History Chapter 27 From Triumph Tragedy This Concentrates The Clinton Years Opening With

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CHAPTER 27 From Triumph to Tragedy, 1989–2004

This chapter concentrates on the Clinton years. Opening with the 1999 antiglobalization demonstrations held in Seattle protesting the

World Trade Organization, the chapter explores the challenges that the twenty-first century faces in balancing globalization, economic

justice, and freedom. The chapter then travels back in time to the end of the Cold War and the George H. W. Bush administration.

Having an opportunity to remake the world immediately after the fall of communism, Bush spoke of a New World Order, committed

American troops in Panama, and organized a coalition to fight Iraq in the Gulf War. Unable to sustain his popