US_Ch13_info

=**The Moral and Political Crossroads (1989-2008) Background Information**=

**__Win One For the Gipper__:**
In 1988, Vice President George H.W. Bush was the Republican nominee and was told by Reagan to "go out there and win one for the Gipper." Bush had earned wealth through hard work in the oil industry. He was not seen as conservative as Reagan, but had to run on Reagan's record. Bush wasn't committed to tax cuts, but since it worked under Reagan, he said on TV "Read my lips! No new taxes." His running-mate would be Dan Quayle, who many opponents ridiculed in terms of his intelligence. The Democrats went with Michael Dukakis, a liberal governor from Massachusetts. The Democrat Party was suffering from only appealing to special interests - minorities (blacks, Hispanics, homosexuals, and Feminists), unions, and environmentalists and pushed away the larger working class and middle class voters. Also, self-appointed civil rights spokesman Jesse Jackson announced his candidacy forming the Rainbow Coalition, made of special interest groups that claimed to be victims, but didn't get the nomination. Dukakis was ahead of Bush in the polls until the public saw some of Dukakis's liberal policies such as the prison furlough program in Massachusetts. One TV ad showed Willie Horton who took advantage of his Massachusetts prison furlough to commit rape. Dukakis also hurt himself when trying to bolster his image, he rode in a tank with only his helmeted head sticking out. Political cartoons likened him to Beetle Bailey. Bush won the election picking up 53% of the vote.

**__Communism Collapses in Europe__:**
In terms of the Cold War, Bush agreed with Reagan's policies. Labor strikes in Poland led by Lech Walesa and the Solidarity movement was taking place while Hungary announced they were rolling up the "iron curtain." Czechoslovakia and Romania followed, then the Berlin Wall was brought down and the USSR could only watch just having removed troops from Afghanistan. In the USSR, the Baltic States (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania) that were brutally seized by Stalin in 1939 broke away. The Soviet Union would hold elections and Gorbachev believed the Russian people would view him as a man of peace like the American and European journalists portrayed, but the Communists were voted out. Boris Yeltsin, chairman of the Russian parliament, was becoming the anti-communist movement leader and would lead the new Commonwealth of Independent States, which were 11 separate republics. The U.S. Congress gave half a billion dollars to help the new democracies. However, a peace transition didn't come instantly. The end of Cold War spending sent the U.S. economy into turmoil with less spending in defense. Companies scrambled to get out of needing defense contracts.

Other crises in the world would develop after the fall of the Soviet Union. China was experiencing a student and worker protest for democracy in Tiananmen Square. The Chinese government sent tanks and soldiers establishing martial law and crushing the protests. In Panama, leader Manuel Noriega aided drug traffickers. Bush sent forces to capture Noriega. In South Africa, Nelson Mandela successfully fought to end Apartheid, or segregation and discrimination by the white minority group in power.

**__Saddam Hussein and the Persian Gulf War__:**
Iraq invaded Kuwait on August 2, 1990 claiming it was rightfully part of Iraq (Saddam Hussein wanted Kuwait's oil) and also blamed Kuwait increase in oil production hurt Iraq's prices. If this invasion was allowed to take place, it would disrupt the flow of oil. To keep Iraq from going Saudi Arabia next, Bush sent troops to Saudi Arabia to help keep it secure, known as Operation Desert Shield, while giving U.N. sanctions a chance to work. U.S. troops would be under the command of General Norman Schwartzkopf. Democrats criticized Bush's move fearing another Vietnam while some Republicans criticized "unchecked internationalism." Bush made sure not to get locked into another Vietnam. He had strategic leadership in Colin Powell as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Dick Cheney, the Secretary of Defense. Bush made sure not to get into another Vietnam by several means. First, Bush was able to mobilize a powerful world alliance. The U.N. approved involvement. Then, Bush convinced NATO and several Arab nations to help. Bush convinced Russia not to sale arms to Iraq, which was the first time since the start of the Cold War that the U.S. and Russia were on the same side of an alliance. He set a clear strategy - liberate Kuwait.

U.S. air superiority and air force, army, and navy working together proved effective. When fighting broke out between U.N. and U.S. forces against Iraq, it became known as Operation Desert Storm. There were few casualties. The U.S. used SAR (synthetic aperture radar) and therefore could i.d. all movements. Powell said he would "cut off the head and kill the body" of the Iraqi army. This was fulfilled since radar technology could see all Iraqi movements. Iraq lost 26% of their tanks, 55% of their armored personnel carriers, 90% of their artillery, and Iraqi soldiers were deserting at rates of 25 to 30%. On February 28, 1991 Hussein agreed to allied terms including a no fly zone, U.N. weapons inspections, but he stayed in power. Removing Saddam would've required U.S. troops as "peacekeepers" in between factions that would fight for power if Saddam was removed and Arab allies feared the rise of Shi'ite fundamentalists if Saddam was gone.

