The United States in a Global Age1992-2010

Chapter 31

The Presidency of Bill Clinton

Clinton promised to bring a new kind of Democratic leadership to the presidency. Responding to the conservative challenge, Democratic Leadership Council members like Clinton sought to shift the Democratic party away from the liberal tradition of FDR and LBJ and recapture blue-collar defectors and white Southern voters “by redefining and reclaiming the political center.”

The youthful and energetic, Clinton presented a bold agenda: balancing the federal budget, reforming welfare, reducing crime, promoting economic growth, and ensuring a strong national defense. Reducing the size of the federal government and promoting free markets worldwide became hallmarks of his administration.

The Presidency of Bill Clinton

Despite being an excellent persuader, Clinton got off to a rocky start.Clinton unsuccessfully promoted a plan for national health insurance.This led to Republican control of the House and Senate after the 1994

elections.Led by Newt Gingrich, a new breed of younger conservative

Republicans swept the Congressional elections of 1994.

A “New Democrat” in the White House

Republicans promoted a “Contract with America” to cut welfare and eliminate affirmative action.

Clinton undercut Republicans by adopting many of their positions to his own.

Legislation to “end welfare as we know it” showed Clinton’s skill in repositioning himself.

In 1996, Clinton won reelection over Bob Dole but Republicans continued to hold Congress.

In his second term Clinton continued to work with Republicans and passed sweeping deregulation of the banking industry.

Newt Gingrich and Bob Dole after the midterm elections of 1994

A “New Democrat” in the White House

Now that the Cold War had ended, Clinton sought to replace containment with humanitarianism.

Transnational human rights emerged as another issue. Human rights became factors in trade and diplomatic relations (i.e.-

China). Clinton pushed through a series of trade agreements (NAFTA and

GATT), which raised fears that jobs were being sent abroad while environmental standards were being weakened at home.

The UN humanitarian mission to Somalia was a failure.Heightened ethnic nationalism and religious fundamentalism created

unrest across the globe, especially in the Balkans.

The “Globalization” President

The civil war in Kosovo between the Serbians and Albanians was the worst foreign crisis of Clinton’s presidency.

Under a “Clinton Doctrine” of intervention for humanitarian reasons, U.S. and NATO forces intervened to end genocide in Yugoslavia and Clinton brokered a Balkan peace accord.

Despite the Clinton Doctrine, the U.S. failed to intervene to stop a genocidal civil war in Rwanda in 1994 that killed a million people.

And, after an international conference proposed the Kyoto Protocol on global warming, the U.S. failed to ratify the treaty.

The “Globalization” President

Clinton left a federal budget surplus in 2000. cut government spending and boosted tax revenues

A soaring stock market, led by “tech” stocks The resulting economic boom created huge profits and unemployment

fell steadily.Critics noted the ill effects of downsizing: the pay disparity between

white- and blue-collar workers and the continuing decline of blue-collar jobs.

Presiding over the Boom

Bill Clinton: Questions of morality An investigation into the Whitewater real estate deal went nowhere

But Special Prosecutor Starr continued to probe Clinton’s private life In 1998, a sex scandal embroiled the White House, leading to

impeachment inquiries. The midterm election resulted in Democratic gains, due in part to the economic prosperity.

The Republican House voted to impeach Clinton for perjury and obstruction of justice but the Senate failed to convict him.

Despite the impeachment, Clinton left office with high approval ratings.

High Crimes and Misdemeanors

Changing American Communities

The New Economy globalization and corporate restructuring the growing service sector

highly paid lawyers, financial analysts, and software designers to poorly paid fast food employees

1965: About 50% of all jobs were in the service sector; by 2000, the figure had grown to about 70 percent.

Immigration grew to meet the demand for workers, and new electronic media transformed the workplace as well as social relations.

Changing American Communities

Silicon Valley in northern California emerged as the capital of the American computer industry. Resembling a suburb, it was a sprawl of 24 cities that expanded rapidly as

the computer industry grew. Silicon Valley divisions

white male managers and engineers living in affluent communities. non-unionized, Latino, Asian workers living in poor communities.

Early 1990s: Silicon Valley lost its boomtown atmosphere.

Silicon Valley

New computer and telecommunications technologies transformed American cultural life.

VCRs and cable TV revolutionized the American entertainment industry.

CDs and DVD continued the trend, replacing tape-based media and signally a shift to digital media.

The most revolutionary aspect of the electronic culture was the Internet.

By 2010, most households and almost all businesses and schools were using the Internet for work, education and entertainment.

Facebook became the most widely used social network, supporting a media community that transcended national boundaries.

