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G.I. Bill of Rights
The G.I. Bill of Rights,also known as the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944,was a law that provided many benefits for returning WWII veterans.It was proposed and drafted by the american legion,led by former Illinois governor John Stelle, during WWII.The bill provided them benefits such as funding for college,loans,unemployment compensation,and job counseling.These benefits were meant to help returning WWII veterans to readjust to civilian lifestyle more easily and not face economic trouble. -
Iron Curtain
The iron curtain was a metaphorical term coined by Prime Minister Winston Churchill on march 5, 1946 during a speech used to describe the fighting and physical barrier that divided eastern communist Europe and the non-communist areas in the west. The boundary lay vertically through the middle of Germany. On the west side was the Soviet Union, Poland, Finland, Hungary, Austria, Romania and West Germany, and on the east side was England, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, and East Germany. -
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Cold War
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Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan was an aid plan to help those countries in western Europe who were affected by WWII.The plan is named for Secretary of State George C. Marshall The United States gave over $13 billion to western Europe in economic assistance to help rebuild their economy as well as stopping people in Europe from embracing communism and help contain it as much as possible. It allowed the United States to remake the European economy in the image of the American economy. -
Berlin Airlift
Stalin established a border between East and West Berlin in order to starve the people of the West, which belonged to the allies , so they could be out of Berlin for good. The U.S. instead of attacking the Soviet blockade in order to avoid another world war, sent a fleet of planes to the west for over a year and supplied them with everything they were limited of because of the blockade. It was a huge success, which later then lead to Stalin lifting the blockade because it was useless now. -
Truman Doctrine
The Truman Doctrine was an American foreign policy, announced by President Harry Truman, that provided support to countries susceptible to communism. The countries of Greece and Turkey were aided with $400 million worth of military and economical assistance. With communism being a great threat during this time, the U.S. wanted to do everything possible to stop the spread of communism, and with the Truman Doctrine, it resulted in Greece and Turkey not to fall into a communist government. -
Joseph McCarthy
Joseph McCarthy was a Republican U.S. Senator from Wisconsin who became the face of the Second Red Scare in the US McCarthy became known when he started falsely accusing numerous people of being affiliated with communism by stating he had a list of communist living in the US.Politicians as well as civilians were all bullied by him to the point where it would ruin their lives.In 1954, the senate voted to censure him, stripping him from the attention he built over the years and later died in 1957 -
Beat Generation
The "beat generation",were started by Jack Kerouac,Allen Ginsberg, William Burroughs.The "beatniks" as they were called,were people that were tired of the normal routine way of life and felt "beaten" down by the traditional life style.The Beatniks, went against having careers, home ownership, abandoned materialism,marriage and focused more on individual freedom,experimented with different drugs and ways to find pleasure, and were big on sexual freedom. The movement lasted ll throughout the 1950s -
Rock and Roll
Rock and Roll, first called Rhythm and Blues, was a genre of music that became insanely popular in the early 1950's. This style of music was highly controversial due to its name being slang for sexual intercourse alone with its very sexual lyrics. It was first sung by black artists, but became popular when white artist stole it, without giving them credit of course. Famous rock and roll artist include Elvis Presley,Chuck Berry,Little Richard and Bill Haley. Rock and Roll was popularized by teens -
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1950's
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"Duck and Cover!"
