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The PLO
Palestine Liberation Operation in which the main goal was to establish a Palestine state with Jerusalem as the capital and the purpose of the Liberation through armed struggle with violence aimed at Israeli civilians. -
PATCO Strike
Professional Air Traffic Controller Organization union that began in 1968 until it’s decertification in 1981 over a strike which cost federal employees their jobs and shifted American opinions on labor unions. Under the threat of National Security, the strike canceled ~7,000 flights, in which Reagan declared this unconstitutional under the guidelines of Taft-Harley Act which eventually cost some 11,000 workers their jobs and banned for life from ever holding another federal civil service job. -
Nuclear Proliferation
The NPT, Nuclear Proliferation Treaty, an international treaty which the main goal is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and nuclear technology and promote the use of nuclear energy as a means of achieving nuclear disarmament. -
Bob Dole
U.S. Senate member, earned titles as minority leader and majority leader. Defeated as Gerald Ford's running mate in 1976. Ran for president in 1996, lost to President Bill Clinton. -
Sandinistas
Members of a left-wing Nicaraguan political organization, the Sandinista National Liberation Front, overthrowing the dictator, Anastasio Somoza, and was opposed by the US-backed Contras. -
NRA
National Rifle Association of America is an American nonprofit organization that advocates for gun rights -
William Rehnquist
Appointed 16th chief justice on the supreme court, known for alliancing his own political views of the conservative right in his rulings on early desegregation of schools, abortion, states-rights, capital punishment and school prayer. Serving as the presiding judge on the impeachment of Clinton trial. -
Walter Mondale
Vice-president under Jimmy Carter, serving as an important figure in the Camp David Accord. Presidential candidate for the election in 84, choosing Geraldine Ferraro as his running mate, the first female vice presidential candidate for a major party. -
California v. Bakke
A supreme court decision which allowed race to be a factor, among several others, in college admission policy. -
Saddam Hussein
President of Iraq and part of revolutionary Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party, later, the Baghdad-based Ba'ath Party and its regional organization the Iraqi Ba'ath Party—which espoused Ba'athism, a mix of Arab nationalism and socialism. -
Religious Fundamentalism
Religious Right movement which used evangelists as leverage in inciting political activism through the means of religion. -
Moral Majority
A political party which aligned itself with firm moral standards and an agenda to reaffirm conservative and religious role in politics including the support for prayer in school and strict laws against abortion. -
Glasnost & Perestroika
A political movement of reformation in the communist party (Perestroika), associated with Gorbachev's Glasnost policy reform in which the reform focused on more openness of issues within the party etc.... -
Lech Walesa
labor activist who helped form and led communist Poland’s first independent trade union and solidarity. Became president of Poland and won the Nobel peace prize. -
“Ethnic cleansing”
The mass expulsion or killing of members of an unwanted ethnic or religious group in society. -
Ronald Reagan
40th president of the United States. Policies focused on restoration of American prosperity and the idea of peace through strength in foreign relations abroad. -
Supply Side Economics
“Reaganomics”-the economic policy that focused on the decreasing taxes and regulation meant to support the idea of consumer benefit from greater supply of consumer goods, competition of prices leading to lower costs, and increased jobs. -
Trickle down economics
economic theory that focuses on the reducing of taxes on the wealthy as a means of stimulating business investment short term and benefit society at large long term. -
Economic Recovery Tax Act
ERTA or the Kemp-Roth Tax cut was a law that lowered tax rates and allowed for expensing of depreciable assets. -
Sandra Day O’Connor
The first woman justice appointed to the serve on the Supreme Court under the Reagan administration. -
AIDS
First cases of what was to become AIDS reported in the US. “Four-H club” for those prone to the disease, Hemophiliacs, Homosexuals, Heroin addicts and Haitians. Led to an early stigma against homosexuals and a misunderstanding of how AIDS came to be and was spread. -
Boland Amendment
A series of 3 amendments aimed at limiting government assistance to the Contras in Nicaragua. Prohibited the US from equipping, training and advising the Anti Communist Contras-2nd and 3rd Boman Amendments passed which further prohibited humanitarian aid and support. -
Beirut Bombings
