Unit 5: Lesson 1; The Clinton Administration (HIS SB)

"Don't Ask, Don't Tell"

1993, President Clinton; Gay and transgender soldiers were allowed to join the US Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines; However, they could not reveal that they were part of the LGBTQ community, and their superior officers could not ask about it; no longer penalized soldiers in the LGBTQ community, it still meant they had to live secret lives; Gay activists said this was unfair because the other troops were able to live openly and did not have to hide who they were; Activists fought against the law until it was finally repealed in 2010

Communication Decency Act

1996, Congress; protect minors under the age of 18 from "obscene" material online; the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) argued that the law was unconstitutional

Reno v. American Civil Liberties Union

1997; justices determined that the Communications Decency Act violated the guarantee of freedom of speech and should be struck down

Clinton is impeached

After President Clinton was impeached, a trial was held in the Senate in early 1999 to determine whether to remove him from office; When the vote was cast on the perjury charge, there were 45 votes for guilty and 55 votes for not guilty; On the obstruction of justice charge, there was an even 50/50 split; Since a two-thirds majority was needed for removal, the president was acquitted and remained in office

Rwandan Genocide

After the assassinations, extremist members of the military began to murder Tutsis and moderate Hutus; Over 100 days, they murdered about 800,000 Rwandans; At first, President Clinton was reluctant to call the events in Rwanda a genocide; The administration thought using that label would require the United States to do more to help the Rwandans; The United States provided humanitarian support to Rwanda and to refugees who fled the nation; Clinton expressed regret that the United States had not stopped the violence and protected the people of Rwanda; In 1998, while touring Africa, he issued an apology for not taking action; After the RPF fought for control of the country and ended the killings, the US government helped set up a tribunal with the United Nations to investigate the war crimes that had taken place

Hillary Clinton

After the disappointment of the health care proposal failing in Congress, she turned her attention to other issues, including childcare and women's rights; traveled around the world, visiting nearly 80 nations; broke the record for the most-traveled First Lady, which had been held by Pat Nixon, the wife of President Richard Nixon; One of Clinton's visits included the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, China, in September 1995; There, Clinton famously gave an address called "Women's Rights Are Human Rights."; After President Clinton left office, Hillary Clinton continued to be a champion for equality; served as a Senator for New York and became the Secretary of State under President Obama; ran for president twice and won the Democratic Party presidential nomination in 2016; the first time that a major political party nominated a woman for president

Crime Bill Criticism

Although the Crime Bill received a great deal of support, not everyone approved of the new law; activists in marginalized communities spoke out against it; disapproved of the way the administration promoted the Crime Bill to the American public; many people disagreed with Hillary Clinton's use of the word "superpredator" to describe criminals; Civil rights activists believed this term encouraged police brutality against young African Americans and Latinos; thought it supported racial profiling, which is the practice of identifying possible suspects based on their race rather than their behavior or other characteristics; been credited with both positive and negative results; assault weapons ban helped reduce mass shootings; also been blamed for dramatically increasing incarceration rates among the African American community

Climate Agreements

As globalization expanded, the need to take a multinational, global approach to climate problems became increasingly apparent; In 1987, the Montreal Protocol ("The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer") was finalized; spurred investment in earth-friendly technologies and has generally been a success; the Kyoto Protocol, drafted in 1997 and designed to reduce greenhouse gases and carbon dioxide emissions, was never ratified by the US Senate

Deindustrialization

As the service industry grew, manufacturing declined in the United States; One result of globalization was that American manufacturers could open factories in other countries where wages were lower; machines could now do many jobs that workers once did; more than a million manufacturing jobs were lost from 1989 to 1999 in a trend known as deindustrialization

LGBTQ in the military

At the time, people who identified as gay, bisexual, or lesbian were not allowed to serve in the armed forces; Those who did serve were forced to keep their identities hidden; This policy had been in place since World War II

Automobile Industry

Cars manufactured by foreign companies had become more accessible and affordable: increased competition for American automobile companies; ---- Manufacturing often was cheaper in other countries: some companies moved their factories out of the United States to other places; resulted in a loss of employment for factory workers in some US cities; ---- The supply chain became globalized: All of the parts and activities involved in manufacturing a car were spread out, even as they remained interdependent; ---- Foreign companies also opened factories in the United States, which provided jobs for many workers; ---- demand increased for cars that were fuel efficient and reduced the emissions that create air pollution

Clinton's inauguration

Clinton became president of the United States on January 20, 1993; said: his inauguration speech, he said, "To renew America, we must meet challenges abroad as well as at home. There is no longer division between what is foreign and what is domestic—the world economy, the world environment, the world AIDS crisis, the world arms race—they affect us all.";