**__"A Kinder, Gentler America"__:**
The Persian Gulf War gave Bush high approval ratings, but it was only temporary since the economy slowed down in 1991 into 1992 as a mild recession hit (though the biased media made it seem like the worst depression in 50 years). Bush surrounded himself with Keynesians who saw tax increases as the only solution to budget deficits. Pressure was building on Bush to compromise with the Democrat Congress and raise taxes. Democrats controlled Congress for 30 years and were comfortable with yearly deficits and that only wanted to solve deficits with taxes. Bush agreeing to do this went against his campaign "read my lips" pledge. He underestimated how upset the public would be. The Republican base was outraged. Newspaper headlines read "Read my lips: I lied." Bush put himself in a hole since he sided with Democrats and he couldn't tout tax cuts as a way to end the economic slide. Also, he seemed out of touch with the lives of ordinary Americans and unwilling to embrace the Reagan legacy. Bush's campaign theme in 1992 was wanting a "kinder, gentler America." This seemed to go against Reagan's self-reliance approach. Bush's Americans with Disabilities Act and stricter environmental laws sided with Democrats, yet the media still criticized him. When Thurgood Marshall retired from the Supreme Court, Bush appointed Clarence Thomas who eventually got approved by the Senate. Thomas represented a new class of African-Americans who became prosperous with minimal if any government aid, which was different from new civil rights leaders (like Jesse Jackson) who wanted much more government aid to African-Americans. Racial injustice was often used by civil rights activists to mobilize black political support. In April of 1996, four white L.A.P.D. officers attempted to stop Rodney King who was running from the police at speeds of over 100 mph. Once stopped, he resisted arrest and in the struggle ended up beaten and tasered. It was all caught on tape. The officers were found not guilty by an all-white jury. Riots began in Los Angeles as a result. The Bush Justice Department brought the officers in for civil rights charges and found two of them guilty and spent 30 months in jail.

__**Out-of-Control Government Spending**__**:**
Americans were frustrated with the national debt and annual deficits, but both parties touted the ability to bring home the dollars (like Johnstown's John Murtha who brought money to Johnstown such as for the little airport). The House of Representatives is the house of Congress that starts all spending bills (stated in Constitution). The Democrat Party controlled the House of Representatives for decades and would not bring any tax cut bill or spending cut bill to the floor for a vote. Democrat leaders killed proposals to cut spending in committees quietly and away from public roll call votes so politicians could easily deny being big spenders. Republicans either had to play along by proposing spending bills or not have any Republican legislation make it through. In addition, politicians became more permanent in D.C. than ever before (far from Thomas Jefferson's idea of citizen legislators). Most were lawyers who went right from law school to government work. Most never earned a profit in business and when these types of politicians were short on money, they just raised taxes or ran a budget deficit (borrowed money/spent more than brought in).

Ross Perot, a Texas billionaire, tapped into the anti-Washington sentiment. He had successfully run the business Electronic Data Systems (EDS). Perot entered the presidential race in 1992 as the head of the new Reform Party wanting to bring down the debt and balance the budget. The media turned hostile toward him for not being sharp on the issues. Perot had a lot of supporters but he dropped out of the race in July of 1992. He re-entered the race in October when the press had to pay more attention to the established Republican and Democrat candidates.

President George Bush was re-nominated by the Republican Party for re-election. The Democrat Party learned from 1984 (Mondale) and from 1988 (Dukakis) that their candidate had to be more moderate and that a hard core liberal would not win. This idea brought forward Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton, who supported some moderate positions like a free-trade agreement and welfare reform, plus he touted law-and-order issues as well as spoke against deficits. Clinton still wanted liberal ideas but with different language. He called increases in government spending "investment" and referred to taxes as "contributions." With a lot of campaign money and running as a candidate for the middle class, Clinton should have had it easy to win, but he stumbled. Clinton had to dodge questions about dodging the Vietnam draft and participated in anti-war protests in England. In addition, Clinton had to deflect questions of marriage infidelity - Gennifer Flowers had a tape of him telling her to lie about their affair. Dodging the draft and the extramarital affair stories were both buried by the biased media until the stories could no longer be contained. Clinton ran as a young, hip baby boomer and admitted to smoking marijuana, but "didn't inhale." It became known that as governor, he used state troopers to "introduce" him to women. Most women kept quiet about it, but those who spoke out were deemed "nuts and sluts" by the Clinton campaign. Clinton won the election getting 43% of the vote to Bush's 41% with Perot picking up 19%. Perot took votes from both parties, but did hurt Bush's bid for re-election by raising issues that detracted from Clinton's character issues.

**__The Clinton Presidency__:**
Bill Clinton's presidency is always a matter of debate. Liberals point to good economic times of the 1990s while conservatives point to a Republican resurgence in Congress along with scandals involving the Clintons. The president would have a lot of influence from his wife, Hillary Clinton, who played a vital role. Hillary Clinton was a Yale Law School graduate and a staffer in the Nixon impeachment. She ran her husband's campaigns, directed and organized the staff, and controlled his appearances. She was ambitious herself and she knew that her career relied on his. She would play the role of loyal wife in order to get into power and once in office, Bill Clinton would reward her through policy appointments. She would head the task force to review and fix the nation's health care "crisis." The only real crisis was the lack of congressional will to cut costs or raise revenue for the costly and inefficient Medicare and Medicaid programs. Instead, Hillary and the Democrats diverted the debate to imply that anyone who lacked insurance had no access to medical treatment. In reality, many small business owners found it cheaper (for them personally) to not pay to have insurance and just pay medical costs when they came up. Also, anyone could go to the emergency room and get treatment with or without insurance.

