HUSH - OBAMA PRESIDENCY

Barack Obama’s biography

• Born in Honolulu Hawaii in 1961

• Half Black, Half White 

• Attended Occidental College before transferring to Columbia University - earned a B.A in political science 

• Went to Harvard Law School in 1988 

• Was the Illinois State Senate 

• Elected to the U.S. Senate in 2004 

• Was elected President in 2008 

The 2008 presidential candidates

• Barack Obama, John McCain, Hillary Clinton 

• The outcome of the 2008 election

• Barack Obama became the first African American president of the United States

• At the time Obama gained the largest number of popular votes in us history 

The escalating economic crisis between Election Day and Inauguration Day

The American economy faced an unprecedented and worsening crisis that shook consumer confidence, roiled financial markets, and sent unemployment rates soaring.

Collapse of major financial institutions

Plummeting stock market

Rising job losses

Failure of Lehman brothers in September 2008 caused panic, leading the government to pass a $700 billion bailout package, the Troubled Asset Relief Program

November 20, 2008 the stock market plunged to a new low with the dow jones industrial average falling below 7,500 points - a 40% decline from its peak in 2007

Unemployment rate spikes from 6.5% in October 2008 to 7.2% in December

Home foreclosure skyrocketed - over 1 million families lost their homes by the end of 2008

The country was losing hundreds of thousands of jobs each month

The Inaugural Address

Wants to end financial crisis

Wants to end the conflict with Iraq

Wants unity between everyone, even wants to work with the republicans

Wants to find Osama bin laden

Wants to promote change as he is the first african american president

Grim statistics: unemployment, the stock market, home values, etc.

- GDP was shrinking, unemployment over 7% and rising - the norm was under 4%

Housing market collapsing, millions of foreclosures

Stock Market had lost nearly 50% of value

Financial institutions in crisis

Troubled Asset Relief Program -

$700 billion initiative to help banks and financial institutions: passed under Bush, administered by Obama

Federal reserve - In December 2008, the Fed began lending money to banks at near-zero interest (0-0.25%): later found out to be %7.77 trillion

Quantitative easing: The Fed brought over $1.25 trillion of Treasury bills and mortgage backed securities to push down long term interest rates, support the mortgage/credit markets, expand the money supply, and increase investor confidence and asset prices.

John Maynard Keynes(Keynesian economics):

In times of recession, the government should step in to borrow and spend money and create demand and stimulate the economy. Later in good times, the government should raise taxes to pay off these debts.

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act(ARRA)

⅓ for grants to state governments to keep them from laying off public employees

⅓ for tax cuts

⅓ for infrastructure projects

(ARRA)signed into law Feb 17, 2009

Passed with only 3 republican Senators voting (61-37) 244-188 in the house

50% tax cuts, 50% spending

Economic “stimulus package”: $787 billion

Tax cuts for 98% of Americans: tax rates lowest in 60 years

Direct spending on infrastructure

Spending on education, health, renewable energy

Assistance for unemployed people to continue their medical insurance

Extended unemployment benefits and food stamps, job training

Expansion of Medicaid for the poor

$54 billion to school districts to prevent massive layoffs

Recovery Act in NJ: $12 billion, hundreds of projects including many NJ Transit projects.

Bringing the war in Iraq to an end

Obama promised to withdraw American Troops Asap in accordance with the treaty President Bush signed with iraq

Feb 2009: announced a plan to bring troop levels down from 160,000 to 50,000 by August 2010, including removal of all combat forces

December 18, 2011: the last U.S trucks cross back into Kuwait

By 2012, only 150 American troops were in Iraq a number that remained level for about three years.