Clinton's foreign policy

Clinton faced many foreign policy challenges during his two terms in office; In addition to domestic terror threats, such as the Oklahoma City bombing, international terrorism proved to be a problem;

Welfare Reform

Clinton promised to "end welfare as we know it."; created a bipartisan coalition to pass legislation on welfare reform; resulted in the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act of 1996

the New Democrat

Clinton promised to bring a "third way" to American politics; approach kept the focus on social issues but in a way that he said was more fiscally conservative; Clinton promised to balance the federal budget and to reduce some social welfare programs; approach was considered centrist, or moderate, which meant it fell between liberalism and conservatism

Russian Relations

Clinton worked to establish friendly relations with the former Soviet Union; supported Russian President Boris Yeltsin and encouraged the International Monetary Fund (a coalition of hundreds of nations) to provide loans to the struggling country; in the late 1990s, Clinton also suggested inviting Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO); blocked Russia from installing nuclear weapons or troops in most of Eastern Europe;

Clinton Administration

Clinton's job approval rating remained high in the final year of his presidency despite the impeachment; First Lady Hillary Clinton ran for an open Senate seat in New York state in 1999, becoming the only First Lady to be elected to public office; At the end of the second term, reporters and analysts weighed the successes and failures of the Clinton administration; considered the effectiveness of the president's "Third Way" approach.; One point in Clinton's favor was the strength of the economy; grown throughout his two terms, which became the longest period of economic expansion in American history; approach failed to bridge the divide between Democrats and Republicans; did demonstrate that the Democratic Party could approach policy questions differently; One problem that the administration had not been able to solve was the threat of terrorism by al Qaeda; bin Laden, who had publicly called for an Islamic holy war against the West, remained wanted and at large

Politics Under Clinton

Divisions between Democrats and Republicans deepened during the Clinton administration; battle over the federal budget was one source of disagreement; Republicans also criticized the president for his plans for welfare reform, health care, and other social issues; Six weeks before the midterm election of 1994, Republicans in the House of Representatives released an agenda they called the "Contract with America."; party pledged to reduce spending on social programs to limit the size of the federal government; also promised to balance the budget, lower taxes, and change the way the government operates; the Contract with America promised to restore conservative values; In the midterms, Republicans won control of the House of Representatives, partly due to response to the contract; For the first time in 40 years, the party held the majority in both chambers of Congress; Newt Gingrich, a representative from Georgia, became the new Speaker of the House

government shutdown

During a shutdown, the government does not have the funds to pay its workers; Federal agencies and other offices must close, and the national government can no longer provide services; The public was outraged, and Clinton and Congress worked to find a compromise

Clinton-Lewinsky Affair

During the Whitewater investigation, Ken Starr uncovered evidence of an improper relationship between the president and a White House intern named Monica Lewinsky; There was concern that Clinton had lied under oath about the affair during testimony for a separate legal case; Eventually, the president admitted that the relationship had taken place; He apologized to his family and the American public in an address on national television

Clinton sends troops abroad

He and his advisors developed a doctrine of engagement; main purpose was to enable the United States to maintain a leadership role in world peacekeeping efforts to protect human rights and to expand democracy; goals were to be met while protecting American national interests

Waco, TX

In 1993, FBI agents attempted to seize a compound in Waco; property belonged to a religious group known as the Branch Davidians, led by a man named David Koresh; The FBI believed the group was stockpiling weapons; A 51-day siege ended in tragedy with the deaths of 76 people in a fire that consumed the compound

Whitewater

In 1994, Attorney General Janet Reno authorized an investigation into an investment deal that involved the president and first lady; Ken Starr was an independent counsel assigned to the case; investigation found that no wrongdoing had taken place

African Embassy Bombings

In 1996 and early 1998, bin Laden called on his supporters and other Muslims to declare war against the United States and Americans everywhere; August 7, 1998, bombings occurred at two American embassies at nearly the same time: one in Nairobi, Kenya, and the other in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania; killed 224 people, including 12 Americans, and injured several thousand; Investigators quickly discovered that the bombings had been planned and carried out by al Qaeda; Within weeks, the United States launched missiles at targets in the Sudan and Afghanistan that were either confirmed or strongly suspected to be al Qaeda sites; Bin Laden was eventually identified as a leader involved in the attacks and went into hiding in Afghanistan;

assassination of two presidents (Rwanda)

In April 1994, an airplane carrying the presidents of Rwanda and Burundi was shot down by surface-to-air missiles as it was landing at the Kigali airport; Both presidents were Hutu; The government blamed a Tutsi group called the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), but the RPF denied involvement

