Chapter 31 Review

Saddam Hussein

Was the fifth President of Iraq, from 1979 until 2003. In 2003, a coalition led by the U.S. invaded Iraq to depose Saddam, in which U.S. President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair accused him of possessing weapons of mass destruction and having ties to al-Qaeda. Following his capture on December 13, 2003, the trial of Saddam took place under the Iraqi Interim Government. On November 5, 2006, Saddam was convicted of charges related to the 1982 killing of 148 Iraqi Shi'ites, and was sentenced to death by hanging. His execution was carried out on 30 December 30, 2006.

Osama bin Laden

Was the founder of al-Qaeda, the organization that claimed responsibility for the September 11 attacks on the United States, along with numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets. He was a Saudi Arabian, a member of the wealthy bin Laden family, and an ethnic Yemeni Kindite.

Group of Eight (G8)

An international organization of the leading capitalist industrial nations: the US, Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, Canada and Russia. The G8 largely controlled the world's major international financial organizations: The World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT).

Contract with America

Initiatives by Representative Newt Gingrich of Georgia for significant tax cuts, reductions in welfare programs, anticrime measures, and cutbacks in federal regulations.

World Trade Organization (WTO)

International economic body established in 1995 through the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade to enforce substantial tariff and import quota reductions.

Economic Growth and Tax Relief Act

Legislation introduced by President George W. Bush and passed by Congress in 2001 that slashed income tax rates, extended the earned income credit for the poor, and marked the estate tax to be phased out by 2010.

Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act

Legislation signed by President Clinton in 1996 that replaced Aid to Families with Dependent Children, the major welfare dating to the New Deal era, with Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, which provided grants to the states to assist the poor and which limited welfare payments to two years, with a lifetime maximum of 5 years.

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

Sweeping 2010 health-care reform bill championed by President Obama that established nearly universal health insurance by providing subsidies and compelling larger businesses to offer coverage to employees.

multiculturalism

The promotion of diversity in gender, race, ethnicity, religion, and sexual preference. This political and social policy became increasingly popular in the US during the 1980s post-civil rights era.

globalization

The spread of political, cultural, and economic influences and connections among countries, businesses, and individuals around the world through trade, immigration, communication, and other means.

Immigration and Nationality Act

A 1965 law that eliminated the discriminatory 1924 nationality quotas, established a slightly higher total limit on immigration, included provisions to ease the entry of immigrants with skills in high demand, and allowed immediate family members of legal residents in the US to be admitted outside of the total numerical limit.

Webster v. Reproductive Health Services

A 1989 Supreme Court ruling that upheld the authority of state governments to limit the use of public funds and facilities for abortions.

Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey

A 1992 Supreme Court case that upheld a law requiring a 24-hour waiting period prior to an abortion. Although the decision upheld certain restrictions on abortions, it affirmed the "essential holding" in Roe v. Wade (1973) that women had a constitutional right to control their reproduction.

North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)

A 1993 treaty that eliminated all tariffs and trade barriers among the United States, Canada and Mexico.

USA PATRIOT Act

A 2001 law that gave the government new powers to monitor suspected terrorists and their associates, including the ability to access personal information.

Lawrence v. Texas

A 2003 landmark decision by the Supreme Court that limited the power of states to prohibit private homosexual activity between consenting adults.

World Wide Web

A collection of interlinked computer servers that debuted in 1991, allowing access by millions to documents, pictures, and other materials.

Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET)

A decentralized computer network developed in the late 1960s by the US Department of Defense in conjunction with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The Internet grew out of the ARPANET.

Monica Lewinsky

A former White House intern with whom President Bill Clinton admitted to having had what he called an "inappropriate relationship" while she worked at the White House in 1995 and 1996. The affair and its repercussions, which included Clinton's impeachment, became known as the Lewinsky scandal.

Defense of Marriage Act

A law enacted by Congress in 1998 that allowed states to refuse to recognize gay marriages or civil unions formed in other jurisdictions. The Supreme Court ruled that DOMA was unconstitutional in 2013.

Operation Rescue

A movement founded by religious activist Randall Terry in 1987 that mounted protests outside abortion clinics and harassed their staffs and clients.

Al Qaeda

A network of radical Islamic terrorists organized by Osama bin Laden, who issued a call for holy war against Americans and their allies. Members of Al Qaeda were responsible for the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Abu Ghraib prison

A prison just outside Baghdad, Iraq, where American guards were photographed during the Iraq War abusing and torturing suspected insurgents.

Proposition 209

A proposition approved by California voters in 1996 that outlawed affirmative action in state employment and public education.

Tea Party

A set of far-right opposition groups that emerged during President Obama's first term and gave voice to the extreme individualism and antigovernment sentiment traditionally associated with right-wing movements in the Unites States.

culture war

A term used by Patrick Buchanan in 1992 to describe a long-standing political struggle, dating to the 1920s, between religious traditionalists and secular liberals. Social issues such as abortion right and the rights of lesbians and gay men divided these groups.

George W. Bush

An American politician and businessman who served as the 43rd President of the United States from 2001 to 2009, and the 46th Governor of Texas from 1995 to 2000. He was elected president in 2000 after a close and controversial election, becoming the fourth president to be elected while receiving fewer popular votes nationwide than his opponent, Al Gore. He is the second president to have been the son of a former president, the first having been John Quincy Adams. He is also the brother of Jeb Bush, a former Governor of Florida and former candidate for the Republican presidential nomination in the 2016 presidential election.

Barack Obama

An American politician serving as the 44th President of the United States, and the first African American to hold the office.

William (Bill) Clinton

An American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Clinton previously served as Governor of Arkansas and as the State's Attorney General. A member of the Democratic Party, ideologically Clinton was a New Democrat, and many of his policies reflected a Centrist Third Way philosophy of governance.

Newt Gingrich

An American politician, historian, author and political consultant. He represented Georgia's 6th congressional district as a Republican from 1979 until his resignation in 1999, and served as the 50th Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1995 to 1999. In 2012, Gingrich was a candidate for the Republican Party presidential nomination. He served as House Minority Whip from 1989 to 1995. A co-author and architect of the "Contract with America", Gingrich was a major leader in the Republican victory in the 1994 congressional election. In 1995, Time named him "Man of the Year" for "his role in ending the four-decades-long Democratic majority in the House".

Hillary Rodham Clinton

An American politician. She is a candidate for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in the 2016 election. She was the 67th United States Secretary of State from 2009 to 2013. From 2001 to 2009, Clinton served as a United States Senator from New York. She is the wife of the 42nd President of the United States Bill Clinton, and was First Lady of the United States during his tenure from 1993 to 2001.

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act

An economic stimulus bill passed in 2009, in response to the Great Recession, that provided $787 billion to state and local governments for schools, hospitals, and transportation projects. It was one of the largest single packages of government spending in American history.

multinational corporations

Corporations with offices and factories in multiple countries, which expanded to find new markets and cheaper sources of labor. Globalization was made possible by the proliferation of theses multinational corporations.