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The Smith Act
Formally known as the Alien Registration Act of 1940, the act was a legislation that made encouraging, advocating, or participating in the organizing of a violent overthrow of the government by any organization or society a criminal offense and also required that non-citizen adult residents in the U.S. register with the government. The act prosecuted 215 alleged communists, anarchists, and fascists until a series of U.S. Supreme Court decisions in 1957 declared them unconstitutional. -
The G.I. Bill
The G.I. Bill, also known as the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, was an act created to provide numerous benefits to veterans of WWII. The bill established hospitals, made low-interest mortgages available, and granted stipends covering tuition and expenses for veterans attending colleges or trade school. The education and training provisions existed until 1956. -
The Trinity Test
After World War II broke out in Europe, America tried to catch up to German atomic power advancement. The Trinity Test was the first success of an atomic bomb in NM (Manhattan Project). The US government authorized a top-secret project for nuclear testing and development called "The Manhattan Project". The project took place in a building in Los Alamos, New Mexico. Then in 1945, the scientists at Los Alamos succedded in the first atomic bomb at the Trinity Test site, located in Alamogordo. -
The Fat Man
This was the codename for the second bomb used in the Japanese city of Nagasaki by the United States on August 9, 1945. It was the second of the two only nuclear weapons used in warfare. It was designed and built in Los Alamos Lab using plutonium. The fat man was also known as Mark III. The fat man refers to the name due to the design of the bomb with its round and wide shape. This bomb weighed in at 10,300 pounds, 128 inches long, and 60 inches wide with a 21 kiloton blast radius. -
The Little Boy Bomb
The "little boy" was a codename for the atomic bomb dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima by the United States Army Air Forces. This was the first atomic bomb used in warfare. In the Hiroshima bombing, the little boy was the second artificial nuclear explosion in history after the Trinity test. The little boy exploded with 15 kilotons of TNT. This bomb had 64 kilograms of uranium-235 filling, weighed nearly 5 tons and was 10 feet long. -
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Civil Rights
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Bombing of Hiroshima
An event during WWII in which the United States resorted to attacking cities of Japan with atomic bombs, one being Hiroshima with the atomic bomb "Little Boy," yielding 15 kilotons of TNT, and was a decisive event that ultimately resulted in the surrender of the Japanese and the final end of WWII. The event resulted in the death of roughly 140,000 Japanese civilians and soldiers. This was the first ever use of an atomic weapon in warfare in world history. -
Establishment of 38th Parallel
A line that was established to divide Soviet and American occupation zones after the surrender of the Japanese in August 1945 and became a permanent boundary between North and South Korea after an armistice was established between the two countries in 1953. The new border between the countries is now often called the DMZ, or demilitarized zone, which crosses the 38th Parallel North and the Korean Peninsula from southwest to northeast. -
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Cold War
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The Truman Doctrine
The doctrine was first developed by President Harry S. Truman, it established that the United States would provide assistance to all democratic nations under threat from any communist forces. After the British could no longer financially provide anti-communist aid to Greece and Turkey, the doctrine supplied them with $400 million. It helped other countries too like Korea, Vietnam, Latin America, Cuba. As a result, it built up a network of allies because the US gave military aid free of charge. -
Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan was an initiative proposed by Secretary of State George C. Marshall in which the U.S. provides massive financial and technical assistance to war-torn European countries and had objectives to deter and fight communism. The plan offered loans to rebuild Europe and restored Western Europe's faith in capitalism, and also spread American practices of labor, farming, and manufacturing. -
The Berlin Airlift
The Berlin Wall was created under the control of Joseph Stalin. This wall was a blockade of the West Berlin from East Berlin. The United States took the initiative and assigned men to activate the Berlin Airlift. The Berlin Airlift delivered people in the blockade supplies like food, water, nourishment products and other things needed to survive. This was passed by the president at the time who was Franklin D. Rooselvelt. -
The Fair Deal
The Fair Deal was a set of proposals and an addition to the New Deal announced by President Truman, characterizing the entire agenda of the Truman administration, focusing on health care, public housing, education, and public works. The deal additionally pushed to address minimum wage, electricity, and telephone access, but was forced to scale back due to North Korean and anti-communist agendas. -