Serbia

In Eastern Europe following the end of the Cold War, the former communist country of Yugoslavia split into independent states; Serbia was one of them; many Serbs also lived in nearby Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina; The Serbian government fought to gain control of these two republics, which resulted in a civil war beginning in 1992; In Bosnia, Serbs practiced ethnic cleansing against Muslim members of the population; In 1995, President Clinton led peace talks to end the war, which resulted in an agreement known as the Dayton Accords; three years later, the Serbs tried to drive Muslims out of a region in their country called Kosovo; Working with NATO, the United States launched air strikes against Serbia to halt this conflict

Conflict in the Middle East

In September 1993, President Clinton invited two leaders from the Middle East, Yitzhak Rabin and Yasir Arafat, to the United States; Rabin was the prime minister of Israel, and Arafat was the head of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO); Israelis and Palestinians had been engaged in conflict since 1948; At the White House summit, the two leaders signed an historic agreement; The PLO recognized Israel's right to exist as a nation, and Israel recognized the PLO as the representative of the Palestinian people; the agreement did not resolve the conflict between the two groups, and tensions continued through the 1990s and beyond

impeachment hearings

In September 1998, Ken Starr filed a report on the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal to Congress; Republicans, who had the majority, decided to pursue the impeachment process to potentially remove the president from office; The charges against Clinton were perjury, or lying under oath, and obstruction of justice; The House of Representatives held hearings based on the Starr report; After this process ended, a vote was held in the House; Democrats voted against impeachment, but Republicans voted in favor of it Since Republicans had the majority, they won the vote

Clinton is inspired

July 1963, Clinton traveled from Arkansas to D.C with the youth group, The American Legion Boys Nation; They were invited to meet President JFK, which inspired Clinton to enter politics

Violence Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act (1994)

Known as the Crime Bill, it included: Violence Against Women Act, which protected women against domestic violence and other abuse; Federal Assault Weapons Ban, which limited non-military use of assault weapons to reduce gun violence; Three Strikes Provision, which imposed severe sentencing on offenders who committed a third crime; Federal Death Penalty Act, which allowed the death penalty for terrorism and other offenses

Genocide Fax

Months before the killing began, a general issued a warning that a crisis was building in Rwanda; Roméo Dallaire, a Canadian military leader, was commander of the United Nations peacekeeping force in Rwanda; In January 1994, he sent a fax to UN headquarters to describe the growing danger; Dallaire wrote that the Rwandan government was requiring the Tutsi people to register their identities; saw this and other clues as a sign that the Hutus were planning to commit genocide; document later came to be known as the "Genocide Fax."

NAFTA

North American Free Trade Agreement; 1993, Clinton; treaty between the United States, Canada, and Mexico was designed to foster trade between the three nations; negotiated by President Bush before he left office; countries agreed to drop barriers to trade, such as the use of tariffs; treaty has had mixed results; Exports did not expand as dramatically as expected, and some industrial workers lost their jobs as some US manufacturing moved to Mexico; prices for some consumer goods fell in the United States

Oklahoma City, OK

On April 19, 1995, terrorists Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols bombed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City; injured more than 500 people and killed 168, including 19 children; McVeigh and Nichols opposed the government's actions in Waco

Columbine, CO

On April 20, 1999, two teenagers committed a mass murder at Columbine High School near Denver; Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold were seniors at the school; They murdered 13 people and wounded 24 others before killing themselves in one of the largest mass shootings in American history; Their motive remains unknown

1993 Trade Center Bombing

On February 26, 1993, terrorists set off a bomb in a parking garage under the World Trade Center; a large complex in New York City that included two giant skyscrapers filled with offices and stores; rocked one of the buildings, and six people were killed in the blast; Thousands of others were injured; Authorities quickly identified a group of anti-American, Middle Eastern radicals as suspects in the attack; took more than two years to arrest the primary suspects; intelligence experts discovered connections between Ramzi Yousef, the terrorist who planned the attack, and al Qaeda, a militant organization of fundamentalist Muslims founded by Osama bin Laden; The goal of al Qaeda was to resist interference and occupation by outside forces—especially the United States—in Muslim countries

Supreme Court Decisions during Clintons Second Term

One case showed the complexity of adjusting to advances in technology; Computers were becoming accessible for most Americans, and this meant that young people had access to all kinds of information Americans wondered how to protect teenagers and children from offensive material

Defense Against Marriage Act (DOMA)

