Period 9 1980-Present

APUSH

Political action committees

groups that collect money for candidates who support certain issues

Arthur Laffer

Conservative economist who believed that tax cuts would increase government revenues

Religious fundamentalism

Religious movements who’s objectives who's objectives are to return to the foundations of faith

Roe v. Wade

(1973) legalized abortion on the basis of a women’s right to privacy

Reverse Discrimination

Using race or sex to give preferential treatment to some people

Supply side economics

A school of economics that believes tax cuts can help an economy by raising supply, Reagan

“Trickle down” economies

advocates reducing taxes on businesses and the wealthy in society as a means to stimulate business investment in the short term and benefit society at large in the long term.

Economic Recovery Tax Act

A federal law passed to boost the economy, reduce inflation and increase employment

Sandra Day O’Connor

First female Supreme Court Justice. Appointed by Ronald Reagan in 1981

William Rehnquist

Nominated by Reagan in an attempt to push the Supreme Court in a more conservative direction. Chief Justice of the United States who presided at the impeachment trial of President Clinton

Strategic Defense Initiative (Star Wars)

A costly plan to put lasers in space to defend the United States against a nuclear attack. Reagan, 1983

Nicaragua

A country where there was some political turmoil and the US got involved- “Sandinistas”

Iran Contra

Reagan, 1986-1987, the government officials sold guns to Iran against the embargo that the US had set on them

Palestinian Liberation Organization

Organization created for the purpose of creating an Arab state in Palestine, PLO, founded in 1944

Yasser Arafat

Palestinian state man who is chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (born in 1929)

Glasnost

a policy of the Soviet government allowing freer discussion of social problems, openness

Perestroika

Restructuring, an economic policy adopted in the former Soviet Union, refers to the ending of Communism in Russia

Tiananmen Square

1989, symbolic heart of Chinese politics; site in Beijing of protests and a massacre in 1989

Berlin Wall falls

Events in 1989, that signaled the end of Soviet influence in Eastern Europe

Panama Invasion 1989

President Bush authorized “Operation Just Cause”- the U.S. invasion of Panama to overthrow Noriega

Saddam Hussein

Iraqi leader who waged war against Iran

Persian Gulf War (1991)

Military campaign to end Iraq’s aggression against neighboring Kuwait, did not drive Saddam Hussein out of power

Operation Desert Storm

the United States and its allies defeated Iraq in a ground war that lasted 100 hours (1991). US military campaign to force Iraqi forces out of Kuwait

Clarence Thomas

2nd African American supreme court justice, conservative

American with Disabilities Act (1990)

prohibits discrimination against qualified individuals with disabilities in all employment practices

Ross Perot

won 19% of the popular vote as a third-party candidate in 1992. Texas billionaire and third party candidate of the 1990s who effected two presidential elections

NAFTA

North American Free Trade Agreement; allows open trade with US, Mexico, and Canada

Brady Bill

Clinton, mandated a five-day waiting period for the purchase of handguns

Contract with America

Newt Gingrich conservative Republican realigning election 1994. Lower taxes, welfare reform and tougher anti-crime laws

Oklahoma City Bombings

domestic terrorist truck bombing on the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States on April 19, 1995. Perpetrated by Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols, the bombing killed 168 people (including fifteen children), injured more than 680 others

Welfare reform

legislation passed in 1996 to end the federal government’s six-decade guarantee of aid to the poor

Clinton impeachment

impeached for perjury about Monica Lewinsky. Tried and acquitted by the Senate

Northern Ireland Accords

negotiated end to British rule and armed conflict here, a peace agreement between North and Southern Ireland

Nuclear proliferation

The spreading development of nuclear arms. In the Non Proliferation Treaty of 1968-1970 the world tries to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons

European Union

EU, a family of democratic countries committed to working together for peace and prosperity in Europe

World Trade Organization

Economic organization to promote global wealth, WTO

Gerrymandering

Process of redrawing legislative boundaries for the purpose of benefiting the party in power

Bush v. Gore

Use of 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause to stop the Florida recount in the election of 2000. In a split 54 decision, essentially made George W. Bush president

No Child Left Behind Act

mandated sanctions against schools that failed to meet federal performance standards. George W Bush’s education reform, focusing on the use of standardized tests to receive funding

Privatization of Social Security

changes in Social Security that would divert payroll taxes to private investment accounts

Hurricane Katrina

2005, due to the hurricane it is estimated that New Orleans lost 40% of its population. Natural disaster that caused that caused massive damage in New Orleans, made Bush administration and the Federal Disaster response time look very bad

Colin Powel

the first African American appointed as the U.S. Secretary of State under George W. Bush

Al-Qaeda

Islamist terrorist organization that launched a series of attacks against US

Osama Bin Laden

Arab terrorist who established al-Qaeda (born in 1957)

USS Cole

this ship sunk in 2000 after an Al Qaeda terrorist attack

Sept. 11, 2001

9/11. Al-Qaeda Terrorist Attacks on the World Trade Center, Pentagon, and (almost) the White House

Taliban

A group of fundamentalist Muslims who took control of Afghanistan’s government in 1996

Homeland Security Department

attempts to stop terrorist attacks, control borders and minimize damage from natural disasters, (2002) Responsible for protecting against terrorism and responding to natural disaster

WMDs

weapons of mass destruction. what the US was looking for when we invaded Iraq in 2003

Affordable Care Act

Obamacare, 2010, attempt to provide healthcare to all uninsured Americans

Tea Party

A Conservative political movement in the US that opposes government spending and taxes

Debt Ceiling

an explicit, legislated limit on the amount of outstanding national debt

Boston Marathon bombing

series of attacks in Boston for the marathon in 2013 that injured hundreds of runners and killed 3

Shelby County v. Holder

Ruled the preclearance portion of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 unconstitutional for now. States and localities do not need federal approval to change voting laws. Allowed many voter restriction laws to be passed