13.2 The George W. Bush Presidency

11b. What problems began to surface in Iraq? (p. 619)

After Saddam Hussein was tried and executed, Iraq's three major groups, Sunnis, Shi'a, and Kurds, fought for power. Some accused the Bush administration of deliberately misleading Congress and the American people about claims that Iraq was developing WMDs in order to win support for the war.

1b. Who were the presidential & vice presidential candidates for the Democratic Party of the 2000 election? (p. 614)

Al Gore, Joseph Lieberman,

3a. Why does the Supreme Court have to step in for the 2000 election results? (p. 615)

Because it was affecting the relationships among the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government.

7. Why did Americans unite in troubling times? (p. 618)

Because we were shocked by the attacks and rallied to defend our nation.

2b. What made the 2000 election so close? (p. 615)

Bush led by a margin of 537 popular votes, so he was awarded 271 electoral votes, one more than was needed to win the election. If the vast majority for Nader would have otherwise gone to Gore, then Gore would have garnered Florida's 45 electoral votes and won the presidency.

What was the source of public outrage at the taxpayer-funded bailout of the financial industry? (p. 620)

Finding out that executives at some of the companies that caused the crisis received multimillion dollar bonuses.

1a. Who were the presidential & vice presidential candidates for the Republican Party of the 2000 election? (p. 614)

George W. Bush, Dick Cheney

13. How does Bush reaffirm American sovereignty? (p. 620)

He announced that the US would not abide by the Kyoto Protocol because it didn't place emission limits on developing countries and that it could harm the US economy.

4. Explain Bush's domestic agenda, specifically with education & reforming entitlements. (p. 615-616)

He supported legislation that tied the federal funding of schools to academic achievement. His administration passed the 2002 No Child Left Behind Act, which penalized schools that didn't reach federal performance standards. It also called for improving teacher quality and other reforms. Bush promised to reform Social Security and Medicare, and made some progress with the Medicare Act of 2003, but Democratic opposition to Social Security reform thwarted Bush's efforts.

12. What problems begin to surface at home? (p. 619)

Hurricane Katrina hit the gulf coast, and the government's slow response to the damage was widely criticized. National discontent in the 2006 elections led to Democrats winning control of the House and the Senate for the first time in 12 years.

8. Explain the legacy of 9/11. (p. 618)

It shook Americans' confidence in our nation's security, and people viewed historical events and ideas as "before 9/11" or "after 9/11). It also impacted the US economy. Even with increased airport security, Americans remained weary of air travel, which hurt the airline and travel industries, and spending decreased. Estimates indicate the attacks cost the economy one million jobs and reduced the country's output by 3%.

11a. Explain how the War on Terror moves to Iraq. (p. 619)

Many people believed that Iraqi president Saddam Hussein was building nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons of mass destruction. As a result, Congress authorized Bush to use military force against Iraq, and in 2003, American and British military forces invaded Iraq.

6. Explain al Qaeda's campaign on terrorism. (p. 617)

One of its goals was to end all American involvement in Muslim countries. Throughout the 1990s, they had been targeting Americans at home and abroad, and in fact, it had attempted to blow up the World Trade Center once before using a car bomb in 1993. In 1998, they set of car bombs in American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. In 2000, they bombed the USS Cole, and American ship anchored off the coast of Yemen. al Qaeda chose to attack the World Trade Center because these buildings represented American economic and military power.

10. How did the US government ensure national security? (p. 618)

Soon after 9/11, Congress passed the USA Patriot Act to give law enforcement broader powers to monitor suspected terrorists. Congress also approved Bush's creation of a new Cabinet-level Department of Homeland Security to coordinate security matters among federal, state, and local agencies.

3b. What was the verdict of the Supreme Court in the 2000 election? (p. 615)

The Court ended the re-recounting of the Florida ballots, so Gore conceded defeat and Bush won.

14b. Explain the financial industry bailout. (p. 620)

The Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) was approved by Congress to make multibillion dollar loans to at-risk banks. The Federal Reserve pumped $38 billion into the banking system, and $40 billion into the US financial system. A $75 billion superfund was approved to help build confidence in the credit markets.

9. Explain the War on Terror & the invasion of Afghanistan. (p. 618)

The first step was finding and prosecuting the people behind 9/11. The US government determined that Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network had been behind the attacks. bin Laden and other al Qaeda leaders were in Afghanistan, where the Islamist Taliban government allowed them to operate training camps for terrorists. Bish demanded that the Taliban turn bin Laden into US custody. When they refused, American forces joined by Great Britain invaded Afghanistan.

2a. Explain the controversy in the 2000 election. (p. 615)

The popular vote in Florida was so close that a state law mandated an automatic statewide recount.

14a. How did America slide into recession? (p. 620-621)

The rising default rate in family mortgages hit the subprime (loans to less-qualified, low-income borrowers) mortgage industry. As a result, housing prices fell and mortgage-related investments lost their value. Several large banking and investment firms collapsed or were sold.

5. Explain the 9/11 attacks. (p. 616-617)

Two hijacked planes hit the World Trade Center in New York City and brought it down. Another hijacked plane crashed into the Pentagon, and the passengers on a fourth refused to allow the hijackers to target another building, so it landed in a field. It was confirmed that the al-Qaeda Islamist terrorist group had spearheaded the attacks, and 3,000 people died.