Passed in 1996, it denied benefits to same-sex couples that opposite-sex couples received; benefits included the ability to file a joint tax return as a married couple, the right to inherit property automatically when a partner died, and the right for couples in the military to live together; allowed states to ban same-sex marriage; indicated that only marriages between men and women should be recognized; Activists in the LGBTQ community spoke out strongly against the law; said it discriminated against gay and lesbian couples and treated them like second-class citizens; finally struck down by the Supreme Court in 2013

Gov Shutdowns

Passing Clinton's deficit-reduction plan did not end disagreements over the federal budget; continued to clash over how to spend the government's money in education, the environment, and other areas; disagreements caused the government to shut down twice at the end of 1995; First Shutdown: lasted for five days, from November 14 through November 19; Second Shutdown: lasted 21 days, from December 16 to January 6 of 1996; They reached an agreement to balance the budget, which led to the Welfare Reform Act of 1996, and the government reopened

Election of 1996

President Clinton ran for a second term in 1996, again with Vice President Al Gore as his running mate; Clinton ran against Senator Bob Dole, the Republican Party nominee Dole was serving as the Senate Majority Leader when he announced his candidacy for president; Perot also ran again as an independent; Issues during the election included taxes and campaign financing; the economy had grown during Clinton's first term, and unemployment was at a 30-year low, which helped his popularity remain high During one of the two debates between the presidential candidates, Dole faced questions about his age and whether his policy ideas were relevant to younger voters; Perot's poll numbers were too low for him to be included on the debate stage during this election; When the results came in on November 5, President Clinton had won more than 47 million votes, which was 49 percent of the vote. Senator Dole had won 39 million votes, or nearly 41 percent; With 379 electoral votes, Clinton was certified the winner

Technological Innovation

Technological advances over the decade brought many changes to Americans' lives; Due to the free enterprise system in the United States, companies increasingly achieved innovative technologies, such as GPS (Global Positioning System) devices, cell phones, and personal computers; Cell phone technology expanded beyond its initial purpose to include video capabilities; Desktop computers were found in more homes as costs decreased and production increased; Satellite technology and GPS devices in vehicles advanced and began to replace the need for paper maps

Criminal Justice Reform

The Clinton administration supported the Brady Bill, which was passed in 1993 to require background checks for firearm purchases; In September 1994, President Clinton signed the Violence Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act

Finance and Trade

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) are two global finance organizations; With about 190 member nations, the IMF works to maintain stable financial systems; In particular, it helps developing nations with struggling economies; The WTO establishes rules for trade among its 164 member nations; The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is a treaty that was signed in 1947 to limit barriers to trade; The United States has played a leadership role in all three of these efforts

balancing the budget (deficit)

The budget deficit was one economic issue in the early 1990s; the gap between the amount of money the government spends and the amount it raises in revenue from taxes; grown dramatically during the Reagan and Bush administrations because of increases in defense spending; Clinton made a promise to balance the federal budget; proposed trimming government spending; suggested raising taxes on the middle upper classes; wanted to provide tax credits to help Americans living in poverty; Republicans in Congress opposed Clinton's plan to reduce the deficit in this way, thinking that his plans would slow economic growth; the plans were largely successful

The Tutsi and the Hutus

Two main ethnic groups resided in Rwanda: the Tutsi and the Hutus; The Tutsis: in the minority but had run the government whole or in part for much of the nation's history; ---- The Hutus: In the 1960s, rebelled and took control, leading to tension between the two groups

Economic issues during Clinton's presidency

When Bill Clinton was sworn in as president 1993, the economy was in a recession; Unemployment was high, and many Americans were struggling; There also were concerns about government spending and the federal budget The United States not only had to consider its own economy but also the role it played in the global economy; Advances in trade and technology were bringing countries closer together than before

Somalia

When President Clinton took office, there was an ongoing war in Somalia; In December 1992, President Bush sent 28,000 US troops to Somalia to assist the United Nations with famine relief; On October 3, 1993, hostile forces led by a warlord shot down two helicopters, killing 18 American soldiers; US intervention accomplished very little, and the failure to properly support American troops became apparent; led to the resignation of Secretary of Defense Les Aspin; Clinton decided to pull all US troops out of the country and ended US involvement there

Clinton Health care plan

a single-payer system that would be provided by the government; included a mandate that every American had to buy into the system; seen by many as radical and extreme and did not gain enough support in Congress to pass; Many blamed the failure on Hillary Clinton; Some Americans thought this would reduce health care costs; Others were concerned about a government takeover of private insurance and the new federal mandate

global economy

becoming more and more vital; Customers in one country could buy goods from another and receive them in days instead of months or weeks; manufacturer from one region could open a factory in another and hire workers locally; Entrepreneurs could invest in companies in other countries

