What is the difference between the “New Left” & “New Right”? Essential Question: To what extent did the Clinton & Bush years deviate from the Reagan era? Warm-Up Question What is the difference between the “New Left” & “New Right”? Lesson Plan for Wednesday, April 14 (pd 4-7) or April 16 (pd 1-3), 2009: Warm-Up Question, Clinton/Bush video & notes
The Presidency of Bill Clinton Clinton Video (30:00-37:30) 7:30 minutes
Bill Clinton: “A New Democrat” Bill Clinton represented a new group of Democrats who hoped to reclaim lost “Reagan Democrats” His agenda as president included: To reduce the size of the gov’t To balance the federal budget To reform welfare & extend healthcare to all Americans To promote economic growth
Domestic Policy under Clinton A return to Reagan-style tax cuts, increased military spending, & limited role of gov’t Clinton attempted a bold plan to offer universal health coverage The bill’s defeat allowed for sweeping victories in the 1994 midterms for Republicans Repubs, led by Newt Gingrich, offered a “Contract with America” Clinton undercut their agenda by reducing the size of the gov’t & planning for a balanced budget “The era of big gov’t is over” —Clinton
Foreign Policy under Clinton Clinton encouraged free trade: Clinton signed North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) (initiated under Bush) which reduced trade barriers among USA, Mexico, & Canada General Agreement on Tariffs & Trade cut tariffs & the World Trade Org helped settle trade disputes among 117 nations
Foreign Policy under Clinton U.S. international peacekeeping: From 1993-1995, U.S. troops were sent to Somalia to offer food & restore order to civil war In 1999, the U.S. & UN sent troops to Bosnia (in the former Yugoslavia) to stop Serbian ethnic cleansing
Slobodan Milosevic
Upheaval in the 1990s Clinton presided during an economic boom, but anxiety was prevalent throughout the decade: Los Angeles race riots (1992) Terrorism at the World Trade Center (1993) & Murrah Federal Center in Oklahoma City (1995) Clinton scandals: Whitewater & Monica Lewinsky
The Presidency of George W. Bush 37:30- 44:15 (~7 minutes)
Results of the 2000 Election by Voting Precinct George W. Bush The election of 2000 was the closest since Nixon-Kennedy in 1960 & the only dispute election since Tilden-Hayes in 1876: “Hanging” or “dimpled” chads in Florida The Supreme Court ruled in Bush v Gore (2000) to stop the recount & declare Bush the winner of the election
Key Events in the Bush Presidency Key events in the Bush years: Sept 11, 2001 terrorist attacks by fundamentalist Al Qaeda led to the invasion of Afghanistan & the hunt for Osama bin Laden Bush’s declaration of an “Axis of Evil” in North Korea, Iran, & Iraq The invasion of Iraq in 2003 to remove Saddam Hussein
Global Terrorist Strikes, 1998-2007