Ch. 30 Assign. # 2 “President Bill Clinton”

1. Ch. 30 Assign. #2“President Bill Clinton”

2. Clinton’s 1992 Election Victory • Bush’s popularity (high after Desert Storm) dropped with the recession and the economic suffering of the middle class • Bush broke his 1988 election promise of “read my lips, no new taxes” to meet the challenges of the recession • Clinton’s campaign focus on domestic affairs (health care, environment, welfare reform, and economic growth) resonated with voters

3. A New President • Democratic Arkansas Governor • Breaks string of 3 straight Republican presidential victories • Baby boomer (born after WWII) • Preferred domestic issues to foreign relations • Yale Law School and Rhodes Scholar at Oxford, yet seemed in touch with average person as he related well to popular culture and didn’t talk down to people

4. Addressing the Federal Budget Deficits • Passed spending cuts especially in the military • Authorized tax increases • Supported new spending to stimulate job growth and economic growth (though not passed by Congress)

5. North American trade • NAFTA(North American Free Trade Agreement) a free trade agreement between the US, Canada, and Mexico • It opened Mexican markets to US products, but there were fears that manufacturing jobs in the US would move to Mexico • Canada is the U.S.’s number one importer and Mexico is number two • Canada is the U.S.’s number one exporter and Mexico is number three (China is #2)

6. Homosexuals in the Military • Clinton wanted to end the exclusion of homosexuals in the military, but this led to heavy criticism • From this debate emerged the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, which was in effect from December 21, 1993 to September 20, 2011 • The policy prohibited military personnel from discriminating against or harassing closeted homosexual or bisexual service members or applicants, while barring openly gay, lesbian, or bisexual persons from military service

7. Health CareReform • A task force to explore reform was headed by Hillary Clinton • The ensuing plan included: • universal coverage with employers paying 80% of costs • putting caps on premiums and on Medicare payments • Create a national health care board to monitor costs • create regional health care purchasing cooperatives • The plan was defeated in Congress through due to lobbyists for doctors, insurance companies, tobacco companies, retired people, and hospital associations

8. Crime • Clinton passed an anti-crime bill to fund drug treatment, more prisons, more police officers, boot camps for 1st time offenders, and a ban on assault weapons • Crime fell 20% during the 1990s • This is attributed to the decade’s prosperity, stricter gun control laws, a drop in the young male population, waning crack-cocaine epidemic, and tougher law enforcement and sentencing rules • U.S prison population rose

9. Welfare Reform Proposal • Clinton promised in campaign to “end welfare as we known it” • He proposed that all recipients of payments under the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (the federal welfare law that was in existence then) would have to go to work for 2 years • He also proposed job-training programs and child-care provisions in his bill, and provisions to try to force deadbeat dad’s to support their children

10. 1994 Midterm Elections FACTORS WORKING AGAINST CLINTON AND DEMOCRATS: • Failed health care bill signaled to some the end of the New Deal/Great Society style of top down reform • Support for gays in the military not popular • Clinton character issues dating back to when he was governor of Arkansas from Whitewater real estate scandal and Paula Jones sexual harassment charges • Despite overall prosperity most Americans not helped • Growth of conservative movement

11. Religious Right • Religious Right was led by Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson’s Christian Coalition, National Rifle Association, and the Heritage Foundation • Took stances against abortion, pornography, “radical feminism,” affirmative action, and the collapse of “family values” • Supported school prayer, attempts to downsize govt., reform of welfare

12. Contract with America • It was a promise that if the Republicans won a majority in the House of Representatives (for the first time in 40 years) that they would pass reforms favored by at least 60% of Americans according to polls • It was introduced 6 weeks before the 1994 Congressional election • Republicans did win the majority in the House of Reps. in this election Newt Gingrich, who became Speaker of the House with the Republican victory

13. On the first day of their majority in the House, the Republicans promised to pass eight major reforms: • require all laws that apply to the rest of the country also apply to Congress • select a major, independent auditing firm to conduct a comprehensive audit of Congress for waste or fraud • cut the number of House committees, and cut committee staff by one-third • limit the terms of all committee chairs • ban the casting of proxy votes in committee • require committee meetings to be open to the public • require a 3/5 majority vote to pass a tax increase • guarantee an honest accounting of the Federal Budget by implementing zero base-line budgeting

14. Welfare Reform • Clinton and the Republican House worked together to pass the Welfare Reform Act of 1996 • it ended Aid to Families with Dependent Children • It made states free to develop their own welfare programs with federal block grants • It limited most welfare recipients to 2 years of continuous payments or 5 years lifetime • Welfare rolls dropped 40%