New Media and Virtual Communities

2000 census: Greater growth than any other decade One-third of increase came from foreign immigration, the Latino and Asian

populations increasing by 70 percent Most Mexican immigrants struggled in low-paying, often dangerous

jobs. Immigrants formed their own communities and maintained their group

identity.Changes in immigration law failed to address the problem of

undocumented workers.

The New Immigrants

The prosperity of the 1990s did little to alleviate economic inequality, which actually increased during the decade.

African Americans, Latinos and women all lagged behind in pay and opportunities.

Riots in South Central Los Angeles after the Rodney King incident highlighted racial and economic tensions.

The end of busing led to growing re-segregation of schools as distinct racial and ethnic communities grew in many cities.

While crime dropped, prison populations soared with a disproportionate share of blacks and Hispanics.

Growing Social Disparities

Pat Buchanan and other conservatives increasingly warned that traditional American values were eroding.

Controversies over gay marriage led to a 1996 federal Defense of Marriage Act, but by 2010 five states allowed gay marriage.

In California, a battle in the courts focused on the constitutionality of allowing or banning gay marriage.

Abortion rights also became a hot button issue, with increasing violence by anti-abortion activists.

Stem cell research also became controversial with battles over federal funding and activism from religious groups.

America was becoming more divided over cultural issues.

The Culture Wars

President George W. Bush and

the War on Terror

After the Cold War, the U.S. was the world’s only superpower. This hardly assured security as Soviet communism was succeeded by more fanatic, less predictable foes.

The September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center was a defining moment for the Bush Presidency as it looked to reconfigure American foreign policy and domestic politics around the strategy of a “war on terror.” The Iraq War defined the Bush presidency more than any other issue.

President George W. Bush and the War on Terror

Democratic VP Al Gore and Republican Texas Governor George W. Bush fought a tight race in the election of 2000.

Initial returns seem to give Gore the victory but turned to doubts as questions arose over the vote count in Florida.

After state officials and courts reached conflicting conclusions about recounts, the dispute reached the U.S. Supreme Court.

In a 5-4 ruling, the Court stopped the recounts and gave Bush Florida’s 25 electoral votes and the presidency.

Gore conceded, and Bush was sworn in on January 20, 2001.

The Election of 2000

During the 1990s and early twenty-first century, terrorism escalated. In 1993 a bomb attack on the World Trade Centers in New York City

killed six people. In 1998, Middle East terrorists car-bombed U.S. embassies in Africa. In 2000, terrorists struck the USS Cole in Yemen, killing seventeen

sailors.On September 11. 2001, teams of terrorists hijacked four airliners,

crashing two into the World Trade Center Towers and another hitting the Pentagon. The fourth plan crashed as passengers fought the hijackers.

More than 3,000 people died in the attacks, shocking Americans into a massive response.

Terrorist Attack on America

While Congress authorized Bush to take any necessary action to defend Americans, prayer vigils were held and Americans displayed flags on houses and cars.

Bush identified Osama bin Laden’s Al Qaeda organization as the prime suspect in the attacks.

Terrorist Attack on America

Osama bin Laden was thought to be hiding in Afghanistan and supported by the Taliban government.

Bush dispatched aircraft carriers and began air strikes on Afghanistan. In his 2002 State of the Union address Bush identified North Korea,

Iraq and Iran as an “axis of evil” threatening global security.

Reshaping U.S. Foreign Policy

Partisan bitterness dissolved and Bush was able to push the USA Patriot Act through Congress.

A new Department of Homeland Security was created to coordinate defense against terrorist threats.

In 2004 a commission studying the 9-11 attacks concluded that FBI-CIA turf battles had left the U.S. vulnerable to attack.

Reshaping U.S. Foreign Policy

Bush and his national security team believed a regime change was necessary in Iraq.

Saddam Hussein needed to be removed because of his biological and chemical weapons, he had direct connections to 9/11, and creating an Iraqi democracy would start political change in the Middle East.

Growing opposition to the war led to America seeking international help.

With mainly British support, a bombing campaign was followed by a ground invasion, quickly defeating the Iraqi army and overthrowing Saddam’s regime.

On May 1, 2003, Bush announced a premature “Mission Accomplished” in Iraq.

Invasion of Iraq

Despite military success, Americans were unable to deal with the worsening security situation in Iraq.

Sectarian tensions and an anti-western insurgency led to growing violence and millions of people were displaced or fled Iraq.

A new Iraqi government tried and executed Saddam, but struggled to govern or provide basic services.

Invasion of Iraq

Abuses at Abu Ghraib prison outraged people across the world, but the White House had apparently authorized harsh treatment of suspected terrorists.