Barrack bombings considered acts of terrorism occurring in Lebanon in the Lebanese Civil War. -
Internet
originally a US Department of Defense project in the late 1960s, which was edited in the 70s to control how data could be shared and on what surface it could be shared. 1990 brought on the world wide web which is the most efficient way of accessing the most data. -
Geraldine Ferraro
The first female vice presidential candidate for a major party. Walter Mondale and Geraldine Ferraro defeated by Reagan in the 1984 election. -
The SDI
Strategic Defence Initiative set up during the 2nd Reagan administration where the Department of Defense proposed and began the investigation and experimentation of missile defense, ballistic nuclear weapons, lasers, particle beam weapons, ground and space-based defense systems. -
Iran-Contra Affair
Political scandal occuring during the 2nd term of Reagan in which the US was involved in the support of Anti Communist Contras in the overthrow of their communist established government against the Boland Amendment which placed the foreign aid into check. -
Mikhail Gorbachev
Leader of the Soviet Union. Domestic reform and nuclear disarmament led to an end in the cold war but ultimately the demise of communism in Europe. -
John Kerry
American politician who served as the 68th United States Secretary of State from 2013 to 2017. A Democrat, he previously represented Massachusetts in the United States Senate from 1985 to 2013 and spoke out about the U.N. resolution condemning new Israeli settlements, arguing that they threaten the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and make a two-state solution increasingly challenging. -
Immigration act of 1986
law criminalizing the act of knowingly hiring an “unauthorized alien”. A revision to the status of unauthorized aliens set forth in the Immigration and Nationality act. -
“Tear Down this Wall”
The Berlin Wall Speech that was given by Reagan that demanded Gorbachev open the barrier dividing West and East Berlin. -
INF Agreement
Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty between the US and Union of Soviet Socialist Republics designed to eliminate intermediate-range and short-range missiles. (nuclear and ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles.) -
“Read my lips, no new taxes”
Phrase spoken American presidential candidate George H. W. Bush at the Republican National Convention as he accepted the nomination. Then contrasted when the taxes bill passed through Congress based on Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Balanced budget act demanded deficit be reduced, or cuts to social security. Medicare, defense and entitlement programs and the new tax bill passed to counteract this. -
Al-Qaeda
A militant Sunni Islamist multinational organization founded by Osama Bin Laden. View Christian-Jewish reliance as a threat to Islam, and the killing of non-combatants (innocent people) as religiously sanctioned. The group is viewed as a terrorist group to the US, NATO, and European Union for their lone wolf, suicide bombings, other bombings and radical ideals. -
Osama bin Laden
The leader of Al-Qaeda, and the figurehead behind 9/11 and other mass casualty attacks worldwide. Bin Laden was hunted by the US after 9/11 and the enactment on the war against terror, and the FBI who offered a $25 million bounty on him. Was shot and killed in 2011. -
George H.W. Bush
41st president of the US, a WWII veteran, who is quoted as saying “read my lips, no more taxes”. Most famous for skillful means of the foreign affair in his handling of the dissolvement of the Soviet Union, military removal of Panamanian dictator Noriega and the Iraqi (Hussein's) invasion of Kuwait leading to the national coalition and strike as means to drive Hussain out of Kuwait. -
Tiananmen Square
“June 4th incident” student-led demonstrations in Beijing -relating to the political national movement inspired by the Beijing protests. Particularly students who expressed their discontent with the authoritative communist government. Chinese troops invaded and fired on the crowd. -
Fall of the Berlin Wall
Cold War began to come to an end. East Berlin's Communist Party announced a change in his city's relations with the West -citizens of the GDR were free to cross the country's borders. -
Panama Invasion
The United States broke both international law and own government policies by invading Panama in order to bring President Manuel Noriega to justice for drug trafficking -
Persian Gulf War
An international conflict that was triggered by Iraq's invasion of Kuwait. Egypt and several other Arab nations joined the anti-Iraq coalition-contributing forces to the military buildup, “Operation Desert Shield” (the defense of Saudi Arabia) “Operation Desert Storm” in its combat phase. -
Americans with Disabilities Act
Civil rights law that prohibited discrimination based on disability in public life, jobs, schools, transportation, and all public and private places that are open to the general public. -
Breakup of the Soviet Union
Officially granting self-governing independence to the Republics of the Soviet Union. The conclusion of the cold war and the resignation of Gorbachev from his post as president of the Soviet Union -
Boris Yeltsin
Soviet and Russian politician- first President of the Russian Federation. Emerged under the perestroika reforms as one of Gorbachev's most powerful political opponents -
Start I and II
Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty-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. I modified START I MIRVed missiles may be converted to a single-warhead. II allowed each side to two existing types of missile up to four warheads per missile-no limit on the total number of missiles or warheads -
Clarence Thomas
Known for his quiet, stoic demeanor during oral arguments and his conservative viewpoint. Appointed by George H. W. Bush to replace retiring Thurgood Marshall, the 1st African American to serve on the court. -
Ross Perot
One of the most successful third-party candidates in American history. -worked for IBM and formed his own company, Electronic Data Systems, which he sold to General Motors. -
Bosnia and Kosovo
Kosovo war began between the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the Kosovo Albanian rebels which has support from NATO air and ground support of the Albanian army. Bosnian War armed conflict that took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and those of the self-proclaimed Bosnian Serb and Bosnian Croats within Bosnia and Herzegovina, Republika Srpska, and Herzeg-Bosnia, which were led and supplied by Serbia and Croatia. -
Bill Clinton
Being president during one of the longest periods of peace and economic expansion in American history-impeached while president on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice. Later released as having grounds for impeachment on witness-tampering, abuse of power, and details of his sexual relationship with Ms. Lewinsky -
Failure of Health reform
Clinton Health Care Plan-universal health care for all Americans. The president’s speech proposed an enforced mandate for employers to provide health insurance coverage to all of their employees. Declared dead by congress amid the opposition of split party interests and the pharmaceutical and health insurance industries. -
Brady Bill
Provision of US federal law that requires a waiting period for handgun purchases and background checks on those who wish to purchase handguns. -
Deficit Reduction Budget
Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993-Part that dealt with taxes was Revenue Reconciliation Act of 1993. Omnibus Budget Reconciliation act of 1987 under Reagan continued coverage of group health benefits to employees and their families upon the occurrence of certain qualifying events where such coverage would otherwise be terminated. -
EU
European Union-Political and economic union of 28 member states in Europe, which united under common laws for commercial practices, an all internal single market, ensures free movement of people, goods, etc..., as well as the secondary Monetary Union, made of 19 member states who all use the Euro as common currency. -
NAFTA
North American Free Trade Agreement signed by Canada, Mexico, and the United States, creating a trilateral trade bloc in North America. -
“Don't ask, don't tell”
United States policy on military service by gays, bisexuals, and lesbians, instituted by the Clinton Administration -
Newt Gingrich
Politician and author-1994 elections Republicans gaining 54 House and 9 U.S. Senate seats. When the Republicans gained this majority of seats in the 104th Congress, the Contract was seen as a triumph by party leaders and the conservative movement in general. -
Contract with America
A conservative action of more than 300 Republican Congressional candidates who signed it. Used as a pawn to announce the return of old republican values and the reliability of Congress and its actions-national renewal of conservative approaches and ideals with the election and majority. -
Taliban
Refers to itself as the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Sunni Islamic fundamentalist political movement in Afghanistan currently waging war within that country. Share the beliefs of Sharia law and enforcement of their ideals with Al-Qaeda. -
Oklahoma City Bombings
Product of build-up of anger McVeigh had against a US federal government 'run amok' against its citizens and the politics that led to his bombing of the Alfred P Murrah building killing 168 and injuring 680 more. -
West Bank and Gaza Strip
Israeli Palestinian Interim Agreement. key and complex agreement in the Israeli–Palestinian peace process. establishment of a Palestinian interim self-government in the Palestinian people in West Bank and Gaza Strip. -
