`The Presidents

1974-2011

Mrs. M. MannAmerican History

GERALD FORD FORD

GERALD FORD

Aug. 9, 1974-1976

"I assume the Presidency under extraordinary circumstances.... This is an hour of history that troubles our minds and hurts our hearts."

• First nonelected President- first VP chosen under the terms of the Twenty-fifth Amendment and, in the aftermath of the Watergate scandal, was succeeding the first President ever to resign.

• Pardons Pres. Nixon within first month in office

• Economy enters into a recession; leads to conflicts with Congress

• Detente with the Soviet Union continued. President Ford & Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev set new limitations upon nuclear weapons.

• Nation celebrates its bicentennial!

Happy Birthday America!

The Election of 1976

Gerald R. Ford (R)

Jimmy Carter (D)

Jimmy Carter , 1976-1980

• Deregulation- proposed removing controls on prices of gas/oil, reduce size of govt. in RR, trucking & airline industries

• Department of Energy- created to promote conservation & new energy sources“moral equivalent of war”

• Three Mile Island nuclear accident, March 1979, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania- many people questioned alternative energy

• LBJ’s affirmative actions policies challenged; entrance to medical school can not be denied because of quotas, however, race could be a factor in admission

• grants amnesty- a general pardon- to those who evaded the draft during Vietnam War

• Camp David Accords- 1978, as peacemaker, develops treaty

between Israel & Egypt.-Israel withdraws from Sinai peninsula-Egypt in return becomes first Arab

nation to recognize Israel• Carter weakens Soviet relations by

supporting dissidents & condemning human rights violations

• SALT II (1979) not ratified after Soviets invade Afghanistan, Carter halts grain shipments to Soviet Union

Iran Hostage Crisis

• Pres. Carter allowed deposed Shah of Iran to seek medical treatment in U.S.

• 52 U.S. Embassy workers are taken hostage in Tehran, Iran- lasts 444 days

• Ayatollah Khomeini, once exiled- now in power of the Islamic state, refused to release hostages until Shah sent back to Iran

• A commando rescue mission failed, killing 8 American soldiers when their helicopters collided in the desert; Shah died shortly thereafter; Carter would not be re-elected

• Secret negotiations resulted in hostages release the day Pres. Carter left office, Pres. Carter greeted them in Iran

Election of 1980

Jimmy Carter (D)

Ronald Reagan (R)

Ronald reagan 1980-1988

Conservative Revolution

• New Right- 1980, conservative groups formed powerful coalition concerned with size of govt. & its role in the economy; proposed govt. funded social programs

• Moral Majority- conservatives wanted to follow dictates of Bible; Rev. Jerry Falwell & televangelism- contribute $ to campaign

“It is…my intention…to make (government) work- work with us, not over us; to stand by our side, not ride on our back. Government can and must provide opportunity, not smother it; foster

productivity, not stifle it.”- Ronald Reagan, First Inaugural Address, 1981

• Expanded deregulation of industry begun under Pres. Carter

• Seeks to limit power of labor unions (ex: PATCO)• Gives states & local govt. more discretion over

spending

• Reaganomics- supply side economics

cutting taxes would put more $$ in the hands of businesses & investors, more people would then be hired, production would increase & the economy would grow

• 5%, then 10%, tax cuts passed followed by most sweeping tax reform in history (1986);

wealthy Americans benefitted the most

(went from 70% before Reagan to 28% in 1986)

Economics- Reagan’s 2nd Term

• (S & L) scandal- collapse of many small banks due to risky investments

• October 1987- Stock market crashes; the speculative bubble of the 1980s

burst

Reagan’s Foreign Policy

• Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI)-

“STAR WARS” creates massive satellite shield in space to intercept Soviet Missiles

• U.S. involvement in military actions in Lebanon, Libya, El Salvador & Grenada

• Iran-Contra Affair (1986)- staff members/CIA secretly decide to fund counterrevolutionaries in Nicaragua. Illegal. Reagan claims no knowledge. Lt. Col. Oliver North takes the fall.

• INF Treaty- provides for destruction of 2,500 Soviet & U.S. missiles in Europe

Reagan & Gorbachev

• Despite anti-Communist feelings, Reagan & Gorbachev develop close relationship, 1985

• Gorbachev aims to reform Soviet Union- glasnost: political openness- perestroika: restructuring the economy to allow limited free enterprise

Reagan &Gorbache

v

• Reagan makes Dr. MLK, Jr. a birthday a National Holiday

• Society begins to turn against women’s movement

• AIDS appears in the mainstream & education is needed

• Recession ends by 1984, but tax cuts & defense spending push the deficit up

• Many manufacturing jobs are shifted overseas

• GAP widens between the RICH & POOR

(most since WWII)

GEORGE h. w. Bush 1988-1992

Election of 1988

Michael Dukakis (D)George H. W. Bush

(R)

“Read my Lips. No new taxes….”

Watch the speech

• breaks the “no new taxes” promise • economic recession • cost him the 1992 election

Bush’s Foreign Policy

• fall of communism, breakup of Soviet Union

• Overthrow of communism in Poland• Demolition of Berlin Wall, 1989• START 1- signs treaty with M.