Bill Clinton

born into a lower-income family in a town called Hope, Arkansas; elected governor of Arkansas in 1978; sworn in at the age of 32 as one of the youngest governors in the country; struggled in office and lost the next election; later ran again and became governor for a second time in 1983; still serving as governor when he ran for president; chose Senator Al Gore to be his running mate in the 1992 presidential election

Mitchell v. Helms

came near the end of President Clinton's second term; related to the Education Consolidation and Improvement Act passed in 1981 when Ronald Reagan was president; In a 6-3 ruling several months later, the justices decided that the law was constitutional; determined that the money also could be given to religious schools; did not view it as a violation of the separation between religion and the government

before the election

country had faced many issues related to the struggling economy, including high unemployment and higher taxes; Bush had promised not to raise taxes if he was elected president; However, he went back on this vow after becoming president; There was a deep division between Democrats and Republicans who struggled to work together and compromise to solve the country's problems; many voters supported independent candidate Ross Perot

Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act

created new requirements for people to apply for welfare and set up a five-year lifetime limit on receiving benefits; People who supported the law thought it encouraged welfare recipients to find work; Critics were concerned that it might punish people who faced hard times; thought the law promoted unfair stereotypes about people on welfare

Service Industries

experienced enormous growth as a result of new technologies; examples of these industries are tourism, transportation, communication, and education; American workers found new opportunities for employment; Over 12 million jobs were added during the 1990s, which helped the economy grow

global community

idea that would affect Clinton's presidency in several ways: shaped how the United States interacted with other nations in trade and in conflict; influenced the US economy and its ability to expand; affected how Americans approached a variety of important issues, including LGBTQ rights, crime, terrorism, health care, and other issues that had effects both at home and abroad

NAFTA concerns

labor unions and environmental activists expressed concerns; unions worried that manufacturers would move their operations to Mexico, where wages were lower; Environmentalists worried that increased industrialization would create more air and water pollution in places with weaker environmental protection laws

health care reform

major issue during the Clinton presidency; cost of medical care was steadily rising; Employer contributions to health insurance premiums helped pay these expenses for many, but about 20 percent of Americans did not have insurance; Clinton administration wanted a new system of health insurance: formed a task force, led by First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, to create a proposal; controversial because it was unusual for a First Lady to take on a policy role in government

the Dotcom Bubble

new technology-related businesses boomed; included search engines, online retailers, media websites, and other tech companies; Investors who bought stocks in these corporations benefited; led to a stock market growth known as the "dotcom bubble." burst in the early 2000s as stock prices eventually dipped

1992 election

none of the candidates won more than 50 percent of the vote; won about 39 million votes, which was 38 percent of the total, and 168 electoral votes; Governor Clinton won almost 45 million votes, which was 43 percent of the total, and 370 electoral votes to win; Perot won nearly 20 million votes, which was 19 percent of the total but not enough to win any electoral votes; His was the highest vote total for a third candidate since Theodore Roosevelt in 1912 ---- Clinton: ran for president as a Democrat in the election of 1992; governor of Arkansas; one of several candidates in the history of the presidency to be elected with less than 50 percent of the vote ---- Bush: incumbent Republican president; faced Clinton and Perot; ---- Perot: independent a strong third candidate, billionaire businessman

Education Consolidation and Improvement Act

provided federal funds for educational materials and equipment; created to support secular programs in both private and public institutions; in Louisiana, about 30 percent of the money was given to Catholic schools; Parents in the state were concerned about their tax money being used to promote a belief or ideology, so they filed a lawsuit that went to the Supreme Court at the end of 1999

George H. W. Bush

served as vice president during Ronald Reagan's two terms in office; In 1988, Bush ran for and won the presidency; Dan Quayle served as his vice president; had some successes in office, such as winning the Persian Gulf War in Iraq; economy went into a recession, and many Americans lost their jobs; By 1992, President Bush's popularity among the public was falling

Welfare

system includes anti-poverty measures, such as welfare for people out of work, food stamps, and aid for families living in poverty; Supporters argued that these programs provided necessary help to Americans who were struggling; Opponents argued that they were costly and trapped people in a "cycle of poverty";

Domestic Terrorism

terrorism waged in a country by citizens of that country;

Globalization

trend that shaped the US economy during this period; the different ways the world's nations interact with each other; countries could contact one another more easily than ever before; they could ship people and goods faster; Computers, the internet, and other advances also improved interaction and trade;

Ross Perot

wealthy Texas businessman who offered voters a third choice in the election; a billionaire who spent some of his own money to fund his campaign; an appealing candidate for some Americans who were frustrated with the influence of party politics in government; chose Admiral James Stockdale to be his running mate