CLINTON-BUSH2-OBAMA

PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON

• 1993-2001 - "New" Democrat
• Pursued liberal and conservative policies on health care, budget reform, & welfare
• Balanced budget leads to surplus & paying down national debt
• Wins re-election on conservative issues
• Impeached & acquitted during 2nd term

Crime & Terrorism

• Improved economy & enlargement of police forces combined to lower crime rates
• World Trade Center Bombing (1993)
• Oklahoma City Bombing (1995)
• Columbine High School (1999)

Foreign Policy Challenges

• U.S. focus on regional conflicts: Somalia (1993), Haiti (1994), Bosnia (1995)
• Flourishing trade essential to U.S. prosperity & world stability
• U.S. creates permanent trade agreement with China; NAFTA (North America Free Trade Agreement) w/Mexico & Canada; & WTO (World Trade Organization) w/7 leading economic world powers

GLOBALIZATION

• Critics of free trade & global economy believe poorer countries are harmed as well as the American worker
• 1990s - U.S. businesses moved operations overseas
• Competition with foreign countries forces companies to maintain low-wages
• When one country enters a recession, others follow

PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH

• 2001-2009
• Republican
• 2000 Election - popular vote won by Al Gore by 1/2 million votes; Bush won the electoral college
• Florida recount gives Bush a win by 500 votes; Supreme Court decides election outcome by stopping FL recount
• Wins re-election despite divided nation

SEPTEMBER 11, 2001

• Coordinated terrorist attack by al Qaeda
• 1st two planes targeted NYC Twin towers - symbolic center of American finance
• 3rd plane targeted Pentagon in D.C.
• 4th plane crashed in Pennsylvania field
• 2,977 victims killed

WAR ON TERRORISM

• 2001: Anti-terrorism law; creation of Dept. of Homeland Security; increased aviation security
• Coalition forces begin bombing Afghanistan
• 2003: war expanded into Iraq; believed Iraq is supplying WMD to terrorists
• Hussein captured & executed by Iraqis

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA

• 2009-present
• Democrat
• 1st black president in U.S. history
• Inherited most costly war in U.S. history & rough economy
• Attempted to fix U.S. health care
• Ongoing debt crisis
• Re-elected in 2012
• Legacy to be determined...

IMMIGRATION TODAY

• 40.7 million foreign-born; 13% of U.S. population
• 2000-2012: 31.2% increase in immigration (still below 1890 peak)
• Today's immigrants are more diverse than they were 50 years ago - majority come from Asia, Central/South America, & Africa

21ST CENTURY TECHNOLOGY

• "Information Superhighway" - network of communication devices linking people & institutions across the world
• Internet began in 1970s; became common in households by mid-1990s
• Government wanted to keep access democratic & affordable, protect privacy & property rights, & develop incentives for investors