The New Millenium

Election of 2000

• George W. Bush (Republican) vs. Al Gore (Democrat)

• Gore:• VP• Lacked a strong personality

• Bush:• Texas Governor • Son of a President• Hoped to return morality & respect to White House

Election of 2000

• What should gov’t do w/ surplus• $237 Billion

• Bush==Tax Cut• Democrats said tax cut would go to wealthy

• Democrats thought that surplus should be used to protect Social Security

Election of 2000

• To close to call

• Florida would have a recount• Did Nader (Green Party) stop Gore from winning FL?

• Hanging chads???

• Florida became a battleground filled w/ lawyers, politicians, media, etc.

• 36 days later the SC settled it in Bush v. Gore

• 5-4 they ruled to discontinue all recounts in FL

• Bush had secured the presidency

• 4th time candidate w/ most popular votes lost• 1824, 1876, 1888, 2000

Bush Presidency

• Approach was more “corporate” compared to Clinton’s laid back style• Strict schedule• Woke up early & left office at the end of the

workday

• Clinton often worked long into the night, but had more casual style

• Bush gave more power to his Cabinet, esp. VP Dick Cheney

Bush Presidency

• Major tax cut, largest in history• Cuts favored the wealthy• Most taxpayers received a rebate of $300• Hoped to jumpstart a faltering economy

• Recession after dot-com bubble burst

• Education reform---NCLB• Accountability, “high-stakes testing”• Federal funding tied to test scores

1st term

• 9/11/2001

• NYC, Washington DC

• Hijacked commercial planes

• Both towers of NYC’s World Trade Center

• Pentagon

• 4th plane outside of Pittsburgh

• 266 passengers & crew died on planes

1st term

• 180 died in Pentagon

• WTC buildings, 110 stories high, crumbled to the ground

• Roughly 2,800 died

• Osama Bin Laden, head of Al Qaeda

• Taliban provided sanctuary for Bin Laden in Afghanistan

• Taliban refused to turn over Bin Laden

• Bush to Taliban, they will “pay a price”

1st term

• “War on Terrorism”

• Oct. 7, 2001—”Operation Enduring Freedom”

• Bombing campaign aimed at Taliban military & communication bases

• W/in a few months an interim gov’t est. in Kabul (capital of Afghanistan) & Taliban was mostly wiped out• Many taken to prison at Guantanamo Bay , Cuba• Taliban/Ql Qaeda fighters fled Kabul for mountains

• Bin Laden was in hiding• Taken out by Navy SEALs in May of 2011

• 2K+ Americans killed

• American troops still present• Withdrawal under way

1st term

• W/in month of 9/11 Bush created new executive department: Homeland Security• Beefed up presence at airports• Headed by PA Governor, Tom Ridge

• Anthrax scares (in mail)• News media, Senators, • 18 infected, 5 died

1st term• Jan. 2002, Bush speaks of an “axis of evil”

• Included Iraq, Iran, North Korea• Bush administration started to build a case for invading Iraq

• Oct. 2002, Congress passes resolution allowing the President to use force against Iraq

• War began on March 19, 2003

• “Coalition of the willing”—20 nations (most notable==UK)

• “Operation Iraqi Freedom”

• Reasoning=connections to terrorist groups & WMDs?• Additionally Hussein’s gov’t had major violations of human rights

• Saddam Hussein was captured in Dec. of 2003• Sentenced to death by Iraqi Special Tribunal• Executed in Dec. of 2006

• MISSION ACCOMPLISHED SPEECH

• May 1, 2003

• Televised address onboard the USS Abraham Lincoln

• “Mission Accomplished” Banner

• “…the tyrant has fallen and Iraq is free.”

• “The battle of Iraq is one victory in a war on terror that began on September the 11th, 2001 and still goes on.”

1st term

• All American troops were withdrawn from Iraq by the end of 2011

• 4K+ Americans killed

• 30K+ wounded

WAR on terror-- controversy

• Surveillance• Patriot Act, NSA

• Waterboarding

• Prosecution of unlawful enemy combatants by military commission rather than a standard trial• Some held for months, even years, w/o access to

lawyers• Intense interrogations, even torture

• In 2008 Obama promised to close Guantanamo Bay, but still open today (150+ detainees)

Election of 2004

• Bush, Republican

• “JOhn KErry”

• “Kerry is Scary”

• Bush called Kerry a “Massachusetts liberal” & a “flip-flopper”

• John Kerry, Democrat, long-time Senator from MA

• “Kerry Bush Out”

• “More Trees, Less Bush”

• “Stronger at Home and More Respected in the World”

• Kerry touted his Vietnam War experience

Election of 2004

• High voter turnout, another close election expected

• 12 million more than 2000

• Both Bush & Kerry received more popular votes than any previous candidate

2nd term

• Hurricane Katrina, Aug. 2005

• Bush declared a state of disaster in LA, MS, & AL

• FEMA’s response was slow & flawed• Some argued the

response was limited due to the Iraq War

• 2007, U.S. entered recession

• Bush signed into a law a $170 billion stimulus package

• 500,000 jobs lost in November, 2008 alone

• GDP grew slower during Bush’s Presidency than the norm

Etc.

• Entered White House w/ 50% approval, 80-90% after 9/11, fell to as low as 19% in 2nd term

• Final approval rating was 34% according to Gallup• Similar to Jimmy Carter

• 2000 & 2004, Time “Person of the Year”

• Close to Tony Blair of UK & Vicente Fox of Mexico

• Rising tensions w/ Putin by end of 2nd term

Election of 2008

• Barack Obama & Joe Biden, Democrats

• Obama defeats Clinton by early June

• Obama=limited political experience at national level

• Senator from Illinois from 2005 to 2008

• Born in Hawaii, controversy over birth certificate

• John McCain & Sarah Palin, Republicans

• Palin, Governor of Alaska, was a surprise pick/controversial move

• McCain was a prisoner of war in North Vietnam for 5.5 years

• McCain=Long-time Senator from AZ

Election of 2008

• Issues

• Iraq War• McCain supported it, Obama opposed it

• McCain commented that the U.S. could be Iraq for the next “50 to 100” years

• Bush’s unpopularity• Bush did no campaigning

• Change vs. Experience

• The economy

• Health care

Election of 2008

• Popular vote• Obama=52.9%• McCain=45.7%

• 131.3 million voted, highest turnout ever, 60+%

• 62 votes for Santa Claus

• 11 votes for Mickey Mouse