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PLO
A political movement uniting Palestine Arabs in an effort to create an independent state state of Palestine (Palestine Liberation Organization). -
PACTO Strike
The Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization or PACTO was a United States trade union that operated from 1968 until its decertification in 1981 following a strike that was declared illegal and broken by the Reagan Administration -
William Rehnquist
an American lawyer and jurist who served on the Supreme Court of the United States for 33 years -
Walter Mondale
an American politician, diplomat and lawyer who served as the 42nd Vice President of the United States -
California v. Bakke
A landmark decision by the Supreme Court of the United States. It upheld affirmative action, allowing race to be one of several factors in college admission policy. -
Moral Majority
Political actin group formed in the 1970's to further a conservative and religious agenda, including the allowance of prayer in schools and strict laws against abortion. -
Supply-Side Economics
A macroeconomic theory that argues economic growth can be most effectively created by by lowering taxes and decreasing regulation -
AIDS
originally labeled the "gay plague" but soon started affecting drug users, hemophiliacs, and minorities -
Ronald Reagan
President Ronald Reagan helped redefine the purpose of government and pressured the Soviet Union to end the Cold War. He solidified the conservative agenda for decades after his presidency -
Economic Recovery Tax Act
A law that lowered income tax rates and allowed for expensing of depreciable assets -
Sandra Day O'Connor
a retired Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, serving from her appointment in 1981 by Ronald Reagan to 2006. She is the first woman to serve on the Court -
Trickle-Down Economics
An economic theory that advocates reducing taxes on businesses and the wealthy in society as a means to stimulate business investment in the short term and benefit society at large in the long term -
Religious Fundamentalism
Movement whose objectives were to return to the foundations of the faith and to influence state policy where every word of the bible is interpreted literally -
Boland Amendment
A term describing three U.S. legislative amendments between 1982 and 1984, all aimed at limiting U.S. government assistance to the Contras in Nicaragua. -
Saddam Hussein
Was the leader of Iran during the middle of the Cold War. Although initially supported by the U.S. to fight Iran, his invasion of Kuwait made him a prime enemy of America -
SDI
SDI was Reagan's intent to purse a high technology missile defense system which was referred to as SDI or Star Wars -
Beirut Bombings
Two truck bombs struck buildings housing Multinational Force in Lebanon (MNF) peacekeepers, specifically against United States and French service members, killing 241 U.S. and 58 French peacekeepers, 6 civilians and the 2 suicide attackers. A group called Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the bombings and said that the attacks were to get the MNF out of Lebanon -
Geraldine Ferraro
an American attorney and Democratic Party politician who served in the United States House of Representatives. She was the first female vice presidential candidate representing a major American political party -
Sandinistas
member of a left-wing Nicaraguan political organization, the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN), which came to power in 1979 after overthrowing the dictator Anastasio Somoza. Opposed during most of their period of rule by the US-backed Contras, the Sandinistas were voted out of office in 1990. -
Iran-Contra Affair
A political scandal in the United States that occurred during the second term of the Reagan Administration. Senior administration officials secretly facilitated the sale of arms to Iran, which was the subject of an arm embargo -
Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev, GCL is a Russian and former Soviet politician. He was the eighth and last leader of the Soviet Union, having been General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991. -
Glasnost & Perestroika
Refers to the reconstruction of the political and economic system established by the Communist Party -
Bob Dole
former politician of attorney who served as republican leader of the U.S. senate -
Enron
Enron Corporation was an American energy, commodities, and services company based in Houston, Texas -
Immigration Acts
law incriminated the act of engaging in a pattern or practice of knowingly hiring an unauthorized alien and established financial and other penalties for those employing illegal immigrants. -
INF Agreement
The Treaty Between the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on the Elimination of Their Intermediate Range and Shorter-Range Missiles. -
"Tear down this Wall"
"Tear down this wall!" is a line from a speech made by US President Ronald Reagan in West Berlin on June 12, 1987, calling for the leader of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, to open up the barrier which had divided West and East Berlin since 1961 -