15. Yugoslavian Republics Split Away • The Serbian leader of Yugoslavia following the death of communist leader Josip Tito, was Slobodan Milošević • He unsuccessfully fought wars to keep Slovenia, Croatia, and Bosnia from separating from Yugoslavia

16. Beginning of War Serbia • Serbia owned Kosovo, inhabited mainly by people of Albanian descent. • Kosovo wanted independence but the Serbs opposed them. • A vicious war broke out in Kosovo. • Serbia tried to push the Albanians out of their homes in Kosovo with violence and murder. Kosovo

17. U.S. Involvement • The United States took a lead role in Kosovo’s independence. • NATO began bombing Serbia for several months. • In June 1999, The Serbs agreed to pull out of Kosovo. • After the Serbs pulled out UN peacekeepers went in. • Kosovo is essentially independent today.

18. US Relations with Russia • Russia invaded breakaway republic Chechnya in 1995 • US backed Boris Yeltsin as he moved his nation to a free market system despite the economic suffering of his people during the transition • Russia opposed former Soviet bloc nations admission to NATO (Hungary, Poland, and Czech Republic) in 1999 • Vladimir Putin (former KGB chief and prime minister) succeeded Yeltsin as President in 1999

19. US Relations with the Middle East • Oslo Accords in 1993 provided for a Palestinian state and a return of Israel-held land in Gaza Strip and West Bank • Israel Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin who signed the deal was assassinated in 1995 • Hard-liner Benjamin Netanyahu replaced Rabin and the withdrawal stopped • Another attempt in 2000 to secure the plan failed and the Palestinians launched another intifada uprising • Israel elected hard-liner Ariel Sharon as its next prime minister

20. US Relations with Iraq • Saddam Hussein of Iraq blocked UN weapons inspectors from inspecting facilities suspected of making chemical and nuclear weapons (WMDs) in 1997 • Clinton sent warships and troops to the region • France, Russia, and several Arab states resisted a new war against Iraq and the stand-off continued

21. US Intervention in Somalia • In 1992 President Bush sent US troops to Somalia as part of a UN humanitarian mission • Somalia, a predominantly Muslin nation, was suffering through a civil war and famine • 44 US soldiers caught between the warring factions were killed • “Black Hawk Down” movie based on this • President Clinton withdrew US troops in 1994 and the UN mission ended there shortly afterwards • Later evidence proved that Islamic extremists directed by Osama bin Laden were responsible for the killing of many of the US soldiers there

22. Terrorist Attacks on US Targets • World Trade Center bombing in underground parking lot in 1993 killing 6 and injuring hundreds • Simultaneous bombing of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania killing 220 (12 Americans) • Bombing of the destroyer USS Cole in the harbor of Aden, Yemen in 2000 • Clinton ordered missile strikes on Osama bin Laden’s training bases in Afghanistan in response US Embassy in Kenya USS Cole

23. Globalization and US Role in the World • International trade and finance increasingly shaping American foreign policy • US popular culture (movies, music, etc.) reaching worldwide audiences • Religious fundamentalists denounce Western liberalism and secularism (including extremist Muslims who commit terrorist acts) • US people divided over supporting isolationism and involvement in international efforts to solve global problems • US involved in brokering peace agreements in Bosnia, Israel and Northern Ireland

24. UN and the End of the Cold War • With the end of the Cold War the UN was no longer held hostage by the veto power of the superpowers who fought in it (US and USSR) • UN could fulfill its mission as intended when created in 1945 • UN peace-keeping forces deployed in 15 nations by 2000 • Other UN agencies focused on issues involving children, women, hunger, and human-rights • Mass violence perpetrators from nations like Bosnia, Rwanda, and Liberia faced trials in UN courts

25. Tobacco Industry Regulations • The tobacco industry agreed to pay $368 billion in lawsuit settlements with former smokers who had high medical costs • The agreement needed government approval and Republicans backed by tobacco lobbyists killed a bill to raise cigarette taxes • Tobacco industry reached a new settlement with states

26. Clinton Scandals • Paula Jones scandal –a former Arkansas state employee Paula Jones filed a sexual harassment suit in 1994 against U.S. President Bill Clinton in which she claimed that Clinton, then Governor of Arkansas, crudely propositioned her • Whitewater scandal – a 1994-1998 investigation into a failed business called the Whitewater Development Corp. (which the Clinton’s owned half of) and whether Clinton used his power as governor of Arkansas