Hillary Clinton developed a health care plan by meeting with allies of her plan and other experts in secret (violation of the federal Sunshine Laws that require government meetings to be public). She unveiled her massive plan that would've put a major part of the economy (about 1/7 of the American economy) under government control. Her plan would tell doctors where to practice, would tell Americans which doctors to see, would issue fines and possible jail time to doctors who took cash payments and patients who paid in cash. In addition, there would be a mandate requiring employers to pay for health care for employees. While mandate may sound good (businesses pay for health care for employees by law, not just a benefit offered for certain jobs), millions of small businesses would have been wiped out - large corporations could handle such costs - not small businesses though. Conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh led the push against "Hillarycare" by reading critiques by Democratic consumer writer Elizabeth McCaughey (who actually read the 1,342 page bill). The Democrat controlled House of Representatives refused to bring it up for a vote.

President Clinton stumbled on his own too at the start of his presidency. He was going to lift the ban on homosexuals in the military, but military and family groups protested, which forced Clinton to retreat to the policy of "Don't ask, don't tell." In addition, his first budget hiked taxes (including Social Security, which was a tax on the elderly). Clinton put V.P. Al Gore in charge of reducing the size of government. Gore came back with a report to cut 305,000 government jobs - of those 305,000 jobs, 286,000 were military. There would be major military cuts under Clinton.

The public became concerned about unethical and/or illegal activities of the Clintons and the cabinet (which was ranking up there with Harding's and Grant's cabinet). Clinton had problems of his own as well. The first was the Clintons' involvement in the bankrupt Whitewater Development Company, which led a three-judge panel to name Robert Fiske to investigate. Whitewater was a failed real estate project that involved Clinton associates in which the Clintons may or may not have received benefits. Fiske was demonized by Clinton media managers who also went after Fiske's replacement Kenneth Starr. By 1993, evidence had surfaced that the Clintons got preferential treatment in the way of waived fees and had their share of the investment down payment put up by others. Hillary's name was on billing records while she was at Rose Law Firm showing she knew where all the money was going. Second, was a matter called "Travelgate" in which Hillary Clinton dismissed White House travel office workers to replace them with friends. This was not illegal, but to provide a public relations cover-up for firing so many loyal employees like she did, she got the FBI to investigate Billy Dale, the head of the travel office. Dale was merely a mid-level civil servant who did nothing but hold a job Hillary wanted for her friends and found himself charged with corruption. He was found not guilty, but his lawyer fees left him bankrupt. Kenneth Starr had to add this to his investigation list (ordered by three-judge panel).

**__The Contract With America__:**
Republicans, led by Newt Gingrich, looked to take back the Congress in the 1994 midterm elections. His Contract With America was a 10 point plan - (1) balanced budget, (2) anti-crime package, (3) welfare reform, (4) increase adoption and enforce child support laws, (5) increase defense budget, (6) end unfunded government mandates (requirements put on state and local governments that the federal government doesn't pay for), (7) increase tax limits on Social Security, (8) repeal the marriage tax, (9) cut the capital gains tax (would encourage investing), and (10) terms limits for federal government elected positions.

With Democrats controlling the House for decades, Republican proposals to cut government spending or impose term limits on Congress were never brought up for a vote. Gingrich got overwhelming support from Republicans running for House and Senate and made the 1994 midterms a national race and referendum on Clinton's first two years. Republicans took control of the House and Senate and also gained 11 governorships around the nation. As a result, Clinton brought in conservative Democrat Dick Morris to develop a new plan to save his presidency. Morris got Clinton to move toward the center between liberals and conservatives as well as make Congressional Republicans and Democrats look like they couldn't agree on issues. In terms of the contract, 9 of the 10 bills were brought up in the House (term limits not brought up) and 6 were brought up in the Senate. The Supreme Court had said term limits were unconstitutional (there would have to be a Constitutional amendment) and also ruled that the line-item veto (would give the President the ability to veto certain parts of a bill without vetoing the entire bill) was unconstitutional. Welfare reform was accomplished in 1996 replacing AFCD with TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) and signed by Clinton. Liberals hated the bill. Reasons why reform was needed was that by the mid-1990s, welfare benefits at the state levels in New England had a generosity that rivaled that of socialist Sweden. Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, D.C., and Rhode Island all gave benefits in welfare that were more than a $12-per-hour-job...more incentive to be on welfare than work. Clinton vetoed the bill twice until Dick Morris showed the president the public opinion polls that showed the American people wanted the reform. Therefore, Clinton signed the bill and took credit for it.

An issue that had taken place in Clinton's first term in 1993 in Waco, Texas involved sect leader David Koresh who was held up in a compound. A firefight with federal agents took place and then fires broke out. There would be questions afterward about how the fires started and both the Davidians and the government agents found themselves being accused. Attorney General Janet Reno didn't take any action against the FBI agents. Some in the public wondered if the government agents were involved. This, plus alarming reports of brutal behavior by EPA agents, led to a sense that the government was out of control. Clinton's approval numbers were falling.