WTO
World Trade Organization-intergovernmental organization that regulates trade and commerce between countries. -
Welfare reform
The Personal Responsibility- Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA) federal law considered to be a major welfare reform. The system required work in exchange for time-limited assistance. -
Yasser Arfat
Chairman of the PLO and leader in many of the violent acts and border disputes occurring between them and neighboring Israel, including the 6-day war. -
Madeleine Albright
First woman to become a secretary of state under Clinton. -
G-8
Group of 8-intergovernmental political forum composed of major industrialized countries of the world that view themselves as democracies. (G-6 1976 which excluded Canada and Russia, later adding them as G-7 (Canada) and G-8 (Russia)) The purpose was similar to the UN and to extend the relationships between other democratic world powers. -
Kyoto Accord
Kyoto Protocol is an international treaty which extended the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change which pushed it’s two ideas, that based on scientific research, climate change is occurring and is most likely man-made, specifically from the CO2 emissions we produce. The treaty was set to commit state parties to the reduction of emissions of CO2 and other environmentally harmful chemicals into the atmosphere and air. -
Clinton Impeachment
Charges of perjury and obstruction of justice. Later released as having grounds for impeachment on witness-tampering, abuse of power, and details of his sexual relationship with Ms. Lewinsky (ending on February 12, 1999) -
Bush v. Gore
The state of Florida forced by the local court to recount 10,000 ballots manually due to malfunctions of the ballot machines. It was suspected that the officials recounting weren’t being honest with the votes and Bush argued the recount undermined the 14th amendment, in which protected everyone’s vote equally and undermined the whole nature of the US political system. Bush won the case and became the 43rd president. -
Al Gore
45th Vice President of the US and best known for his environmentalist work. (Global warming awareness and urging other countries to be accountable for the carbon footprints they were leaving.) -
Bush Tax Cuts
Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation act featured tax cuts that favored people with children and or incomes ~$200,000. It stimulated the US economy during a 2001 recession but contributed to a $1.35 Trillion debt increase over the span of 10 years. -
George W. Bush
43rd president of the US. Led the response to 9/11 and initiated the Iraq war. Administration built the Homeland Security Department and passed the Patriot Act which allowed the monitoring of citizen activities, and the establishment of an international coalition to seek out and punish Al Qaeda members and leaders for their acts of terrorism against the American people in 9/11. -
Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton is an American politician, former diplomat, and First Lady of the United States from 1993 to 2001. -
9/11
Series of 4 terrorist attacks enacted by the Islamic terrorist group Al-Qaeda which directly resulted in the Bush administration’s establishment of Homeland Security, and the Iraq war in an attempt to bring justice to the American people as well as prevent further terrorist acts from occurring. -
No Child Left Behind
The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), which passed Congress with overwhelming bipartisan support in 2001 and was signed into law by President George W. Bush on Jan. 8, 2002. It is a federal law that provides money for extra educational assistance for poor children in return for improvements in their academic progress. -
“Axis of Evil”
Term used by George W Bush in his State of the Union Address to describe governments that this administration accused of sponsoring terrorism and seeking weapons of mass destruction. -
Homeland Security
Cabinet department of the United States federal government with responsibilities in public security. Established by the Bush administration and the proactive approaches to the war on terrorism and prevention of terrorist acts on a home grown front. -
WMDs
Nuclear, radiological, chemical, biological or other weapons 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 Iraqi Freedom
The Iraq War was a protracted armed conflict that began in 2003 with the invasion of Iraq by a United States-led coalition that overthrew the government of Saddam Hussein. (5th longest US combat participation) -
Abu Ghraib Prison
Abu Ghraib prison now know as The Baghdad Central Prison, was a prison complex in Abu Ghraib, to which during the Iraq war, US Army personnel and the CIA committed various human rights violations against detainees. -
Enron scandal
