THE 1990S TO PRESENT
THEMES OF CONTEMPORARY AMERICA
• Legacy of Reagan & Intervention
• Peacekeeping Missions
• 9/11 & War on Terrorism
• Economic Changes
• Manufacturing jobs decline (outsourcing), decline in
unions, wages stagnate for middle class
• Free Trade Agreements
• Social
• Environmental Movement: Climate Change/Dependence
on fossil fuels
• Computer Technology – social networks
• Population changes (immigration & debates, sunbelt &
rustbelt, gender roles & family structure)
ELECTION OF 1992
• Bill Clinton (D)
• George H.W.
Bush (R)
• H. Ross Perot
(Reform Party)
ELECTION OF 1996
• Bill Clinton (D)
• Bob Dole (R)
• H. Ross Perot
(Reform Party)
BILL CLINTON (D) (1993-2001)
• North Atlantic Free Trade
Agreement (NAFTA) (1994)
• Lewinski Scandal and
Impeachment
• Social and Cultural
Developments
• Internet
• Don’t Ask Don’t Tell
• Foreign Developments
• Bosnia
BILL CLINTON
• Domestic Issues
• “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” Policy
(Armed Forces)
• Defense of Marriage Act
(1998)
• Federal Deficit: Lowest in 10
years / Balanced Budget in
1996…Surplus in 1998
• Republican Revolution
(1994) – Take Congress
• Contract with America
• Newt Gingrich (Speaker)
• Result – Clinton moves to the right /
“era of big gov’t is over”
• Welfare Reform - Welfare to Work
(1996)
BILL CLINTON
• Domestic Issues:
• Impeachment: Perjury NOT Affair
(Monica Lewinsky) (1996)
• Foreign Affairs
• NAFTA: North American Free Trade
Agreement w/ Canada & Mexico
• Debate over NAFTA
• Balkan Wars/Yugoslavia: Serbia,
Bosnia, Kosovo & Croatia - -
“ethnic cleansing” in many states
• UN & US go into Bosnia (1995-
1999)
• Globalization: World Getting
Smaller b/c of increase in trade,
capital and communication
• World Trade Organization (WTO)
• World Bank
• International Monetary Fund (IMF)
• Group of 8 (G-8)
ELECTION OF 2000
• Al Gore (D)
• George W. Bush (R)
• Ralph Nader (Green
Party)
• Bush v. Gore
(2000)
• Decide in 5-4 vote
that Bush wins b/c
hand recount
(asked for by Gore)
in FL violated equal
protection clause of
14th Amendment
GEORGE W. BUSH (R) (2001-2009)
• Conservative Agenda
• Bush Tax Cuts (2001, 2003)
• NCLB (2001)
• 9/11
• USA PATRIOT Act
• Hurricane Katrina (2005)
• Great Recession (2007-20
09)
• Troubled Assets Relief Progra
m (TARP)
• Foreign Developments
• 9/11
• War on Terror
• Afghanistan
GEORGE W. BUSH (R) (2001-2009)
WAR ON TERROR
• 9/11
• Bush Doctrine
• Afghanistan
• Iraq
• Homeland Security
• USA PATRIOT Act
WAR ON TERROR & WAR IN IRAQ
• 9/11 & War on Terrorism
• NATO mission
• Launched in 2001 – Took down Taliban gov’t
• Al-Qaeda & Taliban NOT same thing
• War In Iraq:
• 2003: Iraq had WMDs and supplied
terrorists
• U.S. appeals to UN, they will not go in & we
go unilaterally…but with the help of Britain,
Canada etc…
• WMDs never found
• Patriot Act
• Civil Liberties v. Security
• Other examples in history?
ELECTION OF 2008
• Republican
• John McCain
• Sarah Palin
• Great Recession
• Democrat
• Barack Obama
• 2004 DNC
Speech
• Primary vs.
Hilary Clinton
ELECTION OF 2012
• Barack
Obama
(D)
• Mitt
Romney
(R)
BARACK OBAMA (D) (2009-2017)
• Great Recession (2007-2009)
• American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act (2009)
• Patient Protection and
Affordable Care Act (2010)
• “Obamacare”
• Debate over Health Care & “safety
nets”
• Tea Party and 2010 Mid-Term
Elections
• Social and Cultural
Developments
• Gay Rights
• Repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”
• Same-sex marriage upheld by S.
Court
• Foreign Developments
• Arab Spring
GREAT RECESSION AND RECOVERY
OBAMA AND TODAY’S WORLD (2009-
PRESENT)
• Death of Osama bin
Laden
• Iraq
• Ended occupation
• Afghanistan
• Taliban resurgence
• Arab Spring
• Egypt
• Libya
• Syria
• Ukraine One’s Bullseye Cannot Rescure Obama’s Record
• Crimea Financial Times, May 2012
CONTEMPORARY ISSUES
• Social Changes Over Time:
• Feminism: Working moms, athletes,
but still “glass ceiling”
• Sandra Day O’Connor
• Immigration Shift: Asia & Mexico
• Mexican immigration unprecedented
• Issues over policies in US
• Urban Problems: Minorities
centralized / Poor Schools / Pollution
& Traffic / Not much rebuilding
• “Graying of America”: Baby Boomers
getting older! (Impact on Soc. Sec b/c
live longer)
• Income & Wealth
• Wealth varies depending on education,
gender & race
• Median Income in 2000: White family-
$53K / Black: $34K / Hispanic: $35K
THE SUNBELT AND RUSTBELT
Why the Sunbelt?
• Low taxes, warmer climates, defense industries, right-to-work,
immigrants
Rustbelt
• Deindustrialization due to globalization, domestic policies,
demographics. migration
CONTEMPORARY IMMIGRATION
Pushes
• Escape communism, violence
Pulls
• Seek American Dream
Immigration Policies
• Immigration Act of 1965
Eliminated 1920s quota laws
• Immigration Reform and Control Act
(1986)
Penalties for illegal immigration employment
Illegal immigrants before 1982 granted
residency
CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY AND CULTURE
MULTICULTURALISM
• Melting Pot
• Americanization and
assimilation of diverse
cultures
• Salad Bowl
• Cultural mosaic
• Promotion of cultural
diversity
• Contemporary
nativism
• English Language
Amendment
CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY AND CULTURE
AMERICAN FAMILY AND LIFESTYLE
• Increase in Life
Expectancy
• American Family
• Nearly 50% divorce rates
• Single parenthood
• Different “norms” of family
• Education
• 1 in 4 of 25-34 year olds a
4-year college graduate
• Internet
CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY AND CULTURE
TECHNOLOGY AND THE FUTURE
• Automation
• Internet
• World Wide Web
• Fossil Fuels &
Alternative Energy
• Gas Prices
• Genetics
• DNA structure (1953)
• Human Genome Project
In 100 years, what will history books
talk about? What is the American
identity today?