In 1995, there was a major bombing in Oklahoma City. Timothy McVeigh was responsible and sympathy for the federal government grew. The Alfred P. Murrah federal building was bombed killing 169 men, women, and children (there was a day care facility in the building). Clinton shifted the public's attention from government abuse to a crazed bomber. McVeigh later admitted doing it and said it was retribution for Waco. McVeigh was part of the anti-government movement. Clinton's approval rating would go from 42% to 51%. Clues were missed though that McVeigh and partner Terry Nichols had not acted alone and witnesses testified that McVeigh and Nichols lacked sufficient bomb-making skills. The bomb used was a near-perfect replica of the one used to bomb the World Trade Center garage in 1993 devised by Islamic radical Yousef (discussed later). McVeigh was sentenced to death and executed.

**__Riding Reagan's Coattails: The Roaring Nineties__:**
Despite tax hikes under Bush and Clinton, incentives in the Reagan years were still generating growth and Clinton did have one pro-growth policy - NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement), which lowered tariffs between the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. Clinton faced opposition within his own party on free trade - opposition that came from environmentalists, labor unions, and protectionists (supporters of higher tariffs). Republicans and enough Democrats voted for it and over the next several years, NAFTA added a large number of jobs to the economy, though a few businesses did reloacte to Mexico or Canada.

When Republicans took Congress, there was a perception that the "era of big government" was over. As a result, the stock market soared and Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) increased in value. Yuppies (young urban professionals) entered the market in growing numbers through their retirement plans. A 1995 budget battle led to a partial government shutdown - the bias media blamed the Republican Congress, not both Congress and Clinton.

Much of the 1990s success was due to the dropping cost of computer chips. Technology continued to grow and a whole new consumer market was opening in the area of computers. The Internet was widely available by the end of the 1990s. In addition, low energy prices after the Persian Gulf War were in place due to securing lower oil prices in the Middle East. This lowered prices on goods using oil and also gave industries more money for research and development.

Two clear trends were seen in 1990s economics. First, growth came from small companies and new entrepreneurs. Second, there was tremendous turnover at the top (only 34 of the top 100 firms in 1990 were still in the top 100 in 1999). This showed that there was very high competition in America. Through the 1990s, Alan Greenspan was Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board and repeatedly had to raise interest rates. Since Clinton refinanced the debt at short term rates, Greenspan was limited with what he was able to do with interest rates. Home prices went up in the 90s. More millionaires were made in the 90s than any other time and at the same time the "wealth gap" between the top 20% and the bottom 20% grew. Family debt levels soared faster than ever. Prosperity drew people from around the world. Asian and Indian engineering students populated universities. By 2000, there would be numerous multiethnic groups.

**__Social Pathologies, Spiritual Renewal__:**
Renewed distrust in the government sparked a rise in gun sales and concealed-carry laws. In the wake of the McVeigh bombing, gun control groups pressed for the Brady Bill (named after Reagan's press secretary James Brady) which required background checks and a waiting period on purchasing a gun. Gun owners feared this was a first step in a national confiscation (like what happened in the Weimar Republic in the 1920s). Gun control groups ignored statistics that showed gun crimes peaked in Bush's term two years before the Brady Bill. In 2001, the Supreme Court ruled that the 2nd amendment right to bear arms was an individual right, which is against gun control activists. Polls in early 2001 showed Americans saw religion as important: 70% disagreed with the notion that the nation would do better if people abandoned religion; nearly 80% supported either a moment of silence or a specific prayer in schools; over 1/2 saw media as biased against Christians. Spiritual renewal came in the 1980s. Hispanic immigrants, who tended to be Catholic, brought renewed energy. Second, independent or non-denominational churches grew at high rates. Many churches became more contemporary to attract more people. This increased the number of youth going to church and overall belief in Christianity.

**__Monicagate__:**
The economy doing well would help Clinton in 1996. It's ironic that Clinton came into office criticizing Reagan's policies, but at his re-election he claimed credit for them. The "Mondale of 1996" for the Republican Party would be Bob Dole, who ran on character issues. Ross Perot also put his hat in the ring again, but with the Republican Congress and President Clinton closing budget deficits, unemployment going down, and free trade having passed with NAFTA Perot message wasn't necessary. Dole Lacked Reagan's charm and grace and seemed too old. His running-mate Jack Kemp (former QB for the Buffalo Bills) lacked aggressiveness to attack Democratic weaknesses. Clinton's weakness was in character, lies, infidelity, and reports of unethical fund raising with John Huang and many being funneled in from Communist China. The press was friendly to Clinton (bias), which used the Clinton media team talking points when it came to his character issues. Clinton won re-election.

Character was still a major issue with Clinton. Paula Jones was said to have had an affair with Clinton when he had been Arkansas governor. She filed a lawsuit that something else had happened and not an affair - sexual harassment. In 1991, Clinton sent troopers to have her meet him in a hotel room (she was working at a meeting in the hotel). He exposed himself and asked her to do sexual activities (according to her lawsuit). She refused and suffered job detriments as a result. Clinton was questioned on a deposition (legal document under oath) who all he had sexual relations with since 1986. He answered "none" on the deposition. Already, Gennifer Flowers allegations, Miss Arkansas Sally Perdue claimed she had an affair with him. It started to come out that a relationship was still going on in the White House with Monica Lewinsky, a White House intern. Matt Drudge (styled himself after Walter Winchell) ran a web site with postings and had found out that Newsweek had the story but was determined to bury it. Drudge ran with the story, which forced the rest of the media to report the story. The liberal media was beginning to face opposition in talk radio, the Internet, and the new Fox News Channel. Clinton went on TV and said "I did not have sexual relations with that woman" similar to Nixon's I am not a crook speech. The Clinton team brought back the "nuts and sluts" strategy, but Clinton supporter Kathleen Willey came forward with allegations of sexual harassment. Kenneth Starr was the special investigator. Starr's whole investigation into obstruction of justice now took another twist. Clinton still had high job approval ratings (low personal rations). Lewinsky had kept a blue dress with Clinton's DNA on it. The liberal media had the story and buried it. Drudge once again found out and ran the story. If this was all true it meant that Clinton lied to a grand jury, which is a felony. On August 17, 1998, he went on TV and made a public apology to the nation admitting his infidelity. Clinton was impeached for perjury and obstruction of justice, but was not removed by the Senate.

