“The Long 1990s” November 1989 to September 2001 “The Long European 19 th Century” 1789 to 1919

1. “The Long 1990s” • November 1989 to September 2001 • “The Long European 19th Century” • 1789 to 1919

5. Government Shutdown • Budget for 1996 • Republicans proposed • tax cuts for wealthy • Reduced spending on welfare and Social Security • Gingrich: “largest domestic decision we’ve made since 1933. It’s a change in direction of government” • Denouncing big govt. vs. cutting back entitlements • Clinton vetoed … and won • “triangulation”: positioning self at top of triangle between liberal and conservative bases

7. 1996 Election • Bob Dole • Senator from Kansas, v.p. candidate with Ford `76 • v.p. Jack Kemp • Clinton • Family values: gangs, teen pregnancy, smoking, V-chip, Defense of Marriage Act • Change 1935’s Aid to Families and Dependent Children (welfare) • Campaigning and fund raising • Lincoln Bedroom

10. Monica Lewinsky • White House intern • “intimate contact” 1995 – 1997 • Complex developments • Ken Starr and Whitewater • Paula Corbin Jones sexual harassment suit • January 1998: “I did not have sexual relations with that woman. I never told anybody to lie” • August 1998: “I did have a relationship that was not appropriate” • August 1998: American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania

11. Monica-gate • Starr Report • 445 pages, spared “no details” • Presidential affair vs. perjury and obstruction of justice • Midterm Elections 1998: Democrat gains • Impeachment: December 1998 • Charge of perjury about Lewinsky; obstruction of justice in Jones case • Same December day • Ordered air strikes on Iraq • “Not Guilty” by wide margin

12. Barbara Walters 20/20 interview, March 1999 May 1997

14. Vietnam • 1995 – reestablished diplomatic relations • Aided by John Kerry and John McCain stating that Vietnam was not hiding POWs

15. Iraq • In April 1993, Bush I visited Kuwait to be honored for his leadership during the Gulf War • On final day, Kuwaiti officials stopped a plot to assassinate Bush with truck bomb   • Clinton ordered retaliation with missiles on Iraqi intelligence headquarters in Baghdad   • In 1994, Saddam deployed 80,000 troops near the Kuwaiti border • Clinton responded by adding 100s of planes and 50,000 troops to the area • A “Between the War” period in Iraq • Between “Persian Gulf War” (1991) and “Operation Iraqi Freedom” (2003)

16. In early 1998, Saddam had begun to expel U.N. arms inspectors and to violate the no-fly zones • Clinton stepped up U.S. military presence in Persian Gulf region for possible war with Iraq • Clinton relented only when Saddam permitted U.N. arms inspectors to go through his palaces • In December 1998, by which time Saddam totally stopped U.N. arms inspections, Clinton asserted that Iraq was developing weapons of mass destruction   • U.S. and British planes launched Operation Desert Fox, which featured four days of around-the-clock air attacks on Iraqi sites.   • Anglo-American raids resume in January 1999 and continued, on and off, until the U.S. invaded Iraq in 2003 • From the immediate days after Desert Storm, through the Clinton years, into Bush II, and after the invasion in 2003, the premise of U.S. foreign policy - that Saddam had built WMD - was wrong  • All the assumptions made and dangers voiced about the extent of Iraq’s weapons were incorrect  

17. Ethnic Cleansing by Bosnian Serbs • Yugoslavia ripped itself apart, producing the only big war in Europe since WWII • From 1991 to 1995, Bosnia symbolized the chaos that many had feared the end of the Cold War would unleash   • As the six republics of Yugoslavia went their separate ways after the collapse of communism, the small republic of Bosnia exploded • Cold War had kept under wraps the “ancient ethnic hatreds” among Serbs, Muslims, and Croats • In the most ethnically mixed of the former Yugoslav states, the violence involved a shocking level of brutality • Thousands of civilians, mostly Muslims, were driven out of their homes and terrorized • By summer of 1995, Bosnian death toll neared 300,000, and more than one million were refugees   • attracted Islamic extremists to help defend Muslims • Two of the 9/11 hijackers fought in Bosnia  

19. U.S., UN, NATO nervous and cautious about being swept in (`94 - `95) • UN used weak force of peacekeepers • Massacre at “safe town” of Srebrenica, July 1995 • U.S. air strikes against Bosnian Serbs • Meddling in far away civil war? • Dayton Peace Accords • Bosnian War (1992-1995): Serbs vs. Croats. ended in a stalemate • Slobodan Milosevic • European version of Saddam, a strongman who ruthlessly clung to power and who stoked regional instability • In contrast, Milosevic didn’t support terrorist groups, seek to acquire WMD or control oil • 60,000 NATO troops - including 20,000 Americans - were on the ground in Bosnia to enforce the settlement • Dayton gave Clinton the reputation of a global peacemaker

