George W. Bush 2001-2008

And the winner is???? George W. Bush, Al Gore and Ralph Nader ran for the presidency in the 2000 elections. This election was extraordinarily close between Bush and Gore. The results were so close that an automatic recount was required for the state of Florida. This led to lawsuits and in Bush v. Gore the Supreme Court ruled that a hand recount violated the equal protection clause of the Constitution and that there was not enough time to conduct a recount. Gore conceded.

Is the CHAD hanging?

Important Women Elaine Chao became the first Asian American woman to serve in a president’s cabinet. Condoleezza Rice became the first woman in history to hold the job of national security advisor.

Making Changes In June 2001 President Bush signed into law the largest reduction in federal taxes since 1981. Bush administration proposed a National Missile Defence system designed to protect the U.S. from any incoming missiles by shooting them down before they reached American airspace. President Bush said one of his major aims was to stimulate global economic growth. The internet -a worldwide linking of computer networks, linked students around the world.

Reacting to a changing population. By 2002 more than 10% of the U.S. population was foreign-born. More than 12 percent of population was now over 65 years of age. This caused the U.S. to reform Medicare- a federal health care program for the elderly.

Scientist noted that the earth’s atmosphere was loosing ozone - a layer of gas that protects life on Earth from cancer causing rays of the sun. Scientists continued to debate the effects of global warming. Of all the global issues preserving peace is the most important.

Terrorism Terrorism- the use of violence by groups against civilians to achieve a political goal threatened the security of the nation. On September 11, 2001 two hijacked passenger airplanes crashed into the World Trade Center in New York City. A third plane crashed into the Pentagon and a fourth plane was forced to crash in a field in Pennsylvania instead of its target the White House.

War on Terror Begins Osama bin Laden was identified as the leader. In Afghanistan, many Muslims went to fight against the Soviets who had invaded their country, bin Laden formed an n organization called al-Qaeda. Muslim fundamentalists known as the Taliban joined with al-Qaeda to drive the Americans and other non-Muslims out of the Middle East. In October 2000, terrorists backed by al-Qaeda, crashed a boat loaded with explosives into the USS Cole, an American warship, while it was refueling in Yemen.

To protect America President Bush created Homeland Security-to coordinate counter terrorism efforts. In late October 2001, Congress passed a new law to fight terrorism, the USA Patriot Act of 2001 gave federal prosecutors and FBI more powers to investigate those who plot or carry out acts of terrorism. Saddam Hussein had already used chemical weapons twice, fearing he would do so again, in mid-October 2002, Congress voted to authorize the use of force against Iraq. On March 20, American military attacked, and quickly gained control of the country, (Operation Iraq Freedom).

The capture of a dictator.

Saddam Hussein’s trial. We were able to capture the dictator and turn him over to the people of Iraq for trial. He was hanged. Despite this, the path toward a free and stable Iraq appeared to be long and difficult. The U.S also sent troops to Afghanistan, Operation Enduring Freedom, to protect it from al-Qaeda and the Taliban. Saddam Hussein’s trial. We are doing it for THEM!

Barack Obama 2009-Present

Barack Obama became the first African American President of the United States in the election of 2008. Despite his campaign promise to increase federal spending and cut taxes, the American economy fell into a recession The president “bailed out” many banks and businesses pushing the United States into a three trillion dollar debt.

First 100 Days In his first 100 days in office the president announced that he would ease U.S. restrictions on trade with and travel to Cuba, the president has also stated his support for Congress finalizing trade agreements with Colombia, Panama and Korea.

The current Congress has only begun to work on a climate change bill, but EPA has gone ahead and issued a finding that greenhouse gases endanger the public’s health and welfare, a move that could result in permitting fees on agricultural operations. All should consider that the president has so much work to do, both domestically and internationally, it will take longer than 100 days to see improvements.

Change takes time. Sometimes even decades, it does not happen overnight.