The Enron scandal was a financial scandal that eventually led to the bankruptcy of the Enron Corporation, an American energy company based in Houston, Texas, and the de facto dissolution of Arthur Andersen, which was one of the five largest audit and accountancy partnerships in the world. In addition to being the largest bankruptcy reorganization in American history at that time, Enron was cited as the biggest audit failure. -
Hurricane Katrina
An extremely destructive and deadly Category 5 hurricane that caused catastrophic damage along the Gulf coast from central Florida to Texas, much of it due to the storm surge and levee failure. -
Sarah Palin
Sarah Louise Palin is an American politician, commentator, author, and reality television personality, who served as the ninth Governor of Alaska from 2006 until her resignation in 2009. -
Housing Bubble
The United States housing bubble was a real estate bubble affecting over half of the U.S. states. Housing prices peaked in early 2006, started to decline in 2006 and 2007, and reached new lows in 2012. -
D.C vs. Heller
A landmark case in which the Supreme Court of the United States 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. -
Great Recession
following an economic boom in 1999 with technology and computer/computer software sales which resulted in a stock market increase. The boom led to a bust in which the Federal Reserve ignored rising inflation rates and to which 9/11 added to the downturn. -
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
The federal takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac was the placing into conservatorship of the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) and Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) by the U.S. Treasury in September 2008. -
John McCain
John Sidney McCain III is an American politician serving as the senior United States Senator from Arizona since 1987. He was the Republican nominee for President of the United States in the 2008 election, which he lost to Barack Obama. -
Sonia Sotomayor
Sonia Maria Sotomayor is 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. -
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is an American politician who served as the 44th President of the United States from January 20, 2009, to January 20, 2017. -
Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission
Court rules that corporations have first amendment right to spend as much as they like in elections. Super-PACs are a result -
Arab Spring
The Arab Spring, also referred to as Arab revolutions, was a revolutionary wave of both violent and non-violent demonstrations, protests, riots, coups, foreign interventions, and civil wars in North Africa and the Middle East that began on 18 December 2010 in Tunisia with the Tunisian Revolution. -
Dodd-Frank Act
The Act's intentions are to provide rigorous standards and supervision to protect the economy and American consumers, investors and businesses; end taxpayer-funded bailouts of financial institutions; provide for an advanced warning system on the stability of the economy -
Affordable Care Act
The Affordable Care Act (ACA), or “Obamacare,” has generated controversy from its inception. ... It did so primarily by expanding Medicaid, the government's (mostly) free health insurance plan for the poor, and by providing subsidies to the almost-poor so they could buy health insurance on the ACA's “insurance exchanges.” -
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, along with its allies, and various forces opposing both the government and each other in varying combinations. -
Mitt Romney
The Mitt Romney presidential campaign of 2012 officially began on June 2, 2011, when former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney formally announced his candidacy for the Republican Party nomination for President of the United States, at an event in Stratham, New Hampshire. Having previously run in the 2008 Republican primaries, this was Romney's second campaign for the presidency. -
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. -
Shelby County V. Holder
A United States Supreme Court case regarding the constitutionality of two provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965: Section 5, which requires certain states and local governments to obtain federal preclearance before implementing any changes to their voting laws or practices. This was deemed unconstitutional as it infringed the constitutional principles of federalism and equal sovereignty of the states. -
Boston Marathon Bombing
A terrorist attack that occurred when 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. -
Obergefell v Hodges
In a 4-5 decision the SUpreme court finally ruled that a state could no longer ban same-sex marriage. -
Debt Ceiling
The United States debt ceiling or debt limit is a legislative limit on the amount of national debt that can be issued by the US Treasury, thus limiting how much money the federal government may borrow.
