The modern era

How did President Obama's administration attempt to mitigate the effects of the Great Recession?

President Obama proposed and signed an economic stimulus bill into law; his administration authorized federal spending on education, green energy, and infrastructure improvements.

What did President Clinton's Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 seek to do?

Raise taxes for the wealthiest Americans, and expand the earned income tax credit for low-wage workers

Which of the following factors contributed to the Great Recession of 2008?

The collapse of a "housing bubble" and the failure of Wall Street investment firm Lehmen Brothers.

What was one cause of increasing globalization in the 1990s?

The fall of the Soviet Union, which allowed former communist bloc countries to integrate into the global market

Which of the following were among the provisions of the Affordable Care Act?

The law made health insurance coverage mandatory for American citizens, and made it illegal for insurance companies to deny coverage for preexisting conditions.

How did gay rights activists draw attention to the AIDS crisis, which had been ignored by the Reagan administration, in 1987?

They created an enormous quilt that covered Washington, D.C.'s entire National Mall, memorializing the many who had died from AIDS.

What was unexpected about President George W. Bush's support for programs like No Child Left Behind and Medicare Part D?

Those two pieces of legislation were much more aligned with traditional liberal policies that expanded federal spending, running counter to his conservative philosophy.

Why was the Department of Homeland Security formed?

To coordinate American efforts to prevent future terrorist attacks like the one on September 11th, 2001.

Why was Ronald Reagan known as "The Great Communicator"?

Trained as an actor, Reagan was a skilled and comfortable public speaker.

When Mikhail Gorbachev became the Premier of the Soviet Union in 1985, he pivoted to a policy of

openness and political restructuring.

Al-Qaeda, a terrorist group whose name means "The Base" or "The Foundation" in Arabic, is most notorious for

organizing the September 11th attacks in New York, the Pentagon, and Flight 93 over Pennsylvania.

Elected at a young age to the governorship of Arkansas, Bill Clinton became a leader of the New Democrats, a wing of the Democratic Party that

sought to decrease the size and scope of the federal government.

What proved so controversial about the Bush administration's allegations about Iraq's stockpile of weapons of mass destruction or WMDs?

Following the invasion of Iraq, inspectors from the United Nations never found evidence of WMDs in Iraq.

After ignoring the crisis for his first term, how did President Reagan respond to the demands of ACT UP and other AIDS rights activists?

He established the President's Commission on the HIV Epidemic, and approved legislation to fund half a billion dollars' worth of HIV/AIDS research and education.

How did Ronald Reagan's 1984 reelection ad, Morning in America, capture his attitude about the nation's future?

His approach to politics was relentlessly sunny and optimistic.

Why did the United States involve itself in the Gulf War?

Iraq had invaded the wealthy but small oil-producing nation Kuwait; the international community feared this was Iraq's first step in conquering the entire Arab Peninsula.

How did the Bush administration justify its 2003 invasion of Iraq?

It claimed that Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein had stockpiled weapons of mass destruction, and that his government had supported Al-Qaeda.

What did the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA, accomplish?

It eliminated trade barriers between the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

What was the Reagan administration hoping to achieve by deregulating some American industries?

It hoped to lower costs for employers, leading to cheaper consumer goods.

What was significant about the election of 2000?

It was the first American election to be decided by the Supreme Court; the decision in Bush v. Gore halted a recount of votes in the key state of Florida and resulted in George W. Bush winning the presidency

What powers did the USA Patriot Act grant to the federal government?

Expanded surveillance powers to wiretap American citizens suspected of terrorism, anti-money-laundering powers to fight the financing of terrorism, among others.

Why was it an issue that the US government sold anti-tank weapons to Iran, and used the proceeds from that sale to fund anti-communist rebels in Nicaragua?

Congress had embargoed the sale of arms to Iran, and limited US assistance to the Nicaraguan Contras—both actions were illegal.

What are the principal policies of supply-side economics?

Cut taxes; deregulate industry

What made the televised operations of Desert Storm distinct from the war footage that had emerged from Vietnam?

Desert Storm was the first American conflict to be broadcast on live television.