Television
The television is a device that receive electronic signals and makes them into pictures and sounds. TV overpowered newspapers, magazines, radios as a source of news info and diversion. TV advertising gave the vast market for new fashions and products. It televised athletic events made college/pro sports a major source of entertainment. TV programming created a popular image of American life: white, middle class, suburban. Also oppressed/less fortunate people could see the way everyone else lived -
Beat Generation
The Beat Generation was a literary movement during the 1950s consisting of rebellious "beats," "beatniks," or "proto-hippies," who were artists, novelists, and poets that borrowed slang from black communities and rejected American materialism, culture, home ownership, careers, and marriage. Participants promoted individual freedom and pleasure, such as drugs or sex, and laid the foundation for war protests in the latter 1960s. -
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The 1950's
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Brown Vs. Board of Education
Brown vs. Board of Education was a landmark U.S. Supreme Court case and was the second most important court case in history. The court case overturned the ruling of Plessy vs. Ferguson, declaring that "separate but equal" was unconstitutional, forcing integration of schools, waiting rooms, restrooms, and etc. -
Polio Vaccine
On March 26, 1953, American medical researcher Jonas Salk announced on a national radio show of his successful discovery and development of a vaccination for poliomyelitis, playing an instrumental role in the eventual eradication of Polio from the U.S. by 1994. -
Bill Haley and the Comets
Bill Haley & His Comets, other known as Bill Haley & the Comets, were an American Rock & Roll band founded in 1952. They were the first group of white musicians that brought American attention to the African-American rhythm and blues of Rock & Roll during the 50s, more significantly with their song "Rock Around the Clock Tonight," which became the national anthem for teenagers in the late-50s and can be labeled as the first song that sparked popularity among the musical genre. -
Rosa Parks
Rosa Parks was an African-American woman who boarded the back of a bus and refused to give up her seat when a white man demanded it, resulting in her arrest in the process. Jo Ann Robinson heard of her arrest and produced 35,000 flyers, telling others to boycott the Montgomery bus system, sparking the Montgomery Bus boycott. The boycott lasted 11 months. -
Ike Turner
Ike Turner was born on November 5, 1931, in Clarksdale, Mississippi, and grew up playing the blues. He was an American musician, bandleader, songwriter, talent scout, and record producer. His band played one of the first rock and roll songs, called "Rocket 88". Ike Turner made R&B hits with singer and wife Tina Turner. Some of their songs were called "I Idolize You," "It’s Going to Work Out Fine" and "Poor Fool". He also struggled with drug addiction and died of an accidental cocaine overdose. -
Emmett Till Tragedy
Emmett Till was a young African-American boy who was tortured and murdered by two white men in Money, Mississippi. The incident occurred because he supposedly harassed a white girl, and the incident ultimately resulted in the spark of the Civil Rights movement. -
Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley, also known as "The King of Rock & Roll" or "The King," was a singer and actor during the 1950s and is known as one of the most significant cultural icons of the decade, playing an instrumental role in establishing rock & roll as a phenomenon and had a huge effect on popular culture at the time, becoming a revolutionary catalyst. His most popular recording, "Hound Dog," became one of his most iconic songs and established Presley as one of the most iconic figures of the 1950s. -
Supreme Court's Decision
On November 13, 1956, the Supreme Court made a decision after briefly citing the case of Brown v. Board that declared segregated buses to be unconstitutional and therefore illegal, forcing the Montgomery bus system to integrate African-Americans. The following day, the Montgomery Bus boycott came to an end. -
Little Richard
Little Richard was known for his flamboyant performances, Little Richard's hit songs from the mid-1950s were defining moments in the development of rock ‘n’ roll. He wails and screams in his songs like in the songs “Tutti-Frutti” and “Long Tall Sally”. Richard turned these songs into huge hits and influenced such bands as the Beatles. In 1951 Richard caught his first major break when a performance at an Atlanta radio station, and In 1955 Richard hooked up with Specialty Records producer Art Rupe -
The Civil Rights Act of 1957
The Civil Rights Act of 1957 was an act passed by President Eisenhower with objectives to project African-American voting rights across the country but was heavily resisted by southern whites. The act was filibustered by Strom Thurmond, a segregationist from South Carolina, becoming the longest filibuster in U.S. history, lasting roughly 24 hours. -