22. Clinton = Gary Cooper’s character in High Noon • “High Noon affected my view of the world because Gary Cooper was scared to death, and he did the right thing anyway” • “ We’ve got to counter the downside of troops with the upside of peace” • High Noon also characterized America’s behavior as a world power midway through the 1990s • a worried sheriff trying to round up an uncertain global posse    • By 1996, after the mission in Bosnia proved successful (and with no U.S. deaths), foreign nations noticed the new confidence of the U.S.   • “impotence had been replaced by determination, division had been replaced by unity”

23. Ethnic Cleansing by Bosnian Serbs • 1999: savagery in Kosovo • Clinton supported NATO bombing • Serbia and Montenegro vs. Kosovo and NATO. De facto NATO victory in 1st NATO war • Turning point in post-Cold War history of U.S. foreign policy • When U.S. used its power to stop killing in Europe, fighting stopped • End of Cold War did not mean U.S. could stay home

24. Clinton: “we cannot be indifferent, at home or abroad.  That is why we are in Kosovo”   • Milosevic not a threat to U.S.; Kosovo not vital to America • The First “Humanitarian War” • chronologically, Kosovo was the last American-led conflict of the twentieth century   • supporters believed it could exemplify a new 21st century American way of war: • using airpower alone to pummel an enemy into surrendering without suffering a single American casualty from enemy attack (a first for U.S. forces in sustained combat)   • Also marked the first time an alliance of 19 countries had used its collective military might not to roll back an invasion, thwart an immediate threat, or respond to an attack, but for purposes described as “humanitarian” - to end a sovereign government’s repression of its own citizens •  defending principle that a country’s government had to be held responsible for how it treated its own citizens:  the “responsibility to protect” and the “right to intervene”

25. NAFTA to GATT to WTO

26. NAFTA to GATT to WTO

29. 1990s Culture • APUSH Final Project: Decades: The 1990s • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBXkfk2D1Kc • Fads of the 90s • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21sxFQhLydI

30. 90s Culture“Culture Wars and Decline” • Conservatives: America was in “decline” and liberals were to blame for “culture wars” that were dividing the nation   • Targets: America’s “hedonistic culture,” its “uninhibited display of sexuality,” its “popularization of violence,” its “angry activists of feminism, homosexuality, environmentalism, animal rights” • Everywhere were “signs of decadence, decay, and self-destruction.”  America was “sinking in greed” and in “sexual rot and gratuitous violence” • Remember the fates of ancient Rome and Greece, and of the British Empire!  America “is in precipitous decline” • Many outraged by what they perceived as expanding evils: sexuality immorality, violent crime, vulgarity and sensationalism in the media, schools without standards, trash that passed as “art”

31. A “massive collapse of almost all established values” threatened to destroy American civilization   • a jury awarded a woman $2.9 million because she had spilled hot coffee from McDonald’s that had badly scalded her   • Clinton responded to a question on MTV whether he wore boxers or briefs.   • Perhaps thinking of the youth vote, Clinton replied “usually boxers”

33. Highly publicized acts of violence added to a popular sense that the nation was coming apart   • Operation Rescue killed seven people: doctors and patients in abortion clinics   • In 1995, two anti-government zealots, Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols, succeeded in blowing up the federal building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people   • In 1996, a pipe bomb exploded at the Atlanta Olympics, killing one person   • In 1998, two gay haters beat a 21-year-old gay man, Matthew Shepard, and tied him to fence outside Laramie, Wyoming

35. The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) funded two photographic exhibits that touched off new controversies over high culture   • One exhibit, by photographer Andres Serrano, featured a shot of the crucifix in a jar of his urine.  It was called “Piss Christ”   • The second exhibit, by Robert Mapplethorpe, included a photograph that turned the Virgin Mary into a tie rack   • Mapplethorpe also showed images of a bullwhip in his anus; another depicting a man urinating in another man’s mouth   • Congress, led by conservatives, reluctantly reauthorized funding for the NEA, but at reduced levels • On condition that it sponsor works that were “sensitive to the general standards of decency”

36. Religious conservatives battled over the content of textbooks; whether to include Sacajawea, Cesar Chavez, Frederick Douglass, and Malcolm X   • Conservatives also continued to fight against sex education and Darwinian messages in biology books

37. Prosperity caused materialistic values to rise • Credit card debt reached new heights   • Casino gambling and mega lotteries expanded   • Image-conscious Americans bought name-brand bottled water, pricey coffee, SUVs, cosmetic surgery, “McMansions” in style of Colonial Williamsburg or Godfather Mediterranean   • Satirizing the tastelessness of “Bobos”, materialistic Americans who were both bohemian and bourgeois   • Kitchens so large that they looked like “aircraft hangers with plumbing”   • Kitchens with eating counters, TVs, bookshelves and computer areas: “Guests needed a map to find the drink station”

38. Focus on sex, always good for sales, was even more gratuitous and graphic • Michael Jackson produced a video, “Black and White” in which he grabbed his crotch, unzipped and zipped his fly, and simulated masturbation   • Roseanne clutched her crotch and spat on the ground after singing the national anthem, deliberately off-key at a Padres game • Madonna published Sex, a coffee-table book of photographs of herself, some of which displayed her hitchhiking and hang-gliding nude.  It made $25 million in its first week • Two-thirds of TV shows had some sexual content during the prime-time hours of 7 to 11 p.m.

