The U.S. in Todays World

1. The U.S. in Todays World Ch. 26

2. The 1990’s & the New Millennium Sec. 1

3. Election of 1992

4. Governor William Jefferson Clinton of Arkansas was the 1st member of the baby-boom generation to win the presidency.

5. Clinton defeated President George Bush & Texas billionaire, H. Ross Perot in the election.

7. Bush’s popularity, which was sky-high after the Gulf War, fell as the economy went into a recession. • Clinton convinced voters he would move the Democratic Party to the political center by embracing both liberal & conservative programs.

8. Clinton tried to reform the nation’s program for health care insurance. • He appointed First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton to head the team creating the plan. • Congress never voted on the plan after Republicans attacked its promotion of “big government”.

9. Crime and Terrorism

10. Terrorism & violence raised Americans’ fears during the 1990’s & in the first years of the 2000’s. • In 1993, foreign terrorists exploded a bomb at the World trade Center in NYC

11. In 1995, an American terrorist named Timothy McVeigh exploded a bomb at the Federal building in Oklahoma City.

12. The OKC bomb killed 168 men, women and children.

13. School violence also plagued the nation. • In 1999, two students at Columbine HighSchool in Colorado killed 12 & wounded 23 classmates & a teacher before killing themselves.

14. In 2001, the worst attack on the U.S. in its history took place. • Foreign terrorists hijacked airplanes & flew them into the World Trade Center & the Pentagon outside Washington, D.C. • The explosions leveled the World Trade Center & severely damaged the Pentagon. • Approximately 3,000 people died in the attacks.

15. In the 1990’s, the major foreign policy problem was in Yugoslavia where Serbs embarked on a murderous policy of “ethnic cleansing” first in Bosnia, then in Kosovo. • The U.S. and NATO launched air strikes against the Serbs forcing them to back down.

17. A Serb commander puts a gun to the head of his son as he and his friends joke around while waiting for a prisoner exchange near Sarajevo, summer of 1992

18. Free trade was a goal of the Clinton administration. • In 1994, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was signed into law by President Clinton. • It provided for free trade b/w the U.S., Mexico, & Canada.

19. Critics of free trade opposed American actions by protesting at meetings of world trade groups in Seattle, Washington, & Quebec City, Canada. Seen here are Carlos Salinas, President of Mexico (back left), George H.W. Bush, President of the United States (back center), and Brian Mulroney, Prime Minister of Canada (back right).

20. President Clinton developed political troubles beginning in 1994 when the Republicans gained control of both houses of Congress. • Newt Gingrich, who became speaker of the house, led the Republicans. • The Republicans used a document they called the Contract with America to oppose President Clinton.

21. Clinton won reelection in 1996 even though he was accused of being involved in a land deal. The White River, near Flippin, Arkansas and the intended site of the Whitewater Development Corporation's vacation homes

22. He was then accused of lying under oath in questioning about an improper relationship with a young White House intern.

23. The House approved 2 articles of impeachment against the president even though a majority of Americans approved of Clinton’s job performance. • The Senate trial that followed in 1999 failed to convict Clinton and her remained in office.

24. The candidates in the 2000 election were Vice President Al Gore, (Dem) & Texas Governor George W. Bush (Rep)

25. There was confusion on election night over who won the state of Florida.Gore had won the popular vote.But whoever won Florida would win a majority of the electoral votes & the election.

26. Both sides sent lawyers & spokespeople to Florida to try to secure victory. Bush held a slim lead. • A manual recounting of the votes began. • Then the battle moved to the courts. • On December 12, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 to stop the recount. • As a result, Bush won Florida & the presidency.

28. After the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, President Bush began waging a war against terrorism.

29. The U.S. & coalition forces broke up the terrorist network in Afghanistan that was responsible for the September 11 attacks. • Then Bush expanded the war to Iraq. • Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was overthrown.

30. Saddam shortly after capture by American forces, and after being shaved to confirm his identity

31. On the home-front, Bush faced an economyhurt by corporate scandals. • He passed a $350 billion tax cut to help the economy.

32. Section 2 The New Global Economy

33. There was good news & bad news about the economy b/w 1993 & 2000. • Millions of new jobs were created. • By 2000, the unemployment rate had fallen to the lowest it had been since 1970. • But wage inequality b/w upper-income & low-income Americans also grew.

34. There was an increase of jobs in the service sector. • The service sector is the part of the economy that provides services to people.

35. By 2000, nearly 80% of American workers were teachers, medical professionals, lawyers, engineers, store clerks, wait staff, & other service workers. • The largest growth in the service sector came in jobs that paid low wages. • These included jobs such as sales clerks and janitors

36. Many companies downsized--- reduced staff in order to cut costs. • They hired temporary workers to replace full-time staff. • This had serious consequences for the workers. • Most temporary workers had lower wages, little job security, and few benefits. • This led many workers to feel insecure about their jobs.

37. Manufacturing jobs declined sharply in the 1980’s & 1990. • The loss in jobs in manufacturing led to a drop in union membership. • Workers with high-paying jobs saw no need to join unions. • Workers with low-paying jobs were too worried about losing their jobs to join unions.

38. Workers in high-tech fields such as computers, made up about 20% of the work force. • These new high-tech jobs demanded that workers have special skills. • Most workers who had high-tech jobs earned high salaries.

39. By the 1990’s, some people who had creative ideas about computers made fortunes. • Bill Gates was one of these people. • He founded Microsoft, a computer software company

40. By 2000, Bill Gates had assets of more than $60 billion • This made him the wealthiest man in the world. Bill and Melinda Gates, June 2009

41. High-tech business traded on the NASDAQ(National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotation System) exchange grew rapidly. • These Internet businesses called dotcoms created fortunes for their founders. • But the stocks of these businesses were terribly overvalued, and beginning in 2000 the NASDAQ fell sharply. • Despite the decline, new industries such as web security, and wireless communication had been founded.

42. Improvements in transportation & communication allowed people, goods, and information to move around the world faster than ever. • One of President Clinton’s major foreign policy goals was to expand trade.

43. In 1994, the U.S. joined other nations in signing a world trade agreement called GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) • GATT lowered tariffs. • It also set up the World trade Organization (WTO). • This organization was created to settle trade disputes.

44.  (dark green)   WTO founder members (January 1, 1995) (light green)    WTO subsequent members

45. Many people believed that GATT would be good for the U.S. economy. • But many American workers feared they would lose their jobs. • They thought it would help companies make products in countries where wages were low.

46. Many low-wage American jobs were lost as a result of NAFTA. • But exports to Canada and Mexico increased. • By 1997, there were 300,000 more jobs in the U.S. than there had been in 1993.

47. Developing nations also offered some businesses the chance to avoid laws on the environment. • For example, in Mexico, many assembly plants dumped dangerous chemicals on Mexican soil.

48. Section 3 Technology & Modern Life

49. President Clinton wanted to create an information superhighway. • This would be a computer network that would link people around the world. • The network would link cable, phone, and computers to provide entertainment and information.

50. Clinton appointed VP Al Gore to oversee the government’s role in creating the information superhighway. • They wanted private entrepreneurs to build the network. • But they believed the government should protect people’s rights to use it.