Gorbachev of Russia; first treaty to reduce the two nations’ supplies of long-range nuclear weapons

• Gorbachev resigns the presidency of the Soviet Union Dec. 1991

• Boris Yeltsin becomes the president of Russia the next week

• George Bush calls for a “New World Order” of peace

June 3, 1989Students, 1 million strong, protest communist govt . in Tiananmen Square in Beijing.China’s leaders order army to attack protestors. Thousands killed & many were later jailed.Pres. Bush did not take a strong stance on human rights violations here.

Pres. Bush invades Panama

• Manuel Noriega, Panama’s dictator, smuggling cocaine into the U.S.

• Noriega declares war on the U.S.• Bush launches a lightning attack

(Dec. 1989)• Noriega surrenders one month later.

2 yrs. later a Federal judge convicts Noriega of drug smuggling

Persian Gulf War

• Aug., 1990- Saddam Hussein, dictator of Iraq, launches attack on neighboring Kuwait

• Protection of Kuwaiti oil reserves was an issue of national security

• Oil prices rise, atrocities against civilians mount

• UN alliance of 28 countries launches the Persian Gulf War to drive Iraqi forces out of Kuwait

Operation Desert Storm

• Pres. Bush chose Gen. Colin Powell, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

• Jan. 1991, Norman Schwarzkopf led UN forces & defeated Iraqis in 6 weeks with massive airstrikes

• Pres. Bush felt Saddam Hussein would be overthrown HOWEVER Hussein remained in power

• Justice Thurgood Marshall retires; Pres. Bush nominates Clarence Thomas- a conservative, black judge (1991)

• Recession continues, people angry about tax hike, downsizing continued as Cold War comes to an end

Election of 1992

George H. W. Bush (R)

William J. Clinton (D)

Who is this guy?

• Independent candidate, Texas oil billionaire-H. Ross Perot

• ran as a political outsider

• Wins 19% of vote!

Watch the 1992 Pres. Debate with Tom Brokaw

President bill clinton 1992-2000

• Clinton calls himself a “New Democrat” –pledging to end the recession, address federal deficit, reduce govt. size & reform health care system

• 1994, after midterm elections Newt Gingrich (R) endorses Contract with America, rivals Pres. Clinton

• 1995, govt. shut down results– public blames Congress

• 1996, Clinton easily defeats Bob Dole (R)

Scandals erupt during 2nd Term

• Clinton accused of fraudulent loans & land deals in Arkansas, Whitewater

• Inappropriate relations with White House intern surface

• Clinton denies these allegations under oath, but later admits his actions;

-The House of Rep. votes to impeach Clinton for perjury.

-The Senate votes to acquit.

Around the World

• South Africa- apartheid, separation of blacks & whites, is overthrown;

Nelson Mandela is released from prison after 30 yrs; Mandela elected President of South Africa

• PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization) led by Yasir Arafat & Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin sign peace agreement 1993, violence breaks out in Jerusalem

• Peace in Northern Ireland

• Former Yugoslavia- Serbia begins ethnic cleansing of non-Serbs from Bosnia; NATO airstrikes end fighting

• Terrorist attacks-

- World Trade Center (1993) - Murrah Federal Building, Oklahoma City (1995) - U.S. Embassies in Africa - U.S.S. Cole in a port in Yemen (2000)

• Federal officials link attacks abroad to Al Qaeda, headed by Osama bin Laden

• greatest period of economic expansion in history•new industries, investors & entrepreneurs•Computers & the Internet• leads to cell phone technology & personal music players•Bill Gates a BILLIONAIRE by 31

“Dot Com” boom of 1990s revolutionizes life

Election of 2000

Al Gore (D) George W. Bush (R)

President George W. Bush 2000-2008

What happened here???

•Neither candidate captured 270 electoral votes needed•Florida, an undecided state, could not give electoral votes because the vote was too close to call•For 36 days the nation waited as the votes were recounted Supreme Court- Bush v. Gore issued a 5 to 4 ruling to discontinue the recount

•Al Gore won the popular vote, but George Bush won the 271 electoral votes (with Florida) (***also 1824, 1876 & 1888)

Pres. Bush at home

• Bush TAX CUTS- largest tax cuts in history!!!!!!

• No Child Left Behind- education reforms, supported testing & research based practices

September 11, 2001

• Terrorists attack the Pentagon & World Trade Center & kill those aboard plane over Pennsylvania

• Afghanistan refuses to hand over mastermind, Osama bin Laden

• U.S. & G.B. launch “Operation Enduring Freedom”

• creates the Dept. of Homeland Security• Pursue & kill Saddam Hussein in the

Iraqi War

Hurricane Katrina 2005

• 80% of New Orleans flooded

• Federal Relief & Recovery follow

• Pres. Bush criticized not acting quickly enough

Election of 2008

John McCain (R) Barack H. Obama (D)

President Barack H. Obama 2008-

JANUARY 20, 2009

President Barack Obama's Inaugural Address

• Health Care Reform• Economic Recession, global recession• Majority shifts at midterm election;

Republicans majority in the House, Speaker John Boehner

• April 2010- BP Gulf Oil Spill• May 2, 2011- Osama bin Laden is

DEAD!!!

“If a nation expects to be ignorant and free…it

expects what never was and never will be.”

-Thomas JeffersonCOMMIT to the preservation of this nation by working to understand &

participate in the events in & around this great nation.