Read my lips, no new taxes
spoken by George W. Bush at the 1988 Republican National Convention -
Panama Invasion
Code named Operation Just Cause occurred between mid-December 1989 and late January 1990. It occurred during the administration of President George H. W. Bush and ten years after the Torrijos–Carter Treaties were ratified to transfer control of the Panama Canal from the U.S. to Panama by 1 January 2000. -
George H.W. Bush
George Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States from 1989 to 1993. Prior to assuming the presidency, Bush served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States from 1981 to 1989 -
Tiananmen Square
After several weeks of demonstrations, Chinese troops entered Tiananmen Square on June 4 and fired civilians. Estimates of the death toll range from several hundred to thousands. -
Fall of the Berlin Wall
As the Cold War began to thaw across Eastern Europe, the spokesman for East Berlin's Communist party announced a change in his city's relations with the West. -
Lech Walesa
Lech Wałęsa is a retired Polish politician and labor activist. He co-founded and headed Solidarity, the Soviet bloc's first independent trade union, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983, and served as President of Poland from 1990 to 1995. Wikipedia -
Persian Gulf War
international conflict that was triggered by Iraq's invasion of Kuwait on August 2, 1990. ... Egypt and several other Arab nations joined the anti-Iraq coalition and contributed forces to the military buildup, known as Operation Desert Shield. -
Americans with Disabilities Act
civil rights law that prohibits discrimination based on disability -
Internet
used to send graphics and multimedia across the world -
Breakup of the Soviet Union
Officially granting self-governing independence to the Republics of the Soviet Union. Dissolution of the Soviet Union into 15 independent republics, Conclusion of the Cold War -
Boris Yeltsin
a Soviet and Russian politician and the first President of the Russian Federation, serving from 1991 to 1999. -
Start I and II
START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) was a bilateral treaty between the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) on the reduction and limitation of strategic offensive arms -
Boshia and Kosovo
Serbian dictator carried out series of attacks to suppress independence movements -
Clarence Thomas
African American jurist, nominated to the supreme court in 1991. Accused of sexual harassment shortly after. -
NRA
national rifle association, advocates for the protection of the second amendment of the United States Bill of Rights and the promotion of firearm ownership rights -
Ethnic Cleansing
the systematic forced removal of ethnic racial or racial groups from a given territory by a more powerful group -
nuclear proliferation
the spread of nuclear weapons, fissionable material, and weapons- applicable nuclear technology and info to nations not recognized as 'nuclear weapon states' by the nonproliferation treaty -
Ross Perot
American business magnate and former politician. Ran for president in 1992 independently -
Kyoto Accord
treaty which extends the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that commits state parties to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, -
Yasser Arafat
Clinton presided over a historic meeting at the White House between Israeli premier Yitzshak Rabin and Palestine Liberation Organization leader Yasir. They agreed in principle on self-rule for the Palestinians within Israel. -
European Union
political and economic union of 28 member states that are located primarily in Europe -
West Bank and the Gaza Strip
Palestinian territories and occupied Palestinian territories under the control of Israel -
Bill Clinton
served as the 42nd president -
Failure of Health Reform
Proposed by Bill Clinton, the goal was to come up with universal health care for everyone. It ultimately backfired against multiple insurance companies -
Brady Bill
U.S. federal law that requires a waiting period for handgun purchases and background checks for people who want handguns -
Deficit Reduction Budget
to shrink the federal deficit to its lowest level in more than a decade -
Al Gore
American politician who served as the 45th vice president of the U.S. -
Contract with America
a document released by the United States Republican Party during the Congressional election campaign -
Don't ask, Don't tell
official U.S. policy on military service by gays, bisexuals, and lesbians, insulted by the Clinton Administration -
NAFTA
North American Free Trade Agreement, signed by Canada, Mexico, and the U.S creating a trilateral trade block -
Oklahoma City Bombing
domestic terrorist truck bombing on the Alfred P. Murrah Federal building in Oklahoma City. -
WTO
world trade organization, intergovernmental organization that regulates international trade -
Newt Gingrich