Paranoid after the Soviets exploded their first atomic bomb in 1949,the FCDA was set up in 1951 in order to educate the American public on how to protect and survive an atomic bomb attack."Duck and cover" was a drill implemented in order to educate people how to protect themselves from a nuclear attack.An animated film with "Bert the turtle", was shown to students showing them what to do during an attack.However,these PSA's were ineffective and ignored the dangers that radiation would cause -
The Fair Deal
The domestic agenda during the Truman Administration was known as the Fair Deal. The fair deal was an extension of FDR's New Deal and wanted to bring people healthcare, higher minimum wage, redistribute income among people of various classes, transfer wealth from the very rich to the very poor and tried to repeal the Taft- Harley act. However, only some of the fair deal policies were established such as the Housing Act of 1949 and the Social Security act of 1950.The agenda lasted from 1945-1953 -
Dr. Jonas Salk
Jonas Salk was an American medical researcher born on October 28th 1914 in New York City. He was part of a group that was developing a vaccine against the flu at University of Michigan School of Public Health. He later started research for the polio virus at the Virus Lab at the University of Pittsburgh and created the first successful polio vaccine that saved many lives in 1953. Salk died on June 23rd 1995 due to heart failure, but his legacy in the medical word will always remain alive. -
Polio Vaccine
1952 was an epidemic year for poliomyelitis , most commonly knows as polio, a virus that causes slow paralysis all over the body, with over 58,000 cases reported and 3,000 deaths in the U.S. alone. Jonas Salk, an American doctor, was the one who developed a successful polio vaccine to fight the diseases in 1953. After many testing trials, the vaccine became widely available in 1957 and resulted only about 6,000 new polio cases the first year it was available! -
Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley was born on January 8th, 1935 in Mississippi to a very poor family. His rise to fame started in 1954 when he was 19, adopting rock and role styles of music as well as dance moves that were seen in a sexual demeanor and offended many older people. He became a legend in the rock and roll world,rising to fame in the 1950s, greatly influencing American music and considered the "King of Rock and Roll". In addition to being a musician, he also acted in several films. -
Domino Theory
The Domino Theory was term used during the cold war era to describe that if one country fell into communism, other neighboring countries would fall as well. The domino theory was strengthened after the Vietnam war when the United States did everything possible in order to prevent the spread of communism from happening. President Eisenhower was the one who coined the term after describing what would happen to other countries after Vietnam fell into communism. -
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Civil Rights
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Brown v. Board of Education
The court case that overturned Plessy vs. Ferguson, led by Chief of Justice Earl Warren,was known as the Brown v. Board of Education case.After many young African American students were denied access to public school, the situation was taken to supreme court. The case ruled that Plessy Vs Ferguson's "separate but equal" policy for schools for black students cannot be equal and are inherently unequal. Segregation was considered unconstitutional and called for the desegregation of schools. -
Bill Haley and the Comets
Bill Haley and the Comets were an American rock and roll group founded in 1952 that rose to fame with their hit "Rock Around the Clock" in the 1950s, selling millions of copies and got placed at the top of charts multiple times. The song helped really get the word out there about Rock and Roll, since it was kind of an underground movement at the time and stimulated its popularity. Lead singer of the group Bill Haley became legendary and referred to as the "Father of Rock n Roll" -
Murder of Emmett Till
While visiting family in Mississippi from Chicago,14 year old Emmett Till was killed by 2 white men.Emmett allegedly whistled at Carolyn Bryant, the wife of the store owner that Emmett and his cousins were outside of. When hearing that a black person whistled at his wife, Roy Bryant and his brother in law J.W. Milam broke into Tills house kidnapped, beat, shot and sank his dead body in a river. His body was found days later, only being able to identify him from the ring his mother gave him. -
Rosa Parks
Rosa Parks was an African American civil rights activist born on February 4th, 1913. Parks is famously known for her boarding a bus and refusing to give her seat up for a white passenger,resulting in her arrest and being sent to jail.This event was the spark of the civil rights movement and lead to the Montgomery Bus boycott to go against segregation laws and eventually made segregation on buses unconstitutional and banned on November 3rd,1956.Parks' later died on October 5, 2005 of cancer. -
Little Rock 9