39. The “gross-out” nature of popular culture was extensive  • Profane radio “shock-jocks” like Howard Stern used bathroom humor • It was common to hear words and phrases on radio and TV such as “kiss my a --,” “b*tch,” “pi—ed off,” and “this sucks” • Long gone were the days when Clark Gable said “damn” in 1939; when words like “pregnant” and “virgin” were banned on the air in 1950s   • By contrast, in the 1990s, profanity occurred once every six minutes on over-air TV and once every two minutes on cable   • The boob tube became a negative vocabulary builder

40. In 1999, the British television show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? was revised (and dumbed down) for U.S. audiences and became a top-rated program • The Jerry Springer Show featured guests who humiliated themselves and fought on stage • Married for five years to a horse!  Romance with a dog! • Sex and violence increased over the course of the 1990s, especially on cable TV   • In 1997, Comedy Central featured South Park, with foul-language and racially offensive jokes • In 1998, Sex and the City highlighted swinging young people • Defenders of TV pointed to smoothly crafted shows such as Cheers, The Cosby Show, ER, NYPD Blue, and Frasier

41. Cops, a long-running program, captivated viewers by showing car chases, fights, and arrests • The blending of “reality” and editing • Local TV news focused on bloody car wrecks, shootings, stabbings, and fires • “If it bleeds, it leads” • Celebrity culture and sensational stories • Newsweek covers showed celebrities on 1/3 of issues and while world leaders on 1/10 •  When an angry, abused wife, Lorena Bobbitt, cut off her husband’s penis in 1993, the media hardly reported anything else • Little difference between news and entertainment • “Personalities” masquerading as newspeople with “info-tainment” •  Larry King on CNN for $7 million a year, Geraldo Rivera on CNBC for $8 million a year  

42. The contrast between the 1990s and the Cold War’s emphasis on national security was illustrated by Time magazine’s naming three CEOs as persons of the year • CNN’s Ted Turner in 1991, Intel’s Andrew Grove in 1997, and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos in 1999 • The last time a CEO had won was Walter Chrysler in 1928

43. Ownership and control of the media was ever more concentrated in huge multimedia corporations   • General Electric owned NBC; Viacom owned CBS; Walt Disney Company owned ABC; and Time Warner owned CNN   • Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation, a sprawling international business, was busy buying radio and television outlets, sports teams, newspapers, magazines, and film companies   • The conservative slant of Murdoch’s empire enraged liberals

44. Some rap groups used bad language and misogyny • 2 Live Crew’s “An Nasty as They Wanna Be,” used the “F” word more than 200 times, offered more than 80 descriptions of oral sex, and shouted “b*tch” more than 150 times • Stars of “gangsta rap” focused on misogynistic and other hateful messages • One rap song, Ice-T’s “Cop Killer,” released in the aftermath of the L.A. riots, urged audiences to kill cops • N.W.A famously said: “F*ck the Police”

45. Jerry Seinfeld, producer and lead character of Seinfeld, made $66 million in `96-`97 season.  Tim Allen, star of Home Improvement, got $2 million per show in 1997 • Arnold Schwarzenegger received $15 million for Terminator 2: Judgment Day, $20 million for Jingle All the Way, and $25 million for Batman and Robin • Michael Jordan received $70 million, most of it from endorsements   • So long as celebrities avoided scandals, corporate sponsors competed vigorously for their presence in commercials • Other celebrities prospered • Steven Spielberg earned $175 million per year, and Harrison Ford $53 million per year   • Both Spielberg and Ford paid their former spouses more than $100 million in divorce settlements

46. Movies focused on gore and ghoulishness • The RoboCop series, Goodfellas, Silence of the Lambs, Natural Born Killers, Fargo, and Pulp Fiction relied on blood and noise • Near-naked bodies seemed to be required • Basic Instinct, Body of Evidence, Titanic • Filmmakers churched out lots of inoffensive stuff: chase and spy dramas, historical epics, comedies, kids’ fare, and boy-meets-girl romances with happy endings • Home Alone, Sleepless in Seattle, Forrest Gump, Twister, As Good as it Gets, and You’ve Got Mail • Innovative computer-generated and animated films, such as Jurassic Park, The Lion King, and Toy Story • Sports movies: Field of Dreams, A League of Their Own, and Rudy • Well regarded films on serious subjects also had good runs: Glory, My Left Foot, Schindler’s List, Apollo 13

47. World Cups • 1994 • Some hoped that Americans would go back to ignoring soccer • “Whenever the Americans like something, they take it over” • World Cup conquered the USA rather than vice versa • People stopped thinking soccer was posh and boring • The murder of Andres Escobar, the Colombian who scored an own goal, helped persuade Americans that this thing really mattered - this was the World Cup

48. World Cups • 1999

50. Los Angeles • O.J. Simpson • Rodney King