• Eventually, matters reached the U.S. Supreme Court in
the case of Bush v. Gore. Like the nation, the nine
justices were sharply divided about how to remedy the
elections crisis. By a majority of five to four, they issued
a ruling that discontinued all recounts in Florida. This
ruling effectively secured the presidency for George W.
Bush. Although Gore won the national popular vote,
Bush won 271 electoral votes to Gore’s 266.
Bush on Domestic Policy
• Bush succeeded in gaining congressional approval of a
major tax cut, the largest in history. As part of this plan,
most taxpayers received a rebate of $300. Bush argued
that by returning money to the taxpayers, he would
jumpstart a faltering economy. Bush also pushed for
the passage of a major education reform bill. The
President’s plan called for increased accountability for
student performance, flexible funding at the state and
local levels, and targeted funds for improving schools
and teacher quality through research-based programs
and practices. It also proposed to give parents more
information about the quality of their children’s
schools.
Chapter 27
Section 2: The United States in a New
World
Post-Cold War Politics
• South Africa- The collapse of communism shocked the world. Just as
stunning was South Africa’s rejection of apartheid, the systematic
separation of people with different racial backgrounds. South Africa’s
white minority, which made up only about 15 percent of the population,
had long denied equal rights to the black majority. To encourage reform,
the United States and other nations had used economic sanctions, or
trade restrictions and other economic measures intended to punish
another nation. Finally, in 1990, Prime Minister F. W. de Klerk released
anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela from jail. Mandela had been held
prisoner for 27 years. Former rivals de Klerk and Mandela worked together
to end apartheid. In 1994, South Africa held its first elections in which
blacks as well as whites voted. These democratic elections produced a
new government, led by President Nelson Mandela and his apartheid
organization, the African National Congress (ANC). Despite fears of Civil
War, South Africa made a peaceful transition to black majority rule.
Post-Cold War Politics
• China- Probably the greatest source of tension was the
issue of Taiwan. China viewed Taiwan as a province of China
and refused to rule out the use of force to gain control of
the island. In particular, China warned Taiwan not to
declare its independence from the mainland. The United
States opposed any military action by China against Taiwan
and, against China’s wishes, sold fighter jets and other
weapons to show the American commitment to Taiwan.
• In 1996, as Taiwan prepared for elections, China held
missile test and military exercises nearby to try to frighten
voters away from supporting a pro-independence
candidate. President Clinton responded by sending
warships to the area to show the American commitment to
Taiwan.
Post-Cold War Conflicts
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•
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Some Yugoslav republics, including Bosnia, wanted to become independent
nations. The republic of Serbia-and its leader Slobodan Milosevic-wanted to
preserve a unified Yugoslavia, dominated by Serbia. A minority of Bosnians were
ethnic Serbs; they, too, opposed independence for Bosnia.
Thus, when Bosnia declared its independence in 1991, the Bosnian Serbs took
military action. Backed by Serbia, the Bosnian Serbs began a siege of Sarajevo,
Bosnia’s major city and carried on a ferocious “ethnic cleansing” campaign to
remove non-Serbs from the republic. Millions were forced to flee their homes, and
more than 200,000 people were killed in the most brutal violence seen in Europe
since World War KK.
When Clinton campaigned for President in 1992, he promised to take strong action
in Bosnia. Once in office, however, he hesitated, partly because America’s
European allies resisted the use of force. Finally, in mid-1995, an American-led
NATO bombing campaign pushed the Bosnian Serbs into peace talks. These talks,
held in Dayton, Ohio, produced a cease-fire and the commitment to allow foreign
peacekeeping troops, including thousands of U. S. soldiers, to monitor the region.
Post-Cold War Conflicts
• Israel and Palestine- In September 1993, Palestine Liberation Organization
(PLO) leader Yasir Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin signed a
historic peace agreement in Washington, D. C. It was an extremely difficult
step for both sides. The pact provided for Palestinian self-rule in the Gaza
Strip (between Israel and Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula) and in the town of
Jericho on the West Bank of the Jordan River. Also in the agreement, the
PLO formally recognized Israel’s right to exist.
• Radicals on both sides, however, tried to destroy the agreement by
carrying out terrorist attacks. In 1995, a Jewish extremist assassinated
Prime Minister Rabin. The prospects for peace declined. Then, in 1999,
newly elected Prime Minister Ehud Barak called for a greater commitment
to peace talks. The next year, President Clinton invited Barak and Arafat to
Camp David to try to settle the issues that still divided them. Although
they were unable to solve all the remaining issues, such as control of the
holy city of Jerusalem.
Post-War Conflicts cont.
• Hopes for peace then faded rapidly, and violence again increased.
Palestinian extremists stepped up their suicide bombings, killing
Israelis in restaurants, buses, and other public places. Israel
regularly countered these terrorist attacks with military strikes on
Palestinian targets, often killing civilians in the process. After a wave
of suicide bombings in 2002, Israeli troops reoccupied the West
Bank and completely cut off Arafat’s headquarters, trapping him in
his offices.