**__Missions Undefined__:**
Clinton inherited the situation in Somalia from President Bush, who had sent 25,000 troops on a humanitarian food-delivery mission in 1992 with the understanding that the U.N. would take over. When Pakistani peacekeepers were killed by local warlords in June 1993, Clinton expanded the mission to hunt down the leading warlord, General Mohammad Adid. Special forces, the Rangers and Delta Force were sent. They captured many high ranking officials, but not Adid. Most of the raids were a success, but there was one disaster in Mogadishu. Helicopters were shot down and 18 U.S. troops were killed. One body was dragged through the streets. Clinton pulled the American troops out of Somalia. Anti-American terrorists (like Osama bin Laden and Iraq's dictator Saddam Hussein) would develop the "Mogadishu strategy." This strategy pushed killing enough U.S. soldiers that a president would lose public support (***keep this in mind...still a goal of the terrorists today***).

Bigger problems came in the Balkans under Clinton. Croatia declared independence from Yugoslavia in 1991 (which had been a Communist nation held together by Josef Tito). Serbia, under Slobodan Milosevic, sent troops to aid Serbs in putting down the Croatian rebellion. Croatia held on, but Bosnia (who declared independence in 1992) had mixed ethnic groups and the Serbs had begun "ethnic cleansing" killing non-Serbs. The U.S. and NATO got involved. In 1995 opposing sides met in Dayton, Ohio and signed the Dayton Accords dividing Bosnia between Muslims and Croats in one area and Bosnian Serbs in the other and required 60,000 NATO peacekeepers. Milosevic then turned his focus on Kosovo, which was controlled by the Serbian minority and populated by Muslim Albanians. The Kosovo Liberation Army, a Muslim-armed terrorist organization attacked Serb targets in 1998 leading Milosevic to send more Serb troops into Kosovo. NATO and the U.S. went to Kosovo. Clinton ordered air strikes and refused to commit ground forces (feared another Vietnam). There was minimal damage and no clear mission except make Kosovo safe for Kosovars. Milosevic had been killing ethnic Albanians in Kosovo. He ended up agreeing to negotiations. He would be taken into custody and put on trial by the U.N. for crimes against humanity. He died of natural causes while these trials were taking place.

Clinton also had to deal with Middle East conflict. A Saddam Hussein revival in Iraq developed. Bush and the Bush advisors didn't remove Saddam in the Persian Gulf War citing fears that it would lead to civil war in Iraq between the Sunnis and Shi'ites and the minority Kurds and many European and Middle East analysts thought that opposition by the Iraqi people would force Hussein out of power. This did not happen and Hussein carried a grudge. Hussein had been underestimated in Iraq's ability and willingness to use terrorist weapons. In 1981 the Israeli Air Force bombed a nuclear power facility in Iraq. Iraq went underground with its push to develop a nuclear weapon and hid their chemical and biological weapons. After Saddam gassed the Kurds in Northern Iraq an refused to allow U.N. weapons inspectors into Iraq, Clinton ordered air strikes to force Saddam to comply. Clinton, Gore, and other top Democrats made speech after speech warning about Saddam's weapons of mass destruction.

The more immediate threat in the Middle East came from Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda. Bin Laden was a wealthy Saudi-born fundamentalist Muslim living in Afghanistan after being exiled from Saudi Arabia. He financed a direct attack on the U.S. February 26, 1993 when al Qaeda agents (using Iraqi passports) set off a massive car bomb in the World Trade Center garage that killed seven and wounded hundreds of others. The goal of the attack was to bring down the WTC, but that mission failed. Four Muslims were captured and convicted (including Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman and mastermind Ramzi Yousef who was captured later). From Afghanistan, bin Laden planned his next attack, which was a plot to hijack planes over the Pacific, but this plot was stopped. In August of 1998 bombs at the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania killed numerous people. Clinton retaliated by bombing terrorist camps in the Sudan and bin Laden's headquarters in Afghanistan, but in the end only an aspirin factory was hit. Clinton treated terrorism as a law enforcement problem and not a national security/military issue. There were negative effects in this method because when a guy like Yousef is indicted, all evidence is sealed and cannot be used by the FBI or CIA to try to stop other attacks. Other attacks by al Qaeda included the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia, the //U.S.S. Cole// in 2000, and a failed assault on the //U.S.S. The Sullivans// --- all without any serious retaliations. Clinton turned down three offers from foreign governments to capture bin Laden waiting for a clear shot without any possibility of civilian damage. This never happened.