Afghanistan

Obama promised to increase the US military commitment in Afghanistan in order to stop the Taliban regime from regaining power and allowing al-queda to use the country as a base of terrorist operations

President Obama granted the military’s request for an additional 21,000 troops, raising the U.S troop level to 60,000

General Stanley McChrystal

• appointed by Obama as military commander

• requested 40,000 more troops and promised to deploy them to train Afghan forces to fight the Taliban

  President approved a short term surge of 33,000 troops with an agreement that American forces must begin to withdraw from Afghanistan in July 2011

  fired him for insulting members of the administration on TV

General David Petrass

• developed and implemented the successful surge in Iraq

  The number of american troops in Afghanistan, which peaked to 97,000 in 2011 declined steadily to about 12,000 in 2015 before levelling off at that figure, he acknowledged that the battle against the Taliban was not yet won

  U.S. troops would remain in Afghanistan until 2021

The Bin Laden mission: Operation Neptune Spear

Intelligence agencies had concluded that Osama Bin Laden was probably hiding in a residential compound near Abbottabad, Pakistan

Lacking certainty on the matter, and realizing the risks attending a military strike, President Obama nonetheless ordered the attack (Operation Neptune Spear)

When he became President, what goal did Barack Obama want to emphasize”?

Barack Obama wanted to have a more intensified search for bin laden

Who was Leon Panetta and what was his role?

• CIA agent for Obama

• tasked with helping find bin laden

What happened at Fort Chapman?

• They were waiting for the arrival of someone who would lead them to al qaeda

• When he arrived he pulled a string in his jacket that sent a bomb out

• 6 officers were killed and many were injured

Who was Abu Ahmed al-kuwaiti?

• a courier for sr. al qaeda workers 

Where was Abu Ahmed al-kuwaiti tracked to in Abbottabad, Pakistan?

• he was tracked to a compound that was build like a fortress

What was unusual about the compound in abbottabad?

i it looked like a fortress

an 8-foot wall that hides whats inside

land was owned by 2 brothers

residents burned their trash

garage was double gait secured

What did the CIA analysts think were the odds that bin laden was there?

The odds ranged from 40%-80%

What were the options available to President Obama? What were the positives and negatives of each?

• use a bomb - would loose the war, ruin their relationship w/ afghanistan

• raid the compound - would have witnesses

Why did they decide that telling Pakistan ahead of time was a bad idea?

They decided it was a bad idea b/c it would make it more difficult to get in and out quickly 

What was the top secret code name of the operation?

Operation Neptune Spear

Who decided that two blackhawk helicopters needed to be included on this mission and why?

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates

• had capabilities to defeat radar

Describe the individuals who were chosen from the mission

Groundforce - was experienced all have a lot of experience, combat experience, seniors.

William Mcraven 

served as the ninth commander of the United States Special Operations Command

Describe the attack plan for bin laden:

• Two helicopters flying to target

• 1 helicopter would hover over the roof

• 2 helicopter at the front where most seals would be

• The others would be on level three where bin laden was

Where did the Navy seals train and prepare for this mission?

• virginia 

What was the opinion of President Obama’s advisors and members of his national security team on whether or not to go forward?

• They thought it was risky but they knew if they waited people would find out about the mission

• 55/45 too go forward or not

• did not want to pass up opportunity

How many people were included on the mission of May 1, 2011?

24 seals, an interpreter, and a combat dog

What went wrong at the beginning of the operation?

Loss of control of the 1st helicopter

What did Geronimo mean?

the call sign for bin laden 

eika: enemy killed in action

What did the seals do after they killed bin laden

• Finding things from the compound + stuffing them in bags

• got the body in a body bag

Why did they blow up the helicopter?

They blew up the helicopter b/c they wanted to destroy everything in the helicopter

Why did the make sure that they separated the body from the DNA samples?

To make sure they still have evidence in case something happened to one of the helicopters

What risks did the Seals face as they made their escape from Pakistan?

They risked the helicopters being shot down 

They were being track 

How did Admiral Mcraven attempt to successfully identify the body while they were waiting for the DNA results?

• He told a Navy Seal to lay next to the remains to measure the height

What was done with bin laden’s body?