A group of 9 African American students volunteered to enroll in Little Rock Central High School,an all white school in Arkansas.Governor Orval Faubus of Arkansas was against their enrollment and sent the Arkansas National Guard to try and stop their entry.Later that month,President IKE sent 1000 troops to federalize the National Guard and escort the nine students in the school.The students ended up being the first African Americans to graduate from an all white high school -
NASA
After the Soviets launched the worlds first ever satellite (Sputnik) into space, concern about the Soviets advance in the cold war/ space race increased and the United States was determined to advance in the space race. This led to congress passing legislation that formally inaugurated NASA. The U.S. was advancing tremendously in space technology and officially "won" the space race on July 20, 1969 when Neil Armstrong became the first man to land on the moon. -
Politics and Television
The Presidential debate of 1960 between JKF and Richard Nixon was the first Presidential debate to be televised. By televising it,it proved that people appeal to good looks.JFK looked very presentable and even wore makeup while Nixon was recovering from being sick.Those who watched the debate claimed that JFK won while those who listened to it claimed that Nixon had won.The TV allowed also allowed for violence against black people to be aired,gaining support for civil rights from whites. -
LSD
LSD was created by Albert Hofmann in 1938 and popularized by American students during the 1960s in order to escape the problems that society was facing at the time.LSD,commonly known as "acid" causes people to have altered awareness of one's surroundings, perceptions,and feelings as well as well as hallucinations.It was commonly used by hippies during the 60s.It was thought to be a chemical weapon by the community and military,due to its hallucinogenic effects,but was later made illegal in 1967. -
Hippies
People known as "Hippies" were part of a counter cultural movement during the 1960's that started in the United States, specifically in college campuses. The movement eventually spread all the way to Canada and even in some parts of the U.K.. Hippies were known for going against American norms, rejecting established institutions, criticizing middle class values, opposed nuclear weapons the Vietnam War and instead embraced peace, sexual liberation, drugs (commonly LSD) and more. -
Chicano Mural Movement
The Chicano Mural movement started in the 1960s and lasted through the 1970s.It was lead by artists who painted murals to draw attention for social and political equality for Mexican-Americans,especially for families who had been in the U.S. for a while.Many of the murals included Mexican and American historical symbols to show how both cultures are part of these peoples life.Groups like Cesar Chavez's United Farm Workers Union and the Raza Unida Party were supporters of the movement. -
Period: to
The 1960s
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The New Frontier
"The New Frontier" was the term President Kennedy used during his 1960 presidential campaign used to describe Kennedy's ambitious domestic program to bring a change in the "generation and leadership" to the country. It was also a way to describe his "promises" to the country by raising minimum wage, equal pay for both men and women, the peace corps, healthcare, rebuilding, end discrimination, etc. however, most of what Kennedy proposed was not met, disappointing a lot of civil rights activist. -
The Peace Corps
The Peace Cops was created by President John F. Kennedy in 1961 to provide aid for other developing countries with the help of properly trained volunteers.With the struggles of dealing with the cold war and rise of humanitarian efforts, Kennedy encouraged people to form a "grand and global alliance" to fight poverty, disease, and other hardships in other countries. The Peace Corps became his most successful and well known project because it appealed to young liberals during the 60's -
Bay of Pigs
The Bay of Pigs invasion was a failed mission implemented by Dwight D. Eisenhower and carried out by John F. Kennedy in order to overthrow Fidel Castro. Cuban Exiles were recruited and trained by the CIA. However when it was time, the invasion went wrong almost immediately, resulting in 114 dead and over 1100 exiles being imprisoned. Instead of sending more military aid to help, JKF didn't do so in order to avoid a potential WWIII, making him and the U.S. look weak. -
Albert Sabin
Albert Sabin, born August 26th, was a Polish- American medical researcher who helped with the development of the oral live polio vaccine, which has played a big part in helping almost eradicating the disease around the world. Sabin did his research at the Children's Hospital Research Foundation in Cincinnati where he dedicated his life to studying the polio virus and eventually was able to create a successful oral vaccine after years of research. -
Birmingham March
MLK's next target to desegregate was Birmingham, an area notorious for its very segregated systems.Activist started sit-ins, which resulted in the police being called on them.The march quickly turned violent, resulting in the activist being hosed and getting attacked by dogs released by Bull Connor. The Media broadcasted the violence happening,horrifying many whites influencing them to support the Civil Rights Movement. Many got hurt and MLK ended up being arrested and jailed. -
Birmingham Bombing
The Birmingham Bombing was an act of white supremacy terrorism in Birmingham, Alabama. The event occurred when members of the Ku Klux Klan were responsible for planting 15 sticks of dynamite into the 16th Street Baptist Church, injuring 22 people and killing 4 little African American girls. It caused a lot of outrage throughout civil rights activist and brought in a lot of attention for others to support the civil rights movement. It later led as support to pass the civil rights act of 1964. -
Assassination of John F. Kennedy
On November 22nd 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated while going through a motorcade through downtown Dallas, TX with Jackie Kennedy and John Connally. While going down the route, the president was struck with two bullets, one going through his neck while the other one was fatal and went through his his head by Lee Harvey Oswald. The assassination was caught on camera, now known as the Zaprudal film, which sparked many theories on who the president was killed by. -
Lee Harvey Oswald
Lee Harvey Oswald was the man responsible for assassinating President John F Kennedy on November 22nd,1963 from the 6th floor of the Texas School Book Depository.He was known to have communist interest and joined the marines years later. After he killed the president, he also killed a cop by the name of J.D. Tippit about an hour later.The truth over why he killed the president was never known, due to his own assassination that happened 2 days after the presidents death by a man named Jack Ruby. -
Warren Commission
a week after President Kennedy's death, Lyndon B. Johnson organized a commission to investigate Kennedy's assassination. The investigation lasted about a year long and was led by Chief Justice Earl Warren. eventually, the commission announced that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in killing the president and there was no conspiracy despite what many others were thinking, which explained why some supported the Warren commission, and why others had their doubts about it. -
Barry Goldwater
Barry Goldwater was an American politician who served as the Senator for Arizona as well for the Senate for 30 years.Goldwater was the republican candidate during the run for president against Lyndon B. Johnson. He was for lessening federal involvement,was against the Civil Rights Act of 1964.He lost the campaign by the largest margin in history by being portrayed as a radical republican who would use nuclear weapons for defense when possible,which was an effect caused by the "daisy girl" ad. -
Great Society
Lyndon B Johnson announced his Great society plans in his speech on May of 1964. As VP to JFK,part of the Great Society agenda was based on initiatives proposed by JFK. The purpose of the Great society plans was to encompass war on poverty, racial injustice, medicare, medicaid, federal funding for education, environmental protection, and consumerism. Overall, Johnson's Great Society plans were successful, making a difference in millions of Americans lives and still influences the to this day -
Freedom Summer
Also known as the "Mississippi Summer Project" was a voter registration drive that aimed to increase the number of black eligible voters in the south.Unlike white people,they had to take literacy test and poll taxes to be able to vote.The Klu Klux Klan,police,and state and local authorities were against the movement,being violent against those fighting for equal voting rights.The first day of the movement, the KKK was responsible for the disappearance and murder of 3 young and innocent activist -
"Daisy Girl" Ad
The daisy girl ad was one of the most controversial political campaign ads during the Johnson and Goldwater candidacy. It shows a little girl counting petals off of a daisy, repeating some of the numbers or going in the wrong order. When she gets to the last petal, the scene freezes and "zero" is said by another voice, which transitions into an explosion revealing that the countdown was to launch a nuclear attack. Johnson used this ad against Goldwater to get people to vote for him. -
Selma March
600 voting right activist,led by MLK,marched from Selma to Montgomery Alabama to protest the restrictions African Americans faced when voting.When the marchers reached the Edmund Pettis Bridge,they were met by state police troopers that attacked them with tear gas and brutal beatings,giving the march the name "Bloody Sunday".The media recorded these terrible actions,outraging Americans all over the country and drawing more civil rights activist to join in the fight for equal voting rights -
Death of MLK
Dr. Martin Luther King was staying in Memphis, Tennessee getting ready to organize a workers strike. While standing outside on the balcony of his motel, he was struck by a bullet on his neck by a man named James Earl Ray. King was rushed to hospital but pronounced dead and hour later after he was shot. His death sparked violence by African Africans all over the country.His death and hard work led to President Johnson singing the Fair Housing Act, a major piece of civil rights legislation. -
Period: to
The 1970's
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Environmental Protection Agency
President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of creating the EPA on December 2, 1970, when the amount of pollution in the environment became a concern. The EPA is one of the largest federal agencies and was created by an executive order in 1972 to control pollution in the areas of air, water, solid waste, pesticides, radiation, and toxic substances.Since its establishment,the EPA has been working doing everything to protect the environment by practicing new and existing environmental laws. -
Watergate Scandal
The Watergate hotel, located in Washington DC,was the home to the democratic party's headquarters during the 70's.President Richard Nixon sent spies which he called "plumbers" to get information about the Democratic campaign for the election of 1972 by breaking into their headquarters and stealing documents and wire taping phones.The "plumbers" got caught after a security guard noticed that numerous door locks had been wire tapped and the investigation for the famous Watergate Scandal began -
Title IX
Title IX was enacted by congress and signed into law by President Richard Nixon in 1972. Title IX protects anyone from being discriminated due their sex from any activity or educational program that receives some type of federal financial aid. Title IX did not only apply fro education, it also had a great influence on sports. It required mean and women to have equal treatment in sports, get athletic scholarships, and required the equal treatment of wen and women in provisions. -
OPEC
OPEC is an organization made up of several Middle Eastern countries who controlled the production of oil and and the amounts of oil it sells to other nations.The US made an agreement with OPEC in order to improve their oil consumption and sales problem during the 70s.When President Nixon sent aid to Israel during the Yom Kippur War,OPEC placed an embargo on the US,causing a great economic crisis on the US.The result was an international economic recession similar to the great depression -
The Heritage Foundation
The Heritage Foundation, also known as a "think tank", is a research and educational institute that focuses on formulating and promoting conservative ideas/policies based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional values, and a strong national defense. It was founded in 1973 during President Reagan and Bush's administration. The foundation was effective in gaining national attention during President Reagan and Bush's administration. -
Roe v. Wade
Roe v Wade was a supreme court case on January 22, 1973 that ruled abortion legal during the first trimester of a woman's pregnancy.The court held that a set of Texas statutes criminalizing abortion in most instances violated a woman’s constitutional right of privacy, which went against the 14th amendment.The case came to be when a woman named Norma Nelson (Jane Roe to protect her identity)could not get an abortion due to Texas law plus she was healthy and her baby was not a product of rape. -
Endangered Species Act
Congress passed the Endangered species act on 1973 as the first defense against the extinction of animals by the government.The act identifies and protects endangered species, as well as their habitats.The federal agencies responsible for implementing the ESA are the FWS and the NOAA.The act calls for the complete banning of destroying or negatively modifying a species habitat under protection and the import,export interstate,and foreign commerce of listed species are all generally prohibited -
Camp David Accords
After three decades of fighting, Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar el-Sadat signed the Camp David Accords, a permanent peace agreement between Egypt and Israel. The terms for permanent peace was discussed over a course of 12 days at President Carters Camp David retreat in Maryland.The accords were signed on September 17th, 1978 at the White House.Both President Anwar el-Sadat and Prime Minister Menachem Begin received the Nobel Peace Prize for agreeing on peace -
Period: to
The 1980's
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Three Mile Island Info
Three Mile Island was the cite of a nuclear power plant in Londonderry Township,Pennsylvania.On the morning of March 28th 1979,the plant began experiencing electrical or mechanical malfunction that led to problems in the reactor.Pumps that cooled the reactors began malfunctioning,and trying to fix the solution only made it worse.Traces of radioactive gasses began to fuel out,causing people to panic and fear nuclear energy.Three mile island was the last nuclear power plant built since this event. -
Iran Hostage Crisis
After a successful revolution by Islamic fundamentalists against the pro-American Shah of Iran,the United States became an object of virulent criticism and the US Embassy in Tehran was a convenient target.On November 4,1979,a group of Iranian students broke into the US embassy and took 60 American citizens and diplomats hostage for 444 days.The hostages were released on January 21,1981 after Ronald Reagan gave his inaugural address, costing former President Jimmy Carter the election of 1980 -
AIDS Crisis
In 1980,reports of 5 healthy gay men in LA were reported to have Pneumocystis pneumonia,a rare disease as well as other factors indicating that their immune systems werent working.Days later, similar cases were reported all around the US.The following year, this mysterious virus killed over 136 people,mostly gay men which made the disease known as gay related immune disease,or GRID.The disease affected everyone and caused about 20,000 deaths by 1988,causing a movement to raise awareness for AIDS -
Rap Music
Rap music became a dominant cultural movement in the African American community that was first popularized in the streets at block parties. It consist of rhyming and rhythmic speech that is chanted, sometimes aggressively. Rap music portrayed the conditions in the lives of those traditionally shunted to the edges of mainstream America and allowed for youth to let the public know about the everyday social, economic, and political issues that they faced, known as the "Golden Age" of hip-hop . -
VHS
Video Head Systems were a very big influential piece of technology during the 1980's. They allowed watching films whenever people wanted using a VCR. VHS tapes were in competition with Beatmax, but eventually won, dominating 60 percent of the North American market by 1980. It allowed Americans an easy and quick form of new entertainment. Many people thought that VHS tapes lasted much longer than expected. VHS tapes were later replaced by DVD's in the late 90s and are rarely used by people today -
Election of 1980
The election of 1980 was in between Democratic candidate Jimmy Carter, Republican candidate Ronald Reagan, and as well as Republican Congressman John B. Anderson, who ran as an independent. Reagan helped by the Iran Hostage and a terrible economy, won the election by a landslide, only losing to two states. Carter was known as a "mean campaigner", attacking Reagan as a dangerous right-wing radical. Reagan winning this election marked the beginning of what is known as the "Reagan Revolution." -
Reaganomics
During the campaign of 1980, President Ronald Reagan announced a recipe to fix the nation's economic mess that would attack the 1980 recession and stagflation, which the media made known as Reaganomics. He claimed an undue tax burden, excessive government regulation, and massive social spending programs hampered growth. Reagan proposed a phased 30% tax cut for the first three years of his Presidency. However, his large tax cut let to large tax raises, causing the federal debt to triple. -
Sandra Day O' Connor
Sandra Day O' Connor is a Texan woman of the republican party who made history as the first woman to be appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court by President Reagan and getting a unanimous vote by the senate. Although she was a republican, she was known as a moderately conservative. She developed a solid reputation for being firm but just in her cases. O'Connor was a key swing vote in many important cases, including the upholding of Roe v. Wade.After serving in the supreme court, she retired in 2006 -
MTV
Music Television was an American entertainment channel owned by Viacom Media Networks. The channel aired music videos starting on August 1st, 1981, when they aired "Video Killed the Radio Star" by The Buggles.MTV soon had an impact on the music industry, determining what and who would be at the top of the charts. The main target audience were young people,as they made the music industry grow. MTV is credited for not only influencing the music industry, but reviving artists and influencing others -
SDI
The Strategic Defense Initiative, or SDI, was a US strategic defense system against possible nuclear attacks. The SDI was first proposed by President Ronald Reagan in a nationwide television address in 1983 claiming that it would intercept the missiles at various phases of their flight in space, making it later known as "star wars".Testing for the SDI continued for years because of the technological advances it would need, but the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 ended the need for such testing -
Iran Contra Affair
The Iran Contra affair was a scandal that came to light when Reagan confirmed reports of selling weapons to Iran,an enemy to the US.The selling of these weapons were to better relations with Iran,however he confirmed that the exchange of weapons was also an agreement in order for Iran to release hostages.It was also discovered that some of the arms profits had been diverted to aid the Nicaraguan contra rebels at a time when Congress had prohibited such aid affecting Reagans public image -
Challenger Explosion
The NASA space shuttle Challenger exploded after 73 seconds of liftoff on live TV. The disaster was due to two rubber O-rings that sealed the joints of the shuttle’s solid rocket boosters faced problems after being exposed to very cold temperatures the night before the launch, causing them not function properly. The explosion claimed the lives of 7 astronauts, one who would be the first civilian to go to space. After the space shuttle exploded, NASA temporarily suspended all shuttle missions. -
Fall of the Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was built in order to stop people from east Berlin from leaving and go to the west. It was established in 1961 and torn down in 1989. As the cold war started easing out, the eastern German government announced that all citizens were allowed to cross to either side of Berlin by accident! Citizens rushed to the wall, climbed up, and tore it down slowly themselves but it was alter then completely destroyed, reunifying west and east Germany (officially on October 3rd, 1990). -