**__Clintonism Collapses__****:**
The Republican Congress passed but Clinton had gotten the credit for welfare reform, NAFTA, and balancing the budget as he mastered Dick Morris's plan of Triangulation. He left office with an approval rating of over 60%. Clinton would be popular in the 2000s and 2010s campaigning for Democratic candidates taking credit for the success of the 1990s. Vice President Al Gore easily go the Democrat nomination in 2000 and had an advantage since he was an incumbent running in a good economy, but he distanced himself from the Clinton record, more because of the attacks on Clinton’s character issues. Republican analysts saw they needed a charismatic candidate, not a tired old man who got the nomination of obligation (like Dole in 1996). They also felt they needed a true conservative (on gun rights, pro-life on abortion, and lower taxes) that would appeal to independents. George W. Bush (son of George H.W. Bush) became the nominee. Bush was the Texas governor who went to Yale, then Harvard, but was known more as a party goer. He credits a religious conversion in 1988 as changing him – the first modern president to name Jesus Christ as the chief influence in his life and he would be the most publicly religious president since Lincoln.

Gore was expected to win the debates, but he didn’t. In addition, environmentalist Ralph Nader ran as the Green Party candidate, which would cut into Gore’s votes. Ross Perot didn’t run again, but the Reform Party would put up the conservative Pat Buchanan who failed to get the Republican nomination. Florida was the state highly contested and both sides were embattled in a recount. The Supreme Court ruled in //Bush v. Gore// that recounts had to stop since throwing out ballots violated equal protection. Bush won. Later recounts showed Bush did truly win. Early Bush legislation included tax cuts and education reform – No Child Left Behind Act – that emphasized teacher accountability and test score having Democrat support. The House of Representatives was still held by Republicans and the Senate was 50-50 but one Republican Senator switched to the Democrat Party giving the Democrats control of the Senate. The Democrat Senate blocked Bush’s efforts to offer privatization of Social Security.

**__9/11__****:**
On September 11, 2001 President Bush was in Florida to read to elementary school students to push his No Child Left Behind idea. Reports came at 8:42 a.m. that a small twin-engine plane hit the World Trade Center and the only possible explanation was pilot medical problems. Air traffic controllers knew different. American Flight 11 had been hijacked and there was a voice over the radio that said “We have some planes” which was one of hijackers who inadvertently made the announcement over the radio system rather than the intercom on the plane. The FAA treated it as a hostage situation. However, the hijackers didn’t have demands for plans to land the plane. American Flight 11 hit the World Trade Center trapping numerous workers above the crash site.

News cameras were focused on the North Tower, which was on fire when a second jet – United Flight 175 – hit the South Tower. Bush had begun to read when chief of staff Andrew Card whispered in his ear “A second plane has hit the second tower. America is under attack.” CIA director George Tenet said “This had bin Laden all over it.” Bush appeared on TV before the towers fell and called it an “apparent terrorist attack.” A short time later, American Flight 77 hit the Pentagon. By then, the FAA commanded all aircraft to land as soon as possible anywhere. In addition, international flights to the U.S. were grounded (just in time because hijackers were also to take planes and hit Big Ben and Parliament in England). The World Trade Center was built to withstand accidental aircraft impacts, but no one dreamed of fully fueled jetliners deliberately aimed at the center. The WTC still stood longer than analysts thought they could. Initial estimates of 10,000 dead were revised downward every minute the buildings stood. At 9:50, the South Tower collapsed and less than a half hour later the North Tower collapsed.

United Flight 93 made a u-turn around Cleveland, OH after it was hijacked and went out of control in Shanksville, PA and crashed into the ground in a rural area. Evidence came out that the passengers fought back after cell phone calls with loved ones helped them learn that the plane they were on was experiencing more than just a hijacking. Bush addressed the nation that evening saying “Terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America.”

Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda were responsible for the attack. This terror group was based in Afghanistan. Far left liberals went with the blame America first approach that felt bin laden only became obsessed with America after the Gulf War. In reality, he was committed to Jihad by 1989 if not before. Information that would have prevented the attack was there but the CIA and FBI were unable to put all of the pieces together due to the separation that developed by Congress after Watergate and a Clinton Administration directive (called the wall memo). This led to President Bush reorganizing the government intelligence agencies into the Department of Homeland Security to facilitate the flow of information between the CIA and the FBI.

Bush flew to Ground Zero and walked among the firefighters and rescue workers who had been digging and excavating for days. Standing next to a retired fireman, Bush took the public address system available - a bullhorn - and began to address the crowd. The bullhorn cut out during his remarks and someone shouted "We can't hear you." Bush tried again, and again came the shouts "We can't hear you." Bush responded by saying "I can hear you. The rest of the world hears you, and" - pointing to the spot where the WTC was - "...the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon!"

In terms of the economy after the attacks, the Bush Administration used the free market, not the government’s power. The Treasury Department urged banks to keep the flow of credit to the airlines, which were hurt by the plummeting number of passengers after 9/11. The stock market was shut down to avoid a panic and when it opened, the Dow fell 500 points then stabilized. The U.S. economy was shaken by the attacks, but would rebound.

Thousands of volunteers went to help, give blood, and gave to relief funds for victims’ families. Two memorable photos were taken – two steel girders were molded by the flames in the shape of a cross and one of three firemen hoisting the U.S. flag. President Bush himself went to Ground Zero in New York City. The Bush Doctrine would be issued, which said all in the world were either allies of the U.S. or with the terrorists.

