George W. Bush Presidency Thinking Skill: Explicitly assess the Bush presidency and consider present- day effects 2000–2008

2000 Presidential Election George W. Bush (R) 50,456,002 popular votes 271 electoral votes Al Gore (D) 50,999,897 popular votes 266 electoral votes Ralph Nader (G) 2,882,955 popular votes 0 electoral votes

2000 Presidential Election

Florida was the key to victory; Gore had 266 & Bush 246 Electoral votes Bush led 500 votes; mandatory recount Florida Supreme court rules a hand recount of 70,000 ballots Supreme Court decision determined president Bush v. Gore (2000)

2000 Presidential Election What is more crucial? -determining a winner in a timely fashion… OR -determining the intent of the voters…

George W. Bush’s domestic policy As Bush took office the economy began to slow. Dot.com profits failed to appear. Stock prices were hurt by dishonest accounting practice scandals. Bush pushed tax cuts to fulfill campaign promises and to spur the slumping economy. New laws cut taxes, reduced the marriage penalty, and lowered the estate tax. The economy did not improve, it went into a recession. Tax cuts in 2003 eliminated the tax on dividends.

Domestic Agenda/Issues 2001 Tax cuts Growing federal deficit/debt 2002 No Child Left Behind AYP/2014 deadline 2005 Hurricane Katrina

Bush’s Domestic Policy In 2003 Bush updated the Medicare program. Included a benefit to help Medicare recipients pay for prescription medicine. Education Bush announced the No Child Left Behind Act to improve education. States were required to develop academic standards and test students annually to ensure that the standards were being met. Health Care Established the White House Office of Faith-Based Initiatives to help religious community-service organizations develop greater access to federal funding. Other Issues

Bush’s Second Term Bush ran against Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts and won re-election in another close contest. Bush announced his plan to reform Social Security. By late 2005, Congress had still not acted on Bush’s idea to privatize Social Security. Bush also filled vacancies on the Supreme Court. John Roberts was confirmed as Chief Justice. Bush named Harriet Miers to replace Sandra Day O’Connor but she withdrew her name from contention. Bush nominated conservative judge Samuel Alito to replace O’Connor in 2005.

September 11, al-Qaeda terrorists coordinated attack 8:45 am North Tower struck by American Airlines Flight 11 9:03 am South Tower struck by United Airlines Flight 175 9:43 am Pentagon struck by American Airlines Flight 77 10:10 am United Airlines Flight 93 crashes in Shanksville, PA 8:30 pm President Bush's AddressPresident Bush's Address

September 11 th flight paths

Flight 11 striking the north tower

9:03 am-South Tower is hit s&feature=BFa&list=PL74D38060FE215801&index=3 s&feature=BFa&list=PL74D38060FE215801&index=3

Bush learns of the attacks

Watching in horror from “ground zero”

Response to disaster

Osama Bin Laden

Al-Qaeda -- “The Base” Strategy 1.Provoke the United States into invading a Muslim country. 2.Incite local resistance to occupying forces. 3.Expand the conflict to neighboring countries, and engage the U.S. in a long war of attrition. 4.Convert al-Qaeda into an ideology and set of operating principles that can be adopted in other countries. Incite attacks against countries allied with the U.S. until they withdraw from the conflict. 5.The U.S. economy will finally collapse

Legacy How has the world changed since 9/11? Impact on American life? Plane/travel regulations today vs. then Dept. of homeland security Patriot act 9/11 commission vs. wiki leaks re: sharing of intelligence Death of bin Laden May 2011

The War on Terror 2001 Invasion of Afghanistan Remove Taliban; find Osama bin Laden 2001 Patriot Act Department of Homeland Security 2003 Operation Iraqi Freedom WMD/al-Qaeda link ? 2006 Saddam executed 2011 US troops leave 2011 bin Laden killed

2008 Economic Crisis Essential Skill: IR4: Reflect upon the impact of actions on others

Background In the 1990’s the economy rode the internet business (dotcom) to a ‘boom’ By 2000, the dotcom bubble had burst Compounded by 9/11 and international uncertainty Banks around the world are looking for opportunities to attract investors to stimulate the economy How do they do it?

The Subprime Mortgage Crisis What is a subprime mortgage? Subprime Mortgage: a loan made out to borrowers with lower credit ratings These mortgages have higher interest rates than normal mortgages because the banks are taking on more risk Banks, desperate to create liquid capital, start offering more subprime mortgages in the early 2000’s

The Subprime Mortgage Crisis With lowered interest rates overall, and the economy still healthy, buyer were still making their payments The banks saw this as confirmation and doubled down Interest-Only Adjustable Rate Mortgage: Flexible loans that require little (to no) down payment

The Subprime Mortgage Crisis Investment banks then sell the subprime mortgages on stock exchange Everyday people are now investing into funds that include these subprime mortgages

Bubble Bursts The market plummets Investors are stuck with stocks that are quickly falling far below their original sale price Buyers can longer make their payments Banks aren’t collecting money Foreclose on houses, but the housing prices are plummeting as well

Obama 2008 Election

Obama One of the first actions Obama takes is to introduce a stimulus package $830 billon to bail out the banks and keep unemployment from rising over 8% TARP: Troubled Assets Relief Program Additional regulations to hold regulators accountable