Europe and the United States Chapter 13 Section 2

Winds of Change in Western Europe ► During the Cold War, Western Europe’s economy flourished ► 1970s, it dropped due to inflation and unemployment ► Germans began to blame the economy on foreigners, esp. Vietnamese and Africans ► Young gang in Germany emerged called the Neo Nazis ► -wanted to purify Germany from these foreigners ► 1980s, The European Economic Community (EEC) created the Euro as Europe’s principal currency

The U.S. Domestic Scene ► Richard Nixon elected U.S. president in 1968 ► While Running for re-election in 1972, Nixon began used illegal methods to gain info on his opponents ► This led to the Watergate Scandal ► Men working for Nixon broke into the Democratic National Headquarters at the Watergate Hotel in D.C. ► They installed listening devices throughout the building, but were caught ► Nixon lied to the American public, but tapes revealed the truth ► Nixon resigned facing impeachment

The Carter Administration ► Vice President Gerald Ford took over after Nixon, but lost the next election to Jimmy Carter ► Under Carter, a crisis erupted when 52 Americans were held hostage by the Iranian government ► Iran was led by Ayatollah Khomeini ► Carter failed to secure the hostage’s release which led to his loss to Ronald Reagan in 1980

The Reagan Revolution ► Reagan cut back on welfare spending and spent money on the military ► This raised the national debt to over a trillion dollars ► This produced a record budget deficit ► -this is when a government spends more than it makes

The Clinton Years (Oh yeah…) ► George Bush was elected after Reagan, but was unable to fix the deficit ► Bill Clinton became president after Bush ► Under Clinton, the economy got better ► His second term was shadowed by political scandal ► The House of Representatives threatened to remove him from office ► He was tried in the Senate, but acquitted

George W. Bush ► George W. defeated Al Gore in one of the most controversial elections in history ► The terrorist attacks on 9/11 caused him to declare a war on terrorism ► The U.S. entered armed conflicts with Afghanistan and Iraq ► The war in Iraq was controversial ► The U.S. invasion was based on the suspicion that Saddam Hussein possessed Weapons of Mass Destruction ► After the invasion, no WMD’s were discovered, though Saddam was taken out of power