**__“It Starts Today”__****:**
On September 12, 2001 President Bush met with his war cabinet and said “It starts today” and wanted the CIA on the ground first in Afghanistan, then missiles, bombers, and soldiers. When the Afghan leadership, the Taliban, refused to turn over bin Laden or other members of al Qaeda, the U.S. went to war. October 7, 2001, massive air strikes began on the Taliban starting Operation Enduring Freedom. It only took the liberal biased press a few weeks to go from patriotic to anti-war.

Within a few weeks, the Taliban and al Qaeda fighters were pushed to the Tora Bora mountains. Massive bombing took place in December and within a few months Special Forces killed or captured hundreds of terrorists. Bin Laden was becoming irrelevant and his financial network was being shutdown. “Bloomster” journalism was developing more. Gallup polling in November of 2001 found 54% of the public disapproved of the media. Bush’s approval ratings were in the high 80% range.

The terrorists were still able to mount individual attacks with some having been stopped before completing. Richard Reid, an al Qaeda connected shoe bomber, tried to smuggle explosives in his shoe on a plane. Bombings did succeed in Pakistan in a Christian church, a French freighter, and a Spanish train (which worked because Spain pulled out troops fighting the terrorists). Bush promised to also take the war to nations that harbor terrorists. He called Iraq, Iran, and North Korea as the “Axis of Evil.” Iraq was the next target. Saddam Hussein had links to al Qaeda members and had stopped U.N. weapons inspections.

The war on terror did have its accomplishments. Hundreds of captured terrorists were kept at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba for incarceration and interrogation. Osama bin Laden’s top leaders were dead or captured. The Taliban was out and democracy was in and schools were opened also to women in Afghanistan. Al Qaeda cells in the U.S. were busted. Millions of dollars in assets tied to al Qaeda worldwide were frozen. Khalid Shaikh Mohammad – the mastermind of 9/11 – and Ramzi Yousef were both captured. A 2004 raid in Pakistan captured al Qaeda computer expert Muhammad Khan.

**__Midterm Mayhem__****:**
By 2002, the Democrat controlled Senate blocked Bush judicial appointments, held up drilling for oil in ANWR, and stopped more tax cuts to stimulate the economy. In the 2002 midterms, Republicans gained the Senate and kept the House. Democrats were criticized for going after Iraq. Congress approved of action in Iraq. Bush passed big government measures (unlike a conservative like Reagan) having signed a big entitlement in the prescription drug bill and the No Child Left behind Act of 2002 increased the size, power, and spending of the federal government. He did sign a conservative measure to ban late term abortions. The Bush tax cuts helped revive the economy after the 9/11 attacks.

**__The “Axis of Evil”__****:**
Bush listed Iraq, Iran, and North Korea as indirect allies of al Qaeda as state supporters of terrorism. Saddam Hussein was tied in with Salmon Pak who was on an Iraqi training facility with 737 jetliner fuselages that gave terrorists practice taking over aircraft – Czech sources showed that the Iraqi foreign minister met with 9/11 hijacker Mohammad Atta prior to 9/11. The Bush team decided it would be too dangerous for terrorists to get weapons of mass destruction. Remember, Clinton and Gore had warned about WMDs. Democrat senators John Kerry and Ted Kennedy even urged Clinton to go after the WMDs. Bush gave Saddam one more chance to allow in U.N. weapons inspectors. He did not. Behind the scenes, France, Germany, and Russia – all with powerful economic stakes in maintaining Saddam in power with oil – sought to derail American and British attempts to establish a final enforcement date. Bush built an alliance of nations even bigger than his father in the Gulf War and gave Saddam and his sons three days to leave or face war. U.S. and their allies attacked and easily broke the Defenses of Saddam and were in Baghdad in only two weeks. The Iraqi people celebrated and tore his statue down. Weapons used by the U.S. included lasers with precision bombing and no collateral damage. Saddam was captured and a new Iraqi government was put in place. Libyan dictator Muammar al-Qaddafi saw this and agreed t give up his WMDs. In a period of two years, the U.S. under Bush cleaned out two major terrorist harbors, neutralized a third (Libya), and prompted internal democratic change in Saudi Arabia.

**__Election of 2004: Swift Boats and Dan Rather__****:**
Bush’s popularity rose and fell with public perceptions of the war on terror and the mission in Iraq. Approval ratings fell with criticisms of the wars by liberals and economic issues inside the U.S. Senate Democrats circulated a memo agreeing to stall all legislation until after the 2004 elections to make it look like Bush didn’t accomplish much. Bush had signed the bipartisan campaign reform act (McCain-Feingold) that regulates “soft money” or money that could go to parties and not directly to candidates. More money began to flow to PACs (Political Action Committees) that sued issue ads to attack “unnamed” opponents of the party they supported. The NRA could run ads against opponents of gun rights. The ACLU could ran ads against religious speech. The Swift Boat Veterans for Truth went after John Kerry (D-MA) who would be the Democrat candidate in 2004. Kerry was in Vietnam and received commendations, but circumstances were suspect. Swift boats were small boats Kerry served on. In their ads, the Swift Vets emphasized (1) Kerry received commendations he didn’t deserve and (2) his participation in a 1971 protest that said U.S. troops “raped, cut off ears, cut off heads, and other savage acts – this damaged Kerry’s campaign. In September of 2004, CBS News journalist Dan Rather claimed he had new documents showing Bush ducked out of most of his service in the Texas Air National Guard during Vietnam. With Internet, numerous sources could access the information immediately. Investigations proved the documents were fake having been typed with typewriters that didn’t exist at the time, by secretaries who claimed they never saw them. What began as a potential death blow to the Bush campaign turned into a reminder of his leadership in the War on Terror and it also again showed the biased media. Bush won (286 electoral votes) and the GOP increased its seats in the House and Senate. John Roberts Jr. and Samuel Alito were appointed to the Supreme Court, which tilted the Court conservative.

