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Exploring American History Unit X – Modern America

Exploring American History Unit X – Modern America. Chapter 31– America Looks to the Future Section 2 – George W. Bush in Office. George W. Bush in Office. The Big Idea George W. Bush led the country in response to terrorist attacks and through domestic challenges. Main Ideas

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Exploring American History Unit X – Modern America

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  1. Exploring American HistoryUnit X – Modern America Chapter 31– America Looks to the Future Section 2 – George W. Bush in Office

  2. George W. Bush in Office • The Big Idea • George W. Bush led the country in response to terrorist attacks and through domestic challenges. • Main Ideas • George W. Bush won the disputed 2000 presidential election. • Americans debated the future of the War on Terror that began after terrorists attacked the United States. • The nation faced difficult challenges during President Bush’s second term.

  3. Main Idea 1: George W. Bush won the disputed 2000 presidential election. • United States at peace and enjoying economic prosperity at time of 2000 election. • Democratic candidate: Vice President Al Gore • Said he would use budget surplus for education and health care • Republican candidate: Texas governor George W. Bush, son of former President George H. W. Bush • Promised to return budget surplus to taxpayers in the form of tax cuts • Voting was very close • It became clear that Florida’s twenty-five electoral votes would determine the outcome of the election. • Popular vote in Florida was so close that state law required the votes to be recounted.

  4. Election of 2000 • Election of 2000 • Candidates: • Republican- George Bush • Democrat- Al Gore • Campaign issues • abortion • campaign financing reform • defense • economy/energy • education • gun control • environment • Health care • taxes • Outcome- Closest in American History. Between Nov. 8 and Dec. 13 after the Supreme ordered no further recounts, there were various recounts. 50,996,000 to 50,456,000 votes. 271-266 electoral.

  5. Election Results • Election Disputes • Machine recount found Bush received a few hundred more votes than Gore. • Gore supporters demanded a recount by hand to ensure proper counting. • Supreme Court ruled that manual recounts could not ensure all votes would be counted in the same way. • Florida’s votes went to Bush, making him the first president in more than 100 years to win the electoral vote while receiving fewer popular votes. • Bush’s Early Days in Office • Caused lasting bitterness between Democrats and Republicans. • Bush appointed Colin Powell to key position of secretary of state, the first African American to hold the office. • Signed into law $1.35 trillion tax-cut plan • Signed into law a reform plan called No Child Left Behind, creating a national set of educational standards and increasing school funding

  6. President George Bush • 43rd President- 2001- 2005 - Republican • Who was he? • Domestic Policies • $1.6 Trillion tax cut- primarily to help wealthy. • Sept. 11 Terrorist attack on World Trade Center and the Pentagon have push emphasis on foreign affairs. • Office of Homeland Security • Slow response to financial scandals- Enron • Signed corporate-fraud bill - July 2002 • 2003- cut taxes by $670 billion over 10 years. Over 1/2 benefits go to 10% richest Americans.

  7. President George Bush • Foreign Policies • International Terrorism • Taliban in Afghanistan • Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda • Axis of Evil- Iraq, Iran, and North Korea. • Operation Iraqi Freedom- March 19, 2003 and the capture of Saddam. • High Tariffs on steel. • Alienated many allies.

  8. Main Idea 2: Americans debated the future of the War on Terror that began after terrorists attacked the United States. • On September 11, 2001, terrorists seized four commercial planes, intending to fly them into major targets. • Two planes crashed into and destroyed the World Trade Center, an important business center in New York City. • One plane crashed into the Pentagon– the headquarters of the Department of Defense located just outside Washington, D.C. • A fourth plane crashed in a Pennsylvania field after passengers began fighting back against the terrorists. • Thousands of Americans were killed in the attacks, including emergency rescue workers.

  9. The National Strategy for Homeland Security and the Homeland Security Act of 2002 served to mobilize and organize our nation to secure the homeland from terrorist attacks. • Critical Mission Areas • Intelligence and warning • Border and Transportation Security • Domestic Counterterrorism • Protecting Critical Infrastructures and Key Assets. • Defending against Catastrophic Threats. • Emergency Preparedness and Response.

  10. Dept. of Homeland Security Strategic Goals • Awareness -- Identify and understand threats, assess vulnerabilities, determine potential impacts and disseminate timely information to our homeland security partners and the American public. • Prevention -- Detect, deter and mitigate threats to our homeland. • Protection -- Safeguard our people and their freedoms, critical infrastructure, property and the economy of our Nation from acts of terrorism, natural disasters, or other emergencies. • Response -- Lead, manage and coordinate the national response to acts of terrorism, natural disasters, or other emergencies. • Recovery -- Lead national, state, local and private sector efforts to restore services and rebuild communities after acts of terrorism, natural disasters, or other emergencies. • Service -- Serve the public effectively by facilitating lawful trade, travel and immigration. • Organizational Excellence -- Value our most important resource, our people. Create a culture that promotes a common identity, innovation, mutual respect, accountability and teamwork to achieve efficiencies, effectiveness, and operational synergies.