27. Clinton Impeachment • During the Whitewater investigation information came out about an affair Clinton was having with a White House intern named Monica Lewinski • Clinton lied under oath saying “I did not have sexual relations with that woman Monica Lewinsky” • Linda Tripp a friend of Lewinsky provided Kenneth Star a lawyer with taped phone conversations between Lewinsky and Clinton • Clinton was impeached (charged with a crime) on December of 1998 by the U.S. House of Representatives (with a Republican majority) • The Democratic controlled Senate never held a trial and Clinton finished his 2nd term

28. Columbine School Shooting • On April 20th, 1999, Eric Harris,18, and Dylan Klebold,17, went on a shooting rampage in Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado • 12 students and one teacher and one teacher were killed and 23 others were injured • Among those killed were John Tomlin (formerly of Waterford) and Rachel Scott (known for Rachel’s Challenge) • They turned the guns on themselves afterwards

29. Conservative Extremists Turn Violent • A conservative backlash against gay rights and abortion rights existed in the 1990s • In 1998 two young men tortured and murdered a gay student of the University of Wyoming named Matthew Shepard • Five physicians who provided abortions were murdered and other clinics were bombed in the 1990s

30. On April 19th, 1995 in downtown Oklahoma City at the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building an explosion destroyed much of the building The bomb was hidden in a rental truck that parked right in front of the building This was the worst terrorist attack on US soil until 9/11 Timothy McVeigh a radical militia member was executed for the bombing He did it in retaliation to a govt. raid on a militant group’s headquarters in Waco, Texas the previous year Oklahoma City Bombing

31. Changes to Demographics • 33 million more people in the decade • Population shift to the South and West continued (South up 15 million, West up 10) • Medium age up to 35.3 years old due to Baby Boomers (45-54 year old age group up 50%) • Traditional “nuclear family” down from 74% to 52% • Unmarried partners in one household up to 5% • People living alone up to 25% of households

32. Racial Diversity by 2000 - • 70% white European • 13% Hispanic • 12% African American • 4% Asian • 1% Native American (Whites are expected to no longer be a majority by the year 2050)

33. Problems Facing Minority Groups • Mexican illegal immigration dangerous • African-American community faced problems with higher unemployment, lower income, lower college education rates, but all these stats were slowly improving • Inner city problems of drugs and crime persisted along with out of wedlock pregnancies • Hispanics faced similar poverty-related problems • Native Americans acting upon increased tribal rights faced a backlash, and problems such as alcoholism, joblessness, and poor education persisted

34. Public Health Improves • Life expectancy up from age 74 (1980) to 77 (1999) • Decline in cigarette smoking (under 25% by 2000) down from 44% in 1940s and 1950s • AIDS epidemic finally peaked by1993 through awareness, and fatality rate drops as HIV becomes more treatable

35. Changes to Nation’s Work Force • % of professional and technical workers continued to go up to 58% • % of craftsmen and laborers down to 38% • % of farmers and miners down to 4%

36. 1990s – A New Gilded Age? • The rich got much richer and the perception grew that the rich were turning their back on the rest of society • This could be seen in diminished civil engagement, weaker interest in public issues, and lower voting rates • The internet contributed to a lack of socialization, as more people tended to stay at home

37. OJ Simpson Arrested for Murder • OJ Simpson won the Heisman Award as a running back for USC and in 1973 set the NFL rushing record with 2,003 yards in a season • In 1995, a few years after she divorced him, Nicole Simpson and Ron Goldman were knifed to death. • Simpson was considered a suspect and promised to turn himself into the police but he never did. • Several hours later he was spotted by the police and took part in a “low speed chase”. • He had a disguise, a gun, luggage, and a plane ticket with him.

38. The Court Case • Bloody footprints and a trail of blood leading away from the bodies of the victims • Nicole’s neck was cut from ear to ear and her head was nearly severed from her body • Ronald was stabbed multiple times including ‘taunting’ type wounds indicating that he may have been tortured before his murder • Even with no murder weapon, no good fingerprints, and no witnesses to the murders, the prosecution presented a very strong case • Supported by DNA evidence, they fully expected a conviction • LAPD detective Mark Furhman was accused of planting evidence at the crime scene and he refused to testify • One of the major pieces of evidence was the bloody glove which OJ had difficulty putting on during the trial • “If the glove don’t fit, you must acquit”

39. Aftermath of the OJ Trial • The OJ Simpson murder case became known as the most publicized criminal case in history • The case did a lot of harm to race relations in the United States because African Americans believed he was innocent and whites believed he was guilty • The media began to make people famous • DNA labs and police forces were improved • Months later OJ took part in a civil trial where the family of the murder victims sued him • He was found guilty and was ordered to pay $33,500,000 to the victims’ families • After this event he struggled to find acting jobs and couldn’t pay the amount due