His remains were taken to a ship and buried at sea

• Drone warfare and the “secret war:” President Obama’s new approach

• President Obama expanded the strategic deployment of Special Forces and drones in a “secret war” against suspected terrorists

• Over 500 drone strikes, primarily in Pakistan, Yemen, and Somalia 

• The U.S also joined with NATO to help Libyan rebels end the reign of dictator, Colonel Muamar Qaddafi 

• The administration's reliance on bombing rather than ground troops in Libya, however deprived it of any means to reduce the chaos that ensued after Qaddafi was killed

• One unfortunate consequence was a radical mob attack on the US diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, in which ambassador Chris Stevens and three other officials were killed on September 11-12, 2012. 

The Arab Spring

Mass anti-government protests across the Arab world from December 2010-December 2012, often organized on social media

Began in Tunisia in response to government corruption; Libya, Yemen, Egypt, Syria, Bahrain.

The rulers of five nations were deposed, including Egypt, and Libya (which the U.S. assisted.)

Protests also took place in Morocco, Iraq, Algeria, Lebanon, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, and Sudan

A transition to democracy only happened in Tunisia, in most other countries; the regimes struck back with violence.

Civil wars in Libya, Yemen, Syria

ISIS grew and thrived amidst the chaos.

The Syrian Civil War

Began in March, 2011; ended in December 2024

A multiple-sided civil war; numerous factions fought against President Bashar Al-Assad (backed by Russia and Iran)

The greatest humanitarian crisis since World War II: millions fled Syria for Jordan, Turkey, Lebanon, and Europe.

President Obama declared the use of chemical weapons in Syria as a “red line”, but ultimately did not intervene militarily after reports of chemical attacks

The rise of ISIS

Al Qaeda in Iraq took advantage of the civil war in Syria and the weakness of the Iraq government to gain territory on both sides of the Iraq-Syria border and build their own Islamic state

In a September 10, 2014 speech, President Obama announced a plan to degrade and ultimately destroy ISIS through a comprehensive and sustained counterterrorism strategy

Two weeks later, soon after ordering air strikes on dozens of ISIS targets in Syria, the president issued an even tougher call to arms against the Islamic State in an address to the General Assembly of the United Nations

The number of American Troops in Iraq with a mission to fight ISIS rose to more than 5,000 by 2016, and there were more than 10,000 air strikes against the radical organization, this time we were working with the Iraqi military

Over 60 nations joined the U.S. in this mission

Vladimir Putin, Russia, and Ukraine

Russia invaded and annexed Crimea in Feb/Mar 2014

In response to the Russian occupation the United States and European nations imposed economic sanctions against Russia, escalating tensions but bringing about no withdrawal of Russian forces.

Iran nuclear deal

At the start of his second term in 2013, President Obama and the leaders of five other nations began negotiations with Iran that resulted in a 2015 agreement designed to prevent that country from developing nuclear weapons for at least a decade in return for removing economic sanctions

Under the agreement, Iran surrendered 97 percent of its enriched uranium in exchange for sanctions relief; went into effect in Jan, 2016

The Cuban Thaw

• President Obama restored diplomatic relations with Communist Cuba in December 2014 for the first time in more than 50 years.

• Reopened the embassy, easing travel restrictions, and visiting the country in March 2016. 

• Paris Climate Agreement

• In 2014, president Obama reached a climate agreement in which China and the United States agreed to substantially reduce carbon emissions

• That agreement laid the foundation for the UN Climate Change conference in Paris in 2015, at which nearly every country in the world agreed to monitor their emissions and develop plans to reduce them. 

• Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

• Increased affordability and availability 

• Expand medicaid - cover all adults with an income below a certain percentage of the federal property level

• US uninsured rate lowered significantly 

• High controversy involved w/ signing the aca

• Increases cost for some people 

Sonia Sotomayor nominated to the Supreme court:

confirmed by the senate on august 6, 2009 and sworn in on august 8, 2009.

The first Hispanic American and third woman to serve on the court

Elana Kagan

•  the 4th woman to serve on the supreme court 

Death of supreme court Justice Antonin Scalia:

• created an immense political standoff within the federal government

• Killed conservatism

• Redefined balancing of power in washington 

• Citizens United v. FEC

• A supreme court decision that ruled that the government cannot limit independent political spending by corporations, unions, and other groups because such spending is protected as free speech under the first amendment 

• The decision allowed these organizations to spend unlimited money on political communications, as long as they did not coordinate directly with candidates or campaigns.

• This ruling greatly expanded the role of money in U.S elections

• Shelby County v. Holder

•  supreme court

• - Racial problems in states past

• Changing laws now takes a while

• New harder laws for voting like ID and checks

• Voting act of 1965 used to prove it would not discriminate  

- Obergefell v. Hodges:

• legalized same sex marriage federally 

• United States v. Winsor: 

• Faith Windsor''s wife passed away leaving her money

• She got taxed because this wasn’t seen as legal

• Married in Canada + moved to the USA

• New York recognized it as legal 

• Windsor won the case 

• Sandy Hook

• - December 14, 2012, a mass shooting occurred at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, United States. The perpetrator, 20-year-old Adam Lanza, shot and killed 26 people. The victims were 20 children between six and seven years old, and six adult staff members

Oak Creek

• A white supremacist named Wade Micheal Page opened fire at a sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin

• - He killed six worshippers and wounded several others before fatally shooting himself after being wounded by police

• The attack was later classified as an act of domestic terrorism and a hate crime, drawing national attention to violence against religious and ethnic minorities in the United States

Charleston Church Shooting:

• A white supremacist opened fire during a Bible study at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston SC, killing nine Black worshippers, including the senior pastor.

• The shooter targeted the victims because of their race, calling it a race war

• - The attack shocked the nation, sparking discussions about racial hatred, gun control, and the legacy of racism in the U.S and led to renewed efforts to remove confederate symbols from public spaces

Tuscan Arizona Shooting

• - Congresswoman Gabby Giffords was shot in the head; 18 others were shot during a constituent meeting held in a supermarket parking lot in her district; 6 were killed 

Orlando Nightclub Shooting:

- pulse was an lgbtq nightclub in Orlando, Florida and the site of a mass shooting on June 12, 2016 where 49 people were killed and 53 were wounded

- It was the deadliest act of violence against the lgbtq community in US history and at the time the deadliest mass shooting by a single gunman.

• Boston Marathon bombing

• 117th marathon

• 2.49 pm est

• Killed 3, 500 injured 

• Went to mit and shot mit offers 

• Dzhokar Tsarnaev imprisoned

• Tea Party

• The tea party movement emerged in 2009 as a conservative grassroots response to high government spending, the economic stimulus, and the affordable healthcare act.

• It emphasized limited government, lower taxes, and fiscal responsibility. 

• The movement quickly gained political influence, shaping republican strategies and elections in the following years.

• Occupy Wall Street

• The occupy wall street movement began in 2011 in New York City as a protest against economic inequality, corporate influence in politics, and the perceived power of the 1% over the majority.

• Demonstrators occupied public spaces, particularly Zuccotti Park, using grassroots organizing and social media to spread their message

• The movement inspired similar protests nationwide and sparked a broader conversation about wealth and social justice in the U.S 

• Black Lives Matter

• Treyvon Martin killing: display of hate brutality and african american discrimination

• Zimmerman who was a neighborhood watcher patrolmen ignored orders and attacked Trayvon Martin and killed him

• Hurricane Sandy

• Hurricane Sandy struck the easter united states in october 2012, causing widespread devastation, particularly in New Jersey and New York

• The storm brought massive flooding, power outages, and destruction to homes and infrastructure, leaving millions without electricity.

• Sandy highlighted the need for improved disaster preparedness and climate resilience in coastal areas.  