  11. The Nation Pulls Together • The tragedy brought Americans together. • There was an outpouring of support from foreign leaders and U.S. citizens. • President Bush promised to find and punish those responsible for the attacks. • U.S. officials determined that the hijackers were members of a fundamentalist Islamic terrorist group called al Qaeda, or “the Base.” • Led by a wealthy Saudi Arabian exile, Osama bin Laden • Group based in Afghanistan where the Taliban, an extreme Islamic government, ruled the country • Taliban leaders refused to turn over bin Laden, and the United States prepared for military action.

  12. The Fight Against Terrorism • In October 2001 the United States began air strikes in Afghanistan. • By December U.S. forced had driven Taliban from power and captured many al Qaeda members. • Began helping Afghanistan to rebuild and establish a democratic government • In 2002 UN inspectors were sent to Iraq to ensure that Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein fulfilled his promise to give up weapons of mass destruction– chemical, biological, or nuclear weapons that can kill thousands. • Saddam interfered with inspectors’ work. • UN members could not agree on how to handle the crisis. • On March 23, 2003, the United States and a coalition of allies launched an attack on Iraq. • By December 2003 Saddam’s government had collapsed and Saddam was captured. • U.S. officials began working with Iraqis to establish a democratic government. • Violence continued.

  13. The military objectives of Operation Iraqi Freedom • First, ending the regime of Saddam Hussein. • Second, to identify, isolate and eliminate, Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. • Third, to search for, to capture and to drive out terrorists from the country. • Fourth, to collect intelligence related to terrorist networks. • Fifth, to collect such intelligence as is related to the global network of illicit weapons of mass destruction. • Sixth, to end sanctions and to immediately deliver humanitarian support to the displaced and to many needed citizens. • Seventh, to secure Iraq's oil fields and resources, which belong to the Iraqi people. • Finally, to help the Iraqi people create conditions for a transition to a representative self-government.

  14. For Generally, Hussein is a proven threat to international security, he is interested in developing chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons and has shown a willingness to use such weapons on Iraq's neighbors but also against Iraq's Kurdish population. Alternatives to invasion won't solve the problem. If Iraq were to acquire Weapons of Mass Destruction it could threaten regional stability and deter any potential military action against Iraq. Winning the war would be easy and the costs would be minimal Removing Hussein would be consistent with the goals of the war on terrorism. The Iraqi people would support this action Toppling Hussein will have little or no negative impacts the region. If Hussein develops chemical, biological or nuclear weapons he could give the weapons to terrorist organization who could use those materials against the United States or its allies. Against Iraq is effectively contained. Inspections will work and were successful in the 1990s. The United States' nuclear capability currently deters Hussein from using WMD on its neighbors. The costs of this war could be prohibitive. Reports indicate that over 200,000 troops could be needed and that the war could cost $80 billion. Invading Iraq will hurt the war on terrorism. A US attack will alienate Muslim countries especially the Arab The conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians centers on cultural and territorial issues that transcend political systems. Iran, fearing that it could be the next state to be attacked, could nuclearize. Fears that Iraq would give WMD to terrorists lack credibility. Operation Iraqi Freedom Reasons

  15. Debates at Home • War in Iraq caused fierce debate at home. • Supporters of the war argued that removing Hussein from power was an important part of the war on terror. • Critics doubted that Saddam had posed a serious threat to the United States as no weapons of mass destruction were found and no concrete ties to al Qaeda could be proved. • Democratic nominee: Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts • Argued that Bush rushed into war. • Republican nominee: President George Bush • Insisted that the war had made Americans safer and brought freedom to millions of Iraqis. • Bush won the election with 286 electoral votes to Kerry’s 251.

  16. Main Idea 3: The nation faced difficult challenges during President Bush’s second term. • After the 2004 election, four of the president’s cabinet members stepped down. • Condoleezza Rice became the first African American woman to be appointed secretary of state. • Alberto Gonzales became the first Hispanic attorney general. • In 2005 two vacancies opened on the Supreme Court, and President Bush nominated replacements. • Bush’s administration faced major domestic challenges in August 2005 when Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast region. • New Orleans was hardest hit, where thousands of residents who weathered the storm in the city were left with few or no resources and no way to evacuate. • Many criticized the local, state, and federal governments for what they believed was an inadequate response to the crisis. • The Bush administration worked to step up the response to states hardest hit by the disaster.

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