The Sputnik Launch
The first ever artificial and orbiting satellite that was launched by the Soviet Union in Fall of 1957. This event made Americans more fearful of falling behind to the Soviets in space technology and resulted in the creation of NASA and sparked the Space Race that took place between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. -
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The 1960's
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Albert Sabin Oral Vaccine
After the first testing of an oral polio vaccine in 1954, it was discovered that Albert Sabin's oral version of the polio vaccination had longer lasting effects than Jonas Salk's version of the polio vaccination. This oral vaccination was tested over the next few years into the next decade and became commercialized by 1961, playing a key role in the eradication of Polio by 1994 by blocking poliovirus from entering the bloodstream, a feat which Salk's vaccination could not achieve. -
Peace Corps
The Peace Corps is an organization that was created on March 1, 1961, by President Kennedy's Executive Order 10924, establishing the organization as a new agency within the Department of State. Kennedy's goal for the organization was to spread capitalist ideas and inspire young college graduates to participate in humanitarian projects in poor countries, but its agenda was largely unaccomplished even after 3 years in office due to opposition by Conservatives against his liberal ideas. -
The New Frontier
The New Frontier was the foundation under which President John F. Kennedy was elected, promoting to raise the minimum wage, relieve overcrowded schools, and the hopeful goals of cutting taxes for business from 90%, advances in space technology, and increase spending to alleviate a downturn. The New Frontier's agenda was largely unaccomplished, however. -
The Cuban Missile Crisis
An event that took place after the discovery of Soviet ICBMs in Cuba by U.S. U-2 spy planes. The U.S. and the Soviet Union engaged in a 13-day political and military standoff, and a fear of a possible WWIII emerged across America, but a deal was established between Kennedy and Khrushchev, allowing the U.S. to inspect Soviet ships and forced the removal of ICBMs from Cuba in exchange for the U.S. dismantlement of their ICBMs in Turkey and U.S. isolation from Cuba. -
Sam Walton's Just-in-time Inventory
Sam Walton is a successful entrepreneur and the CEO of Wal-Mart, which is now the largest retailer in the world. His establishment of his market across the world changed American lifestyles, solidifying his position as one of the richest men in the world. Just-in-time inventory was a term coined by Walton in which he allowed products to arrive at the precise time in which they are needed, allowing for computers to track inventory and no need for large in-house stock. -
Warren Commission
The Warren Commission was an investigative mission established by Lyndon B. Johnson a week after the assassination of Kennedy to explore Kennedy's death. The yearlong investigation, led by Chief Justice Earl Warren, concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in the assassination, but was ineffective in debunking any conspiracy theories surrounding the event. -
The March on Washington
On August 28, 1963, 500,000 people marched on Washington towards the Lincoln Monument, led by Martin Luther King Jr. to battle the Southern Bloc. The march was staged on the 100th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, being symbolic to achieving Civil Rights. On this day, MLK gave his most famous speech, "I Have a Dream," with millions of people around the world watching it live, appealing to many Americans across the nation and a significant event in the fight for civil rights. -
Birmingham Bombing
The Birmingham Bombing was an event that occurred on September 15, 1963, in which the KKK hurled a bomb into 16th Street Baptist Church, killing 4 girls, in resistance to MLK's March on Washington roughly 2 weeks prior to the incident. The men responsible for the disaster were never put on trial until after 2000. -
Lee Harvey Oswald
According to five U.S. government investigations, he was the sniper who assassinated John F. Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States, in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963. Oswald was a former U.S. Marine who defected to the Soviet Union in October 1959. Oswald would later be charged with the murder of President Kennedy. Two days later, while being transferred from police headquarters to the county jail, Oswald was shot by Jack Ruby in full view of television cameras broadcasting live. -
Assassination of JFK
On November 22, 1963, John F. Kennedy took multiple shots to the neck and a fatal shot to the side of the head as he rode down Elm Street through Dealy Plaza in Dallas, Texas. Kennedy was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald, an ex-marine with communist sympathies, from the 6th floor of a book depository. The assassination resulted in the swearing in of Lyndon B. Johnson as President aboard Air Force One. -
The Daisy Girl Act