Climate Change Findings
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, or IPCC, reported it's first findings of climate change in 1990. They had noticed that the planet had warmed up to 32.9 degrees more in the past century. The IPCC warned that extreme measures would be needed to stop the excess production of greenhouse gasses, linked to the cause of the planet warming up. The awareness of climate change provided for a climate convection to be formed,raising even more awareness and preventing more greenhouse gasses -
Lionel Sosa
Lionel Sosa was the Mexican-American founder of Sosa and Associates, now Bromley Communication which eventually became the largest Hispanic advertising agency in the United States. He was involved in political advertising, supporting John Tower by helping him win thirty seven percent of the Hispanic republican vote. That experience led him to also serving other republican campaigns like President Reagan's and Bush's. He was considered top 5 most influential Hispanics in America by Time Magazine. -
Period: to
The 1990's
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Persian Gulf War
Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein ordered an invasion of Kuwait to take over their oil and access the gulf for transport.Saudi Arabia and Egypt needed US and other Western nations aid to face Hussein's plan.The UN demanded Hussein to drop his forces by Jan 15 or military action would be used.When he refused, the US sent a massive air offensive known as Operation Desert Storm, beginning the Persian Gulf War. Iraqi forces were defeated after 42 days, after a cease fire was declared by George H.W. Bush -
Rodney King Incident
The Rodney King Incident was a police brutality event that occurred in LA when a man named George Holiday recorded Rodney King being beat, tazed, and kicked by 4 LAPD officers after pulling him over for speeding.The video is known as the first viral video and caused public outrage as well as growing tensions between the LAPD and the African American community over police brutality and social inequalities.All four officers were tried and led to 2 being sent to prison and the other 2 were aquitted -
Health Care Reform
In 1993,President Clinton proposed to make health care affordable for all Americans.Clinton set up a task force led by his wife Hillary Clinton to come up with a comprehensive plan to provide universal health care. Although the plan was proposed by Bill Clinton, Hillary became the face of the Health Care Reform, taking charge to achieve the president's vision of the Reform.However the bill was not passed because there were not enough Democratic Senators behind a single proposal to pass a bill. -
WTC attack 1993
The World Trade Center experienced its first terrorist attack on February 26th, 1993. Ramzi Ahmed Yousef and Eyad Ismoil plotted the attack by parking a Ryder van filled with homemade bombs and lighting them up in the parking garage between the north and south tower. The bombs went off at 12:17 P.M., causing damage to multiple floors, killing 6 people and injuring more than 1,000 other people. The men were arrested and it was discovered that about 6 other men were involved in the bombing -
Don't Ask, Don't Tell Policy
President Bill Clinton's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy was to allow closeted homosexual people to serve in the military. Before the policy, openly Homosexual people were not allowed to serve in the military at all. It was considered a "major step forward" for LGBT members, according to Clinton. As gay rights starting changing throughout the years around the nation, the policy was repealed years later by future President Barack Obama in 2011, allowing openly homosexual people to enlist. -
NAFTA
The North American Free Trade Agreement, known as NAFTA, is an agreement between the US, Canada, and Mexico that removes the tariffs barriers between the three countries. NAFTA required the elimination of tariffs on half of U.S. goods shipped to Mexico and slowly, the elimination of other tariffs among the U.S., Canada and Mexico over a 14-year period.Trade among NAFTA has more than tripled. NAFTA is highly controversial however, some believing that tariffs interfere with free market ideals. -
DOMA
The Defense of Marriage Act was a law that prohibited married same- sex couples from collecting federal benefits in states that recognized gay marriage.It was signed into law by President Bill Clinton. The act defined marriage as a union between a man and a woman, therefore restricting same- sex couples the same rights as other couples. DOMA was repealed in 2015 under Barack Obama's presidency, declaring DOMA unconstitutional and giving same- sex couples equal rights all over the US. -
Lewinsky Affair
In the late 1990s,President Clinton had a scandal with one of his young interns,Monica Lewinsky.The two began a sexual relationship in 1995 and lasted until about 1997 when the relationship became known to the public.Lewinsky trusted a woman named Linda Tipp with info about the affair while working at the pentagon.Tipp recorded the conversations and later became public in 1998.When asked,Clinton denied the affair under oath,although his DNA was found on her skirt,resulting in him being impeached -