• In 2003, new hopes for peace emerged when the United States, the
European Union, the UN, and Russia presented the Israelis and
Palestinians with a “road map” to peace. Both sides approved the
plan, a three-step approach to establishing a Palestinian state in the
West Bank and Gaza Strip. In accepting the plan, the Israeli
government for the first time formally recognized the Palestinians’
right to a state.
The War on Terrorism
• On September 11, 2001, terrorists struck at
targets in New York City and just outside
Washington, D. C. Using hijacked commercial
airplanes as their weapons, the terrorists crashed
into both towers of New York’s World Trade
Center and part of the Pentagon. A total of 266
passengers and crew on the four planes lost their
lives. More than 180 people in the Pentagon were
killed. The number of people missing and
presumed dead after the assault was estimated
to be 2,800.
Afghanistan
• After the Soviet Union withdrew from Afghanistan in 1989,
the civil war there continued, as several private armies vied
for power. In 1996, one of those militias, a group of Islamic
fundamentalists called the Taliban, seized the Afghan
capital of Kabul.
• Taliban leaders sought to set up their version of a pure
Islamic state, banning such things as television and music.
The Taliban also provided sanctuary for Osama bin Laden,
who established terrorist training camps in the countryside.
The United States demanded that the Taliban shut down
the training camps and turn over bin Laden and other
terrorist leaders. The Taliban refused to meet those
demands. As a result, President Bush vowed that the would
“pay a price.”
Afghanistan cont.
• On October 7, 2001, the United States, along with
Great Britain, launched a bombing campaign
known as “Operation Enduring Freedom” on
Taliban military and communications bases. After
just two months, United States and rebel Afghan
forces had established an interim government in
Kabul. Though bin Laden was not found,
defeating Taliban was the first victory in the war
on terrorism. This war, according to Bush, would
not be limited to “instant retaliation and isolated
strikes” but would be “a lengthy campaign unlike
any other we have seen.”
Homeland Security
• Less than a month after the 9/11 attacks, Bush created
the Office of Homeland Security, to be headed by
Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge. Ridge took office
amidst a new wave of mysterious attacks. Anthrax
spores, which can be deadly if inhaled, began turning
up in letters mailed to the media and government
officials. This rare organism is considered a possible
agent of biological warfare-the use of deadly viruses,
bacteria, or other micororganisms against humans. By
December, the anthrax attacks had come to an end,
after a total of 18 people had been infected, fiver of
whom died. The attacks opened Americans’ eyes to the
dangers of bioterror.
Homeland Security cont.
• He attacks of September 11 and the potential for
further, more sophisticated assaults pointed to a need
for more safeguards against terrorism. The Bush
administration responded to this need by establishing a
new, Cabinet-level Department of Homeland Security,
with Ridge as its first secretary.
• It merged 22 existing agencies, including the Customs
Service, the Immigration and Naturalization Service
(along the Border Patrol), the Coast Guard, and the
Secret Service. The agencies would work together to
prevent terrorist attacks, to reduce the country’s
vulnerability to terrorism, and to design ways of
dealing with the potential damage of an attack.
Homeland Security cont.
• The Department of Homeland Security set to
work to make Americans feel more secure.
Perhaps the most obvious effects of the
department’s efforts could be found at airports
across the country. Thorough screening of
passengers and baggage caused lengthy waits for
air travelers, although most people welcomed the
tighter security. The new department also tried to
keep Americans informed of the risk of terrorist
attacks through a color-coded terror alert system.
Alert levels changed based on reports from the
FBI and other intelligence-gathering agencies.
War With Iraq
• Following the terrorist attacks on the United States in 2001,
President Bush sent a warning to hostile nations to stop developing
weapons of , mass destruction. Bush declared Iraq, Iran, and North
Korea to be part of an “axis of evil,” recalling the United States’
enemies in World War II., the Axis Powers.
• With the conflict in Afghanistan winding down, President Bush
turned his attention to Iraq. Despite Iraq’s defeat in the Gulf War.
Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein continued his brutal oppression of the
Iraqi people. He also refused to cooperate fully with UN inspectors
sent to Iraq to ensure that the nation destroyed its most dangerous
weapons. In 1998, Saddam had put a halt to all UN monitoring
activities. Bush pointed to these actions as he sought support in
Congress and among America’s allies for a possible attack on Iraq.
He also linked Iraq to international terrorist organizations.
War With Iraq cont.
• In October 2002, Congress passed a joint resolution
authorizing the President to use force against Iraq. Under
mounting pressure, Saddam allowed UN inspectors to
return to his country in November. Two months later, they
reported that they had found no banned chemical or
biological weapons or any sign of a nuclear-weapons
program. Despite this report and a lack of support from
several key allies, Bush went ahead with a massive buildup
of troops and weapons in the Persian Gulf region. Great
Britain, Poland, and several other nations provided support,
forming what Bush called “a coalition of the willing.”
• The war, which the military called “Operation Iraqi
Freedom,” started on March 19, 2003.
War With Iraq cont.
• Three weeks after the start of the war, American tanks arrived in
Baghdad. Saddam’s regime had fallen. Within days, all areas of the
country were in coalition hands, although violent resistance
continued.
• On May 1, President Bush declared that major combat operations in
Iraq had ended, but Saddam’s supporters continued to attack
coalition soldiers and others involved in rebuilding Iraq. In the
months that followed, coalition troops continued their search for
Saddam and his supporters. Saddam was finally captured by
coalition troops in December and many people hoped that his
capture would help put an end to the violence. Meanwhile,
American officials worked to restore Iraq’s basic services and began
putting the pieces in place for the Iraqis to establish their own
democratic system of government.
Chapter 27
Section 3: Americans in the New
Millennium
America’s Aging Population
• As the United States entered the twenty-first century, its population was
older than ever before. Advances in medical care increased the average life
expectancy of newborns from 47 to 77 years during the 1900s. In 2000,
more than 12 percent of all Americans were 65 or older, compared with 4
percent in 1900.
• The Social Security system, for example, faced difficulties because the
number of retirees receiving benefits from the program was rising faster
than the number of workers paying taxes into it. In fact, polls showed that
many young Americans doubted that the Social Security system would even
exist when they reached retirement age.
• Medicare, a federal program established during the Great Society of the
1960’s, paid for many of the medical expenses of older Americans. As the
number of recipients and the price of healthcare rose, however, Medicare
costs exploded from $7.5 billion in 1970 to more than $225 billion in 2002.
As with Social Security, federal law makers agreed that long-term changes
were needed but disagreed on what those changes would be.
A Technological Revolution
• Communication and Information– The
centerpiece of the Information Age is the
computer. Between 1984 and 2001, the
percentage of American households with a
computer jumped from 8 percent to 56
percent. In 2002, only about 10 percent of the
world population had access to the internet.
The “New Economy”
• The United States enjoyed the greatest period
of economic expansion in history during the
1900s, thanks in large part to the
technological boom.
• Education, therefore, has never been as
important to economic success as it is now.
Impact on Government
• The government also face a problem with the giant software
company Microsoft. By 1998, Microsoft had become the world’s
second most valuable company, worth some $200 billion. However,
Microsoft’s size and success gave it great power in the marketplace.
Several competitors argued that Microsoft was trying to drive them
out of business.
• In 1998, the federal government and 20 states sued Microsoft for
violating the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890. They accused
Microsoft of using its power to gain a monopoly over the market for
software needed to browse the Internet. In 2000, a federal judge
ruled that Microsoft was indeed a monopoly and had used unfair
business practices, and he ordered that the company be split apart.
The following year, an appeals court reversed this order but upheld
the judgment that Microsoft had acted improperly. In 2002,
Microsoft and the Department of Justice settled the antitrust case.
Trade and the Global Economy
• In 1993, the EEC nations formed the European Union (EU)
to begin coordinating their political and momentary
policies. The EU established a parliament and a council in
which all member nations are represented. In the late
1990s, member nations agreed to replace their individual
monetary systems gradually with a single new currency
called the eurodollar, or euro. In 2002 the EU, now with 15
members, voted to invite 10 additional European nations to
join. The following year, they drafted a constitution
designed to suit a greatly expanded union.
• One important goal of the EU is to create a European
economic unit that rivals the size and strength of the
American economy.
NAFTA
• Meanwhile, the United States encouraged greater economic
cooperation within the Western Hemisphere. In 1992, the United
States, Canada, and Mexico signed the North American Free Trade
Agreement (NAFTA), which called for a gradual removal of trade
restrictions among the three nations. The resulting free trade zone
created a single market similar to the marked of the European
Union. The goal of NAFTA was to stimulate economic growth.
• The U.S. Senate ratified NAFTA, but only after a bruising battle. Its
opponents worried that American jobs would move to Mexico,
where wages were lover and government regulations (such as
environmental controls) were less strict. In the years since NAFTA
went into effect, supplemental agreements have dealt with such
issues as worker rights, occupational safety, and environmental
protection.
Rise of Multinationals
• One multinational, the Enron Corporation, owned
energy-related businesses in the United States
and throughout the world. When it filed for
bankruptcy in 2001, Enron was the seventhlargest American corporation. A congressional
investigation into the bankruptcy turned up
improper accounting practices. Several Enron
executives faced charges of overstating profits
and enriching themselves at the expense of
investors. The resulting scandal led to the
collapse of Arthur Andersen, the global
accounting firm that monitored Enron’s finances.
American Economy
• Early in the recession, President Bush proposed to
stimulate the economy through a tax-cut package, to
be spread out over 10 years. Still, the economy
remained shaky through the next two years, with
unemployment rising to its highest level in 10 years.
• In May 2003, Bush signed another tax cut into law, this
one for $350 billion. The President insisted that this
“bold package of tax relief” would add a million jobs in
the first year and boost the stock market. Critics
charged that the tax cuts would create huge budget
deficits far into the future.