The "Daisy Girl" ad was a controversial and political advertisement that was aired only once on the media during the 60s, encouraging and urging the nation to vote for Lyndon B. Johnson. The ad portrayed a little girl in a field when a nuclear bomb goes off, implying an unstated message that a vote for Barry Goldwater results in the death of Daisy Girl and many others. -
The Counter Culture
The Counterculture was a cultural phenomenon embraced by individuals and young rebels known as Hippies, seceding the Beat Generation and consisting of unorganized youth rebellions against mainstream institutions, values, and behavior that more often focused on cultural radicalism, highlighting peace, love, and restrictionless living, rather than political activism. -
Barry Goldwater
Barry Goldwater was the Republican candidate for the presidential election of 1964 in opposition to Democratic candidate Lyndon B. Johnson. Goldwater was the Senator of Arizona and had very conservative ideas, some of which promoted the rid of the New Deal and Great Society. Goldwater loses the election to LBJ by a landslide. -
The Great Society
A revision and addition to the New Deal proposed by Lyndon B. Johnson that promised a higher focus on education, good standards of living, and beautification. Its main goal was the elimination of poverty and racial injustice. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act of 1964, which ended segregation in public places and banned employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin, is considered one of the biggest legislative achievements of the civil rights movement. The act was passed by President Lyndon B. Johnson. The civil rights act sought to undo the damage of Jim Crow policies. Before LBJ, John F. Kennedy decided to act on the discrimination but was assassinated. But LBJ carried on the case. -
Voting Acts Rights of 1965
The Voting Rights Act of 1965, signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson, aimed to overcome legal barriers at the state and local levels that prevented African Americans from exercising their right to vote. Invalidated the use of any test or device to deny the vote and authorized federal examiners to register voters in states that had disenfranchised blacks. LBJ signed. Encouraging greater social equality and decreasing the wealth and education gap. Blacks became politically active. -
Ho Chi Minh Trail
The trail was named after the North president. It was a network of jungle paths winding from North Vietnam through Laos and Cambodia into South Vietnam used as a military route by North Vietnam to supply the Vietcong during the Vietnam War. The trail sent weapons manpower, ammunition and other supplies from communist-led North Vietnam to their supporters in South Vietnam during the Vietnam War. In 1970, Nixon ordered troops into Cambodia to disrupt the Ho Chi Minh Trail and other supply lines. -
LSD
Synthesized by Albert Hoffman in 1938 and promoted by psychologist Timothy Leary during the 1960s, LSD, or lysergic acid diethylamide, was a psychedelic drug used by hippies and young rebels during the Counterculture movement in order to highlight their perception of the purpose of life and escape the issues of society. Consumption of LSD resulted in vivid hallucinations, or "acid trips," and was widely abused by the youth, resulting in its national ban on October 24, 1968. -
Death of MLK
On April 4, 1968, civil rights activist and abolitionist Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee by James Earl Ray. King was giving a speech at a local church when Ray shot King through the cheek from a distant balcony. King's assassination was a catalyst for riots by black protesters across the country and his death played an instrumental role in speeding up the process of achieving civil rights. -
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The 1970's
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Title IX
Under Nixon's presidency, Title IX was passed which declared that no person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance. -
The Equal Rights Amendment
The Equal Rights Amendment was a proposed amendment to the U.S. constitution that guaranteed equal rights to all citizens regardless of gender. The amendment sought to erase the legal distinction between male and female, but ended up failing to be ratified. Phyllis Schlafly was instrumental in defeating the amendment, as she organized a movement of conservative women and highlighted the possibilities women could experience, such as reduced rights or harmed family life. -
Phyllis Schlafly
Born in St. Louis Missouri, Washington State University and received a master's degree Harvard University. A conservative female political activist that protested the women's rights acts and movements as defying traditional gender division of labor. She is known for her opposition to modern feminism and for her campaign against the proposed Equal Rights Amendment. She stopped the ERA from being passed, seeing that it would hinder women more than it would help them. She founded the Eagle Forum. -
Endangered Species Act