American politician and author, born in Pennsylvania, later representing Georgia in Congress, 50th speaker of the U.S. -
Madeline Albright
first woman to have become the U.S. secretary of state -
G-8
group of eight, intergovernmental political forum from 1997-2014. -
Clinton Impeachment
House of Representatives, two charges of prejury and obstruction of justice -
Bush vs. Gore
a decision of the U.S. supreme court that settled a recount dispute in Florida's 2000 presidential election -
George W. Bush
served as the 43rd president of the U.S. -
Bush Tax Cuts
changes to the U.S. tax code passed originally during the presidency of George W. Bush and extended to Obama's presidency -
9/11
series of four coordinated terrorist attacks by the Islamic terrorist group al-Queda on the U.S. -
No Child Left Behind
provides money for extra educational assistance for poor children in return for their improvements in their academic progress -
Axis of Evil
to describe governments that his administration accused of sponsoring terrorism and seeking weapons of mass destruction -
Homeland Security
cabinet department of the U.S. federal government with responsibilities in public security -
WMDs
a nuclear, radiological, chemical, biological or other weapon that can kill and bring significant harm to a large number of humans or cause great damage to human-made structures, natural structures, or the biosphere -
Operation Iraq Freedom
armed conflict that began in 2003 with the invasion of Iraq by a United States-led coalition that overthrew the government of Saddam Hussein -
Abu Ghraib Prison
people of the U.S. army and CIA committed a series of human rights violations against detainees, including physical and sexual abuse -
Hurricane Katrina
extremely destructive and deadly tropical cyclone -
Great Recession
period of economic decline observed in world markets -
D.C. v. Heller
held that the Second Amendment protects an individual's right to possess a firearm unconnected with service in a militia for traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense within the home, and that Washington, D.C.'s handgun ban and requirement that lawfully-owned rifles and shotguns be kept "unloaded and disassembled or bound by a trigger lock" violated this guarantee. -
Sarah Palin
Republican vice president candidate with John McCain in the 2008 election, the second woman to run for vice president of a major party, and the first Republican -
Housing Bubble
run-up in housing prices fueled by demand, speculation and exuberance -
John McCain
Senior U.S. senator of Arizona, Republican nominee for U.S. president, but lost to Obama -
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
government sponsored enterprises, this means they are privately owned, but receive support from the federal government -
Barack Obama
44th president of the United States and the first African American president -
Sonia Sotomayor
an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, serving since August 2009. She has the distinction of being its first justice of Hispanic descent and the first Latina -
Tea Party
The Tea Party movement is an American conservative movement within the Republican Party. Members of the movement have called for a reduction of the national debt of the United States and federal budget deficit by reducing government spending, and for lower taxes. -
Hillary Clinton
67th secretary of state and former first lady -
Citizens United
a landmark U.S. constitutional law, campaign finance, and corporate law case dealing with regulation of political campaign spending by organizations. -
Affordable Care Act
The law has 3 primary goals: Support innovative medical care delivery methods designed to lower the costs of health care generally. -
Syrian Civil War
The Syrian Civil War is an ongoing multi-sided armed conflict in Syria fought primarily between the Ba'athist Syrian Arab Republic led by President Bashar al-Assad -
Dodd-Frank Act
It made changes in the American financial regulatory environment that affected all federal financial regulatory agencies and almost every part of the nation's financial services industry -
Mitt Romney
an American businessman and politician who served as the 70th Governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 and was the Republican Party's nominee for President of the United States in the 2012 election. -
Boston Marathon Bombing
two homemade bombs detonated 12 seconds and 210 yards apart at 2:49 p.m., near the finish line of the annual Boston Marathon, killing three people and injuring several hundred others, including 16 who lost limbs. -
Shelby County v. Holder
Requires certain states and local governments to obtain federal preclearance before implementing any changes to their voting laws or practices -
Debt Ceiling
Limitations set on the amount of money the government is able to borrow -
John Kerry
68th U.S. secretary of State from 2013-2017 -
Same-Sex Marriage
held that the right of same-sex couples to marry on the same terms and conditions as opposite-sex couples
