Bush Sr. + Clinton 1989 - 2000 Flashcards
Although the post-Reagan era is not a significant part of the AP U.S. History exam, this deck provides an overview of the Clinton and Bush Presidencies as America worked to define itself as the world's sole superpower.
In 1988, incumbent Vice President George Bush soundly defeated Democratic nominee Michael Dukakis. What famous promise did Bush make?
Bush promised “no new taxes,” a promise he later violated.
How did many observers view the large student protest in Tiananmen Square in Beijing in 1989?
Coupled with events in Europe, it seemed as if worldwide Communism was on the decline. In China at least, rumors of Communism’s decline were greatly exaggerated, and Communist forces crushed the protest.
The iconic image of the Tiananmen Square uprising is of a man standing alone, facing a long line of tanks rolling towards him.
In Eastern Europe, where did the collapse of Communism first begin?
Communism’s collapse began in Poland, which broke free from the control of the Soviet Union in 1989. When the U.S.S.R. did nothing, the nations of Hungary, East Germany, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, and Romania followed.
In Berlin, it was not Gorbachev but Berliners themselves who tore down the Berlin Wall.
What was the effect of the 1989 Eastern European revolutions on the Soviet Union?
Several of the constituent republics which made up the Soviet Union began advocating for independence. In March 1990, Lithuania declared independence, followed by Estonia and Latvia.
By late 1991, the Soviet Union had dissolved into the Commonwealth of Independent States, comprised of the 15 former Soviet Republics, and Gorbachev had resigned.
Between 1989 and 1991, President George H.W. Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev negotiated START I. What did START stand for?
Strategic Arms Reduction Treaties
The Treaties continued the trend towards arms reduction begun during the Reagan Administration. A second treaty, START II, was signed by Bush and Boris Yeltsin, Gorbachev’s successor.
In 1990, Saddam Hussein’s Iraqi Army invaded Kuwait. How did the U.S. respond?
The Iraqi Army was the world’s fourth largest army. With the full support of the United Nations, the U.S. assembled 35 allies into a military force based in the Arabian Peninsula. After warning the Iraqis to withdraw, the U.S. led a massive ground war, dubbed Desert Storm, which destroyed the Iraqi military in less than 100 hours.
Although the road to Baghdad was open, the U.N. coalition stopped short of deposing Saddam.
Which individual was radicalized to be an Islamic Terrorist as a result of the First Persian Gulf War?
Osama bin Laden believed that the Saudi government had insulted Allah and the prophet Muhammad by allowing American forces on Saudi soil. This is because Saudi Arabia was the land where Islam had started as a religion.
As a result of his radicalization, he would begin plotting attacks against places around the world that housed Americans, such as embassies and ships, starting in the 1990s.
Although popular after the Persian Gulf War, President George H.W. Bush lost ground thereafter. Why?
Bush had promised no new taxes, but efforts to curb the deficit, as well as a botched deal with House Democrats, forced him to raise taxes and increase spending. Bush’s popularity never recovered, especially after a mild recession began in the early 1990s.
Complete the sentence:
In late 1989, President George H.W. Bush ordered 24,000 troops into _____ to remove Manuel Noriega from power.
Panama
Panamanian President Manuel Noriega was a well-known drug trafficker who had annulled an election that had ousted him. Since he was deposed, he has been in prison in the U.S., France, and Panama.
What does the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) prevent?
The ADA (1990) is a wide-ranging civil rights law that prohibits, under certain circumstances, discrimination based on disability, and was signed into law by President George H.W. Bush.
In 1990, Congress passed an immigration bill that increased annual legal immigration to 700,000 and established the Diversity Immigration Program. What was the Diversity Program’s purpose?
The Diversity Program was aimed at encouraging immigration from countries from where few immigrants had previously arrived.
Unsecured loans led to repeated bailouts of which entities in the 1980s?
Savings and Loans Banks (S&L)
The crisis reached its height in 1989, and the total cost of the bailout was some $87.9 billion.
Complete the sentence:
By marrying hypertext to the Internet, Tim Berners-Lee gave birth to the ____ ____ _____ in 1989.
World Wide Web (the www preceding an Internet address)
The first web page was created in 1991. By 1995 the entire World Wide Web barely exceeded 3.5 gigabytes in space, making the task of the earliest search engines, such as Webcrawler, straightforward.
During his Presidency, how many emails did Bill Clinton send?
One
Many Americans did not send their first email until well into the 2000s. One Internet provider, Prodigy, even charged per email.
Concerned about skyrocketing debt, _____ ____ ran as an independent candidate for President in 1992.
Ross Perot
Perot did fairly well, but the votes he took from George H.W. Bush threw the election to Bill Clinton.
What issue of concern to voters did Bill Clinton emphasize in his 1992 campaign?
Bill Clinton played up the economy. During the campaign, he kept a card with him that read “It’s the economy, stupid.”
His appeal to voters’ pocketbooks worked. While Clinton failed to capture a majority of the popular vote, he did manage to win a majority of the Electoral College to secure the election.
What did critics term Bill Clinton’s attempts to institute healthcare reform?
Critics termed it Hillarycare, after Clinton’s wife, to whom he’d designated responsibility for crafting the program.
The program was designed to provide universal healthcare, but it proved unable to pass the House. The attempt provoked outcry from many Americans, who feared government takeover of healthcare.
Although Clinton had asked Congress to allow homosexuals to serve in the military, Congress passed legislation known as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” in 1993. What did this legislation provide?
Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell allowed gays to serve in the military, but they could not openly reveal their sexuality.
What 1994 document outlined the actions Republicans promised to take if they became a majority party in the House of Representatives?
In 1994, Republicans published the Contract with America, which outlined plans for cutting taxes, ending government waste, and shrinking the government’s size.
The Contract with America was in direct opposition to President Clinton’s plans to increase the size of government. Voters approved of the Contract, and Republicans took control of the House for the first time in 40 years.
What was NAFTA, passed in 1993?
NAFTA was the North American Free Trade Agreement that lowered trade barriers between Canada, the United States, and Mexico. The NAFTA agreement had been negotiated by George H.W. Bush and was supported by Clinton.
Although Clinton had proved unable to pass universal healthcare coverage, he did provide healthcare coverage for what vulnerable group?
Children
The State Children’s Health Insurance Program would cover some 6.6 million children by 2006.
After President Clinton vetoed the 1995-1996 budget passed by the House, how did Speaker Newt Gingrich respond?
Gingrich and House Republicans engineered a standoff, forcing the government to shut down twice. Eventually, Gingrich gave in, and Congress passed continuing budget resolution.
During the shutdown Gingrich appeared less reasonable than the President, and Clinton’s performance during the crisis ensured his re-election.
What was Operation Uphold Democracy?
In 1994, a military coup overthrew Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. The United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 940, and U.S. troops were dispatched to Haiti as part of Operation Uphold Democracy to restore the democratically elected Aristide to power.
The Dayton Accords, signed in 1995, resolved what conflict?
The Dayton Accords put an end to the three-and-a-half year-long war in Bosnia, which arose out of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. President Clinton was instrumental in organizing the Accords and serving as mediator. NATO had previously conducted bombing raids to halt the conflict.
In 1999, war again broke out in the region, and NATO conducted a second set of raids.