The Endangered Species Act identifies threatened and endangered species in the U.S., and puts their protection ahead of economic considerations. Richard Nixon, Enacted this act. Recognizes the value of species habitat. It authorizes the designation of critical habitat and calls for recovery plans for listed species. The environmental writer whose book Silent Spring helped encourage this law. The Endangered Species Act led EPA and OSHA to the front of the battle for ecological safety. -
The Heritage Foundation
The Heritage Foundation, created under Reagan, is a non-profit, research and educational institution whose mission is to formulate and promoted conservative public policies based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values, and a strong national defense. -
OPEC
Called the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries formed in 1961. It is an international cartel that inflates the price of oil by limiting supply. The prominent members are Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, and UAE. OPEC aimed to control access to and prices of oil, wresting power from Western oil companies and investors. In the process, it gradually strengthened the hand of non-Western powers. Later, doubled their petroleum charges in 1979, helping American inflation rise well above 13%. -
Jimmy Carter's Presidency
As the 39th president of the United States, he struggled to correctly respond to critical problems like the major energy crisis as well as high inflation and unemployment. He reopened relation with China and made an effort to broker peace in the historic Arab-Israeli conflict. Later, he was doomed by the hostage crisis in Iran. He stressed human rights because of the Soviet war in Afghanistan. And he enacted an embargo on grain shipments to USSR and boycotted the 1980 Olympics in Moscow. -
Camp David Accords
The Camp David Accords was a treaty signed at the White House in Washington D.C. between Egyptian President Anwar el-Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, laying the groundwork for a permanent peace agreement between Egypt and Israel after three decades of hostilities. -
The Morality Majority
The Moral Majority was a political party founded by Jerry Falwell, an evangelical preacher who was pro-life, pro-family, pro-American, and pro-morality. The political party formed a conservative political bloc in the late 70s and early 80s. -
Three-Mile Island
A partial nuclear reactor meltdown that occurred on Three-Mile Island in Eastern Pennsylvania in 1979 after shutting down a fission reaction but a fuel core became uncovered. Nuclear radiation leaked out into a nearby town but residents were unaffected. The incident made Americans wary of nuclear power and was the most significant accident in U.S. commercial nuclear power plant history. -
The Election of 1980
The Election of 1980 was a presidential election between Republican Ronald Reagan and Democrat Jimmy Carter. Raegan was a former governor of California running against Carter in his second term, who was haunted by a bad economy and the Iranian Hostage Crisis. Reagan defeats Carter in November, and subsequently, after Raegan is sworn in, Ayatolah Khomeiri releases the American hostages in spite of Carter. -
Ronald Reagan
He was first elected president in 1980 and reelected again in 1984. He ran a campaign based on the common man and "populist" ideas. While president, he developed Reaganomics, the trickle-down effect of government incentives. He cut out many welfares and public works programs. His meetings with Gorbachev were the first steps to ending the Cold War. He was also responsible for the Iran-contra Affair which bought hostages with guns. He used the Strategic Defense Initiative to avoid conflict. -
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The 1980's
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Reaganomics
Reaganomics were President Reagan's economic policies during his two terms that he served in office. Reaganomics's goals were to reduce the growth of government spending, reduce government regulations, tighten the money supply in order to reduce inflation, and cut spending and taxes. This new tax program was prompted by Reagan because he had hoped for "a second American Revolution for hope and opportunity." He implemented many practices that hampered growth. -
Sandra Day O'Connor
Sandra Day O'Connor was an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1981 to 2006 and was the first women ever to serve on the Supreme Court. O'Connor was known for her dispassionate and meticulously researched opinions and is remembered as acting as a sturdy guiding hand in the court's decisions during those 24 years in office. In 2009, her accomplishments were recognized by President Obama who honored her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. -
Music Television (MTV)
On August 1, 1981, MTV: Music Television went on air for the first time ever. MTV was initially only available to households in parts of New Jersey, but over time expanded and went on to revolutionize the music industry, becoming an influential source of pop culture and entertainment in the United States and other parts of the world. MTV was instrumental in promoting the careers of performers such as Madonna, Michael Jackson, Prince, and Duran Duran, whose videos played in heavy rotation. -
The Space Shuttle Program