**__Abu Ghraib and Gitmo__****:**
Abu Ghraib was a prison in Baghdad where Iraqi prisoners were abused by U.S. soldiers. Those guilty were punished but the liberal biased press used it to criticize the war in general (New York Times ran 30 page one stories on it). Photos were released showing Iraqi prisoners being treated like dogs and actually saw terrorist attacks in Iraq decrease and violence drop. Gitmo is the nickname of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba where the U.S. has a base and kept captured terrorists. Anti-war liberals were against terrorists being kept in a military prison rather than being given U.S. Constitutional rights. Abu Ghraib and Gitmo were ammo for anti-war liberals to attack Bush’s policies. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) even compared Gitmo to Nazi concentration camps. In reality, the prisoners at Gitmo ate better than the guards who were even threatened as terrorists said they’d hunt their families on the Internet and kill them. Prisoners at Gitmo even were allowed to have Korans and prayer rugs. The media focused on Abu Ghraib – not the terrorists beheading westerners on film. In Iraq, when the U.S. took Fallujah (where terrorists murdered and mutilated four U.S. civilian contractors) this marked a major turn in the war. Iraqi elections were held in January 2005 with a massive turnout despite terrorist threats.

**__A Mighty Wind__****:**
Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast on August 29, 2005 and was the sixth strongest ever recorded in the Atlantic (a category 5 hurricane). The worst damage was in New Orleans. Evacuations were ordered, but thousands either didn’t have transportation or refused to leave. New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin allowed hundreds of city public school buses to sit empty as people begged for transportation out of the city. Some 26,000 of the poorest went to the Superdome, which became a scene of predatory gangs, inadequate water and food, and horrible sanitation (there were reports of feces smeared on the walls and thugs raping helpless women). The New Orleans levees broke, which left 80% of the city under water. Rescue boats were fired on by gang related snipers.

FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) had already warned that direct hurricane strikes could cause flooding, but was still unprepared for the aftermath. Nagin and Governor Kathleen Blanco sought to blame Bush for their failure to act. Nagin and Blanco failed to evacuate New Orleans and failed to call in the federal government much earlier. FEMA director Michael Brown appeared unconcerned and passive and federal help only kicked in seriously when the Department of Homeland Security took control. FEMA provided housing assistance to 700,000 people and thousands were relocated to Houston, TX with FEMA paying the hotel costs for 12,000. Katrina’s cost was $75 billion plus a shutdown of important oil refineries, which increased gas prices. Failures at all levels (more at state and local) showed the public volunteerism worked better than government. Katrina damaged Bush’s compassionate and caring image and combined with going against conservative beliefs by increasing government spending, Bush had low support by 2006 and with American troops in the middle of an Iraqi civil war and fighting off an insurgency, the Democrats retook Congress in 2006.

**__Problems for Bush__****:**
President Bush ran into problems in the final two years of his second term. The U.S. efforts in Iraq were appearing to be at a stalemate fighting an insurgency and trying to keep peace among the factions in Iraq (Sunnis, Shi’ites, and Kurds). Many Democrats (even those who voting to go to war) began calling for withdrawal or a timetable for getting out. President Bush refused to commit to a definite timetable saying that if the enemy and terrorists know when we’re going to leave, they’ll simply wait it out and when we leave they’ll re-establish control. At this point in Bush’s presidency, Colin Powell and Donald Rumsfeld had resigned. Condolezza Rice became Secretary of State and Robert Gates became Secretary of Defense. Bush accepted a new plan in Iraq – a surge – in which a large number of troops were added to stop the violence there. This received harsh criticism, especially from a new senator from Illinois, Barack Obama. However, this surge worked – violence was decreased, the U.S. and the allies established control, and the new Iraqi government was able to start taking more control. The situation turned around, which gave the Republicans hope to regain control.

Unfortunately, an economic recession would hurt the remaining year for President Bush and the Republicans going into an election year. In the end of 2007 and well into 2008, the financial sector (big banks and loaning firms) and the housing market collapsed. What happened is that many big financial loaning firms had made bad loans and bad investments (loans to people who couldn’t pay…bank loses out). Two such firms were Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, which received a lot of money from the federal government. This collapse led to many big firms and big corporations going on the verge of collapse. The worst came towards the end of 2008, which greatly affected the 2008 presidential election. The Democrat Congress and President Bush passed a bailout called TARP – government money was given to major firms to keep them from collapsing. This bailout package required the firms to pay the money back once the firms got back on their feet. Ultimately, the Republicans suffered – Democrats criticized because the economy went bad and Bush was Republican. Republicans didn’t like the idea of government money being spent on firms that made bad business choices in the first place and the fact that it added to the debt.

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