Period: to
Contemporary
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Election of 2000
The election of 2000 was between George Bush(republican) and Al Gore(Democrat). Al Gore won the popular vote by over half a million votes. Gore won 255 electoral votes and Bush won 246, neither meeting the 270 electoral votes needed for victory.Election votes in various states were close, but Florida's 25 electoral votes was what determined the outcome of the election.The final decision was made by the supreme court case Bush v. Board, where they were in favor of bush and elected him President -
9/11
On September 11th of 2001,the US faced terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Al-Qaeda terrorist hijacked two planes and crashed them into the twin towers. A third plane was hijacked and crashed into the pentagon.A fourth plane was crashed into a field,thought to be headed to hit the Capital building but failed after passengers were informed of the terrorists intentions.Over 3,000 people were killed during the 9/11 attacks,which triggered major changes to happen in the US. -
USA PATRIOT ACT
The Patriot Act,an acronym for “Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism" signed into law by Bush,was an anti-terrorism law that was a response to the 9/11 attacks.The act increased intelligence agencies’ ability to share information and lifted restrictions on communications surveillance to go against potential terrorist.The act was highly controversial as it invaded people privacy with the governments new and higher powers. -
No Child Left Behind educational Act
The No Child Left Behind Act in effect from 2002 to 2015 during President Bush's presidency and is considered to be an updated version of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. The purpose of the act was to improve education for disadvantaged students by establishing state academic standards and a state testing system that meet federal requirements. Its very controversial due to the fact that it holds schools accountable if no improvement is seen within that school . -
Hurricane Katrina Disaster
Hurricane Katrina was a category 3 tropical cyclone that struck the city of Louisiana on August 27th,2005.The hurricane reached winds of up to 115 miles per hour and a circulation that covered virtually the entire Gulf of Mexico,killing 1,833 people and costing about $125 Billion worth of damage.The about 80% of the city of New Orleans was completely flooded out,causing thousands to flee to nearby cities for shelter and protection, increasing the population of African Americans in nearby states -
The Great Recession
The Great Recession was an economic downfall that had an effect on people worldwide.Causes of the recession has been linked to the subprime mortgage crises,which are home loans granted to borrowers with poor credit histories.Loans were given loosely as housing prices went up,causing an economic crash when trying to recover that money,plummeting house prices, loss of savings, and jobs. The recession lasted from December 2007-June 2009 and is the worst economic downfall since the Great Depression -
Barack Obama
Barack Obama was the 44th President of the United States,making History as the first African American president to be elected.Obama was was born in Hawaii and was the senator of Illinois for only one term before becoming President,being the second person to do that since Kennedy.With the highest voter turnout rate in four decades,Obama and Delaware senator Joe Biden defeated Republican Arizona senator John McCain.Obama heavily focused on going against terrorism and fixing the failing economy -
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
ARRA was a stimulus package signed into law by President Obama in order to help the failing economy during the 2008 great recession. Congress approved to put $787 billion into American families and business to encourage demand both short term and long term. ARRA includes federal tax relief,expansion of unemployment benefits and other social welfare provisions and domestic spending in education,health care,and infrastructure.It was a followup to Bush's plan,the Troubled Asset Recovery Program -
Sonya SotoMayor
Sonya Sotomayor is a Hispanic American Woman who made history when President Obama announced her as the nominee for the supreme court justice.The nomination was confirmed by the senate in 2009,winning by a vote of 68 to 31.She was sworn in,making her the first Hispanic woman to be appointed into the Supreme Court Justice.She has been part of many important cases such as King v. Burwell(Obama care),Obergefell v. Hodges(legalized gay marriage),and Utah v. Edward Strieff, Jr.(civil liberties) -
Affordable Care Act
The Affordable Care Act, most commonly known as "Obama Care"was enacted by President Obama on March 2010. It consist of two parts, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) and Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act (HCERA). The act has 3 goals: to make affordable healthcare available for more people, expands the Medicaid program to families of low income people, and to support innovative medical care delivery methods designed to lower the costs of health care generally.