The occupation took a heavy toll on the American military, with 1,500 dead by 2005 and National Guard troops being forced into repeated tours.

Spending on the war led to soaring deficits.

Invasion of Iraq

In the 2004 campaign, Bush identified himself as a wartime president.John Kerry, a Vietnam veteran and Massachusetts Senator, took the

Democratic nomination, but soon faltered.Bush claimed victory with 51 percent of the popular vote and 279

electoral votes.Bush claimed his victory was a victory of Iraq war policy.Bush won sweeping tax cuts and the No Child Left Behind education

law in 2001 and an expanded Medicare prescription drug benefit in 2003, but failed in efforts to reform Social Security.

Bush endured controversy by his response to Hurricane Katrina, which devastated New Orleans in 2005.

Rescue operations stalled due to bureaucratic mishaps.

Bush’s “Compassionate Conservatism”

The press blamed Bush for FEMA’s poor response.The events underscored the shame regarding class and racial divides.Years after the hurricane, New Orleans had still not fully recovered.U.S. Coast Guard rescue flood-stranded victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Bush’s “Compassionate Conservatism”

The Bush administration continued to defend the Iraq war as part of a larger global war on terrorism despite shrinking public support and evidence that he had used false or misleading intelligence to justify the invasion.

A controversial troop surge in 2007 seemed to reduce sectarian violence, freeing Bush to redeploy troops from Iraq to Afghanistan but Iraq remained unstable and many refugees refused to return home.

By 2009, 4,400 Americans had died in the Iraq War.The 2006 mid-term elections gave Democrats control of Congress and

blocking any new Bush initiatives.

Divided Government, Divided Nation

By 2008 the national debt reached $1.3 trillion with foreign governments holding large shares of American securities.

The IMF warned that U.S. deficits posed a serious threat to the global economy.

Divided Government, Divided Nation

Barack Obama and the Audacity of Hope

The 2008 election came in the midst of financial crisis and widespread doubts about America’s future and brought to office Barack Obama, the nation’s first African American president.

Barack Obama and the Audacity of Hope

Born in Hawaii to a white mother and African father, Obama grew up in a multicultural family.

After graduating from Columbia and working as a community organizer in Chicago, Obama earned a law degree from Harvard in 1991.

Elected to the Illinois state Senate in 1992 and after an unsuccessful run for Congress, he was elected in the U.S. Senate in 2002.

After a speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, Obama began to emerge as a national figure, but was still considered a long shot when he announced his presidential candidacy in January 2007.

The Election of 2008

Hillary Clinton, Obama’s main rival, seemed the frontrunner, but stumbled in the Iowa caucuses and an unexpected nomination battle ensued.

A controversy over Rev. Jeremiah Wright led Obama to give a widely admired speech on race in America.

By June, Obama had secured the nomination and chose Joe Biden as his running mate.

The Election of 2008 (cont'd)

With a media-savvy campaign, Obama mobilized young people, minorities, who voted in record numbers.

Republican John McCain chose Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate. Palin appealed to the party base, but many questioned her qualifications.

In November, Obama won convincingly in the popular and electoral vote and carried Virginia and North Carolina, traditionally Republican states.

The Election of 2008

The state of the economy was a decisive issue in the 2008 election and favored Obama.

The collapse of the housing bubble in 2007 led to a stock market panic and a banking crisis by the fall of 2008.

Congress passed a massive TARP program to bail out banks and brokers, but the economic slide continued as home foreclosures and unemployment mounted.

The Great Recession

Congress passed a $787 billion stimulus bill in February 2009, with tax breaks, welfare and unemployment benefits and infrastructure spending, all of which did little to improve the economy.

Critics denounced the stimulus as wasteful but economists warned to was too small to help.

In foreign policy, Obama sought to reverse foreign mistrust of America. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton worked with Obama to mend fences.

Obama removed combat troops from Iraq, but shifted them to an expanded war in Afghanistan.

In 2009 Obama was awarded what many saw as a premature Nobel Peace Prize.

Obama in Office

Obama’s main domestic initiative comprehensive health care reform. A compromise bill less comprehensive than he hoped passed in March 2010 with no Republican support.

The battles in Congress seemed to refute Obama’s calls for bipartisanship and signaled a growing polarization of American political life and major disagreements about the role of government.

Obama in Office

Conclusion

From 1992 to 2000, the U.S. faced new challenges, from globalization and multiculturalism to technological change to the threats of international terrorism.

Presidents Clinton, Bush and Obama each responded to these challenges in different ways, but all struggled with the same problems of America’s place in a changing world and how to deal with internal tensions in a less-than-united United States.

Conclusion