The Space Shuttle program, officially known as the Space Transportation System, is the U.S. government's manned launched vehicle program, administered by NASA and officially began in 1972. The first ever space shuttle was launched in April 1981 with one of the passengers being Sally Ride, allowing her to become the first American woman in space. Only two failures have taken place within the Space Shuttle program: the Challenger, and Columbia. -
Reagan Doctrine
During Reagan's Union address, he defined some of the key concepts of his foreign policy, establishing the Reagan Doctrine, serving has the foundation for his administration's support of "freedom fighters" around the globe. This policy translated into covertly supporting the Contras in their attacks on the leftist Sandinista government in Nicaragua; the Afghan rebels in their fights against the Soviet occupiers; and anticommunist Angolan forces embroiled in that nation's civil war. -
Iran Contra Affair
In 1986, pilot Eugene Hasenfus confessed that he was shipping military supplies into Nicaragua for use by the Contras, an anti-Sandinista force that had been created and funded by the United States, after his plane was shot down. Additionally, he also claimed that the operation was run by the United States Central Intelligence Agency. As a result, Congress passed the Boland Amendment, forbidding the CIA or any other U.S. agency from supporting the Contras. -
Lionel Sosa
Lionel was the founder of Sosa, Bromley, Aguilar & Associates, now Bromley Communications, Hispanic advertising agency. He was a Hispanic businessman who created the largest consultant firms in the world. Sosa was even in the Hispanic media consultant to 7 Republican presidential candidates. In 2006 recognized as one of 25 Most Influential Hispanics in America by TIME. The success of His agency in the Tower campaign led several national companies, including Coca-Cola and Coors. -
Oprah Winfrey
Talk show host who started her own show in 1986 that went until 2011. It is regarded as the highest rated talk show in history. She was supervising producer and host of the top-rated, award-winning The Oprah Winfrey Show for two decades.She established an organization called Harpo Productions in 1988. In 2003 Forbes listed as first African American female billionaire in the 20th century. Later she became a global media leader and philanthropist. Oprah dubbed the "Queen of all Media". -
Period: to
The 1990's
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The Persian Gulf War
On November 29, 1990, the U.N. authorized the use of "all necessary means" of force against Iraq if it did not withdraw from Kuwait by January 15. Early on the morning of January 16, 1991, a massive U.S.-led air offensive, known as Operation Desert Storm, hit Iraq's air defenses, communication networks, weapons plants, oil refineries, and more. Kuwait and Iraq suffered enormous damage, leading Iraqi forces to brutally suppress uprisings by the Kurds in the north and Shi'ites in the south. -
Election of 1992
The Election of 1992 was a presidential election between Democrat Bill Clinton and Republican George Bush. Independent candidate Ross Perot secured nearly 19% of the vote, being the highest percentage of any third-party candidate in a U.S. presidential election in 80 years and taking votes away from Bush, allowing for Clinton to take the victory and become the 42nd President of the United States. -
Healthcare Reform
Created in January 1993, Clinton's health care plan, sometimes referred to as "Hillarycare," was a healthcare reform proposed by the Clinton administration, primarily promoted by the First Lady Hillary Clinton. Its goal was to come up with a comprehensive plan to provide universal health care for all Americans, planned to be one of the cornerstones of the administration's first-term agenda. The plan ultimately received backlash and the popularity of the reform diminished. -
Don't Ask Don't Tell Policy
This was a policy about homosexuality in the U.S. military mandated by federal law. Clinton Administration created a policy prohibits anyone who is gay, lesbian, bisexual from serving in the armed forces of the United States. Clinton thought that it " would create an unacceptable risk to the high standards of morale, good order and discipline, and unit cohesion that are the essence of military capability." Stops prohibit homosexual from talking about their relationship while being in the army. -
Welfare Reform
Was signed by Clinton to make reductions in welfare grants and required able welfare recipients to find employment. This made deep cuts in welfare grants and required able-bodied welfare recipients to find employment. And it restricted welfare benefits for legal and illegal immigrants. It was part of Bill Clinton's campaign platform in 1992. Clinton was slow to endorse this bill. Restricted access to social services. Reforms were widely seen by liberals. Abandon key New Deal provisions -
Defense of Marriage Act
The act defined marriage as between only a man and women. however many states and companies extended benefits to same-sex partners and many states legalized same-sex marriages. This would make same-sex marriage would not be recognized by the federal government. The gay couples would be ineligible for spousal benefits provided by federal laws. The Defense of Marriage Act relieving states of the obligation to grant reciprocity, or "full faith and credit," to marriages performed in another state. -
The Lewinsky Affair
On January 17, 1998, news broke out about the sex affair between President Bill Clinton and White House intern Monica Lewinsky, revealing that the sexual relationship took place between 1995 and 1996. Clinton denied the allegations but was later exposed after a dress tested positive of his DNA. This scandal resulted in the impeachment of Bill Clinton, the first ever presidential impeachment since Andrew Johnson back in 1868. -
Compassionate Conservatism
This is a political conservative who is motivated by concern for the needy but supports policies based on personal responsibility and limited government. George W. Bush believed that although government should not interfere directly with people's lives, it should help people to help themselves. The Compassionate Conservatism like enforcing learning standards. It states that through the use of traditional conservative political beliefs, the general welfare of society with improve. -
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Contemporary
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9/11 Attacks
On September 11, 2001, 19 militants associated with al-Qaeda hijacked 4 airliners and carried out suicide attacks against targets in the United States. 2 of the planes were flown into the World Trade Center, the 3rd plane hit the Pentagon, and the 4th plane nosedived into a field in Pennsylvania after passengers onboard heard of the hijacking. These events triggered major U.S. initiatives to combat terrorism, such as airport security. Over 3,000 deaths occurred in New York and Washington D.C. -
No Child Left Behind Education Act
Passed under President George W. Bush's education-reform bill, the No Child Left Behind Act authorizes several federal education programs that are administered by the states, being a reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Under the law, states are required to tests students in reading and math in grades 3 through 8 and once in high school, becoming one of the most sweeping education-reform legislations since 1965. -
2nd Iraq War
On March 19, 2003, the U.S., along with coalition forces primarily from the United Kingdom, initiated war on Iraq. This was known as a war on terror, with claims by Bush that Saddam Hussein had links to al-Qaeda and had a hold of nuclear arms. Lasting for the next 8 years, the war consisted of two phases, consisting of Iraqi defeat and the arrest of Saddam Hussein for war crimes. Violence declined in 2007, and by 2011, the U.S. formally completed its withdrawal. -
Hurricane Katrina Disaster
Early in the morning on August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast of the United States. The storm itself did a great deal of damage, but its aftermath was catastrophic. Levee breaches led to massive flooding. Hundreds of thousands in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama were displaced from their homes, and estimates state that Katrina caused more than $100 billion in damage. -
Election of 2008
The Election of 2008 was a historical presidential election between Senator Barack Obama of Illinois and Senator John McCain of Arizona. Barack Obama won nearly 53% of the popular vote and garnered 365 electoral votes, winning the election, becoming the 44th U.S. president, and the first ever African-American elected into the White House. -
The Great Recession
The Great Recession, officially lasting from December 2007 to June 2009, was a large economic downturn that began with the bursting of an $8 trillion dollar housing bubble. Unemployment rates significantly rose and the resulting loss of wealth led to sharp cutbacks in consumer spending. This incident was the most dramatic employment contraction of any recession since the Great Depression during the 1930s. -
Sonya Sotomayor
On May 26, 2009, President Barack Obama announced his nomination of Sotomayor for Supreme Court Justice. Sonia Sotomayor is known for being the first Hispanic justice nominee on the United States Supreme Court. She is recognized as a somewhat controversial and outspoken candidate whose words are sometimes misinterpreted yet she is distinguished for her many years of judicial service. -
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, or ARRA, is an economic stimulus package enacted by the 111th U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Obama on February 17, 2009. The act was based largely on proposals by Obama and was intended to provide a stimulus to the U.S. economy in the wake of the economic downturn. The objective of the stimulus package was to reinvigorate the economy and prevent or reverse the recession by boosting employment and spending. -
Affordable Care Act (Obama Care)
On March 23, 2010, the Affordable Care Act, other known as Obamacare, was officially signed into law under the Obama Administration, making healthcare more affordable and easily accessible to a wider range of Americans by expanding Medicaid eligibility and offering cost assistance through health insurance marketplaces. Under the law, people in the U.S. who don't qualify for an exemption are required to obtain a minimum amount of healthcare coverage.
