1990s

Unit Objectives To understand the causes and impact of the First Gulf War (1991) To analyze the impact of the Clinton Administration

End of the Cold War The Cold War ended because the Soviet Union fell—Why did it fall?

Late 1980s Democratic movements in Eastern Europe were allowed by the Soviet Union because Mikhail Gorbachev decided it would cost too much for the Soviets to stop them—led to the fall of the “Iron Curtain” Symbolic end of the Cold War (1989):

Gorbachev signed treaty reducing nuclear weapons (end of the arms race) and ended the Warsaw Pact That led to a new focus for NATO:

1991: Fall of the Soviet Union Soviet economy went into further decline in the late 1980s as a result of Ronald Reagan’s increase in U.S. military spending—he knew that would force the Soviets to do the same and hoped it would bankrupt the Soviet Union and lead to a collapse of Communism Gorbachev tried to move the Soviets closer to capitalism but hard-line communists resisted The August Coup attempted to remove Gorbachev and return the Soviet Union to communism; The coup was put down but Gorbachev did lose popular support and was replaced by Boris Yeltsin

Several Soviet republics declared independence The Soviet Union was reorganized into the Commonwealth of Independent States (Russian Federation) Chechnya:

Persian Gulf War (1991) Iraq (Saddam Hussein) invaded Kuwait for its oil (had refused to raise oil prices when Iraq wanted it to) & because Hussein claimed that Kuwait had once been part of Iraq; U.N. ordered Hussein to withdraw

Persian Gulf War Operation Desert Shield (Defensive): Operation Desert Storm (Offensive):

Persian Gulf War Mission of Desert Storm: First used bombing (planes & missiles), then launched ground invasion that defeated Hussein’s troops (had been ranked 4th in the world) in less than a week (led by Generals Norman Schwarzkopf & Colin Powell) War almost escalated when Iraq launched missiles at Israel—U.S. convinced Israel not to retaliate

Problems at Home Savings & Loan industry collapsed and needed government help National debt grew, which led Bush to break his campaign promise and raise taxes; Recession Rodney King:

Problems at Home Bush nominated David Souter and Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court Anita Hill:

Election of 1992 Bill Clinton (Dem.) defeated Bush because people wanted the economy fixed & Bush did little to help Bush made the campaign promise “Read my lips, no new taxes” when elected and didn’t keep it Independent candidate Ross Perot stole some votes from Bush

Clinton’s accomplishments Clinton did improve the economy by cutting government spending, targeting tax cuts to the middle class, and reducing interest rates in an effort to encourage people to invest; His policies led to a surplus for the first time in nearly 30 years and he made some progress paying down the national debt The economy also improved on its own “Don’t ask, Don’t tell”: Clinton’s policy that homosexuals in the military should not reveal their sexuality and they wouldn’t be banned from military (repealed in 2010)

Clinton’s Accomplishments Clinton signed the Welfare Reform Bill (1996) based on the Wisconsin model North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA):

Clinton’s biggest problem in reducing the deficit:

Clinton Scandals Whitewater (1992):

Clinton Scandals Monica Lewinsky: Paula Jones filed sexual harassment charges against Clinton while he was Governor of Arkansas Charges were dismissed, but Clinton was asked under oath about his relationship with White House intern Monica Lewinsky

Clinton Scandals What was Clinton impeached by the House of Representatives for?

Clinton Scandals House voted to impeach, Senate failed to convict Clinton’s image & legacy damaged, but still popular

Clinton Foreign Policy Yugoslavia broke apart after Soviet collapse & war broke out as several republics declared independence Much fighting in Bosnia in mid-90s, U.N. troops sent in

Slobodan Milosevic:

Clinton Foreign Policy 1994: Clinton helped negotiate peace between the PLO (Yassir Arafat) & Israel (Yitzhak Rabin); Rabin was later assassinated; Clinton continued to negotiate throughout his presidency Today efforts to create a new nation called Palestine have been slowed by terrorism & the inability of the two sides to come to terms

Terrorism World Trade Center (1993): Oklahoma City (1995):

Terrorism U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania bombed (1998) U.S.S. Cole struck by boat of suicide bombers in Yemen (2000); 17 American sailors killed Columbine, Littleton, Colorado (April 20, 1999):