• Deepwater Horizon

• Killed 11 people

• Severe environmental damage

• Safety regulations were not a concern

• Oil spill was avoidable

• Spill covered an area of 57,500 square miles

• Spent billions in cleanup efforts 3.19 million barrels

• New technology to track oil levels

• Took 87 days to clean up 

• Edward Snowden and the ongoing debate of privacy vs. security

• National security agent Edward Snowden leaked thousands of NSA intelligence documents in 2013. People debated whether Snowden was a hero or a traitor 

Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act – 2009

A women who worked at Goodyear a tire and rubber company

She was told a woman shouldn’t work there

Found out she had a significantly lower paycheck than the male workers at the company.

Lilly Ledbetter took this situation to the supreme court

Employers will have a strong incentive to eliminate any discriminatory compensation, and they will continue to be on the hook for discriminatory pay practices.

It eliminates the incentive created by the ledbetter decision for employers to hide discrimination

Individuals can challenge continuing pay discrimination, ensuring both that employees are not penalized if they are initially unaware of the discrimination and that they remain able to challenge pay discrimination that is compounded by raises, pensions, and other contributions over time.

Employees will continue to have every incentive to challenge compensation discrimination claims as quickly as possible. The Act gives employees the time necessary to evaluate and confirm that they have been subject to discrimination without forfeiting their right to file a charge. This ultimately limits the number of pay discrimination claims that are filed.

Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) Reauthorization – 2009

• - CHIPRA significantly expanded health coverage for low income children 

• Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr., Hate Crimes Prevention Act – 2009

•  queer and race hate crimes

• - by law hate crime

• - Life imprisonment for torture 

• - civil rights

• HARP and HAMP – 2009/2010

• These programs were designed to help keep people in their homes and avoid foreclosure 

• Fair Sentencing Act – 2010

•  reduced the sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine offenses, eliminated the mandatory minimum sentence for simple drug possession; attempted to address racial bias in drug sentencing.  

• Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal – 2010

• barred openly LGBTQ+ individuals from serving in the U.S. military, was officially repealed in 2011

• - This allowed gay, lesbian, and bisexual service members to serve openly without fear of discharge. 

• This repeal was hailed as a major step toward equality and inclusivity in the military. 

• Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act & CFPB– 2010

•  This law gives regulators stronger authority when it comes to breaking up large companies and attempts to protect the consumer by restricting practices in consumer loans and credit cards by creating a new consumer financial protection bureau. 

• Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) – 2012

•  enabled 832,881 young adult immigrants to work lawfully, attend school and plan their lives fairly. 

• Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization – 2013

• - This law increased protection for women by improving law enforcement tools to combat violence, improving services for victims of violent crimes, and improving awareness and violence reduction practices 

Michael Brown and Unrest in Ferguson, Missouri – 2014

• An 18 year old black man was shot and killed by a police officer in Ferguson Missouri after an alleged confrontation.

• His death sparked immediate protests over police use of force and racial profiling, highlighting longstanding tensions between law enforcement and Black communities.

• The incident became a national flashpoint, fueling the growth of the black lives matter movement and igniting widespread debates about systemic racism and policing in the United States.  

• Flint Water Crisis – 2014-2015

• - started to notice led in the water

• - Damage done, state of emergency

• - long term effects

• - Found led in blood

• - Major health crisis

• Debt Ceiling Crisis – Multiple Years (Most Notably 2011, 2013)

• In 2011, after multiple attempts to raise the debt limit failed, Congress passed the Budget Control Act. The law raised the debt limit but imposed automatic, across-the-board cuts to future spending by the same amount the debt limit was increased. Even with those cuts, overall spending in the US increased yearly.

- Successes of the economic recovery:

• - Avoiding a second great depression

• - steady job growth and falling unemployment

• - a stabilized banking system and revived auto industry

• - historic gains in health coverage

•  - Strong stock market and rising household incomes

• - Global leadership on issues like climate change

Criticisms of the economic recovery

• - a recovery that felt too slow for too many families

• - Persistent inequality and stagnant wages for some workers

• - Large budget deficits early in administration

• - A sense of economic dislocation in industrial regions

• - A political climate that grew more bitter and divided 

• - the American economy emerged from the worst crisis in generations, but the benefits were not shared equally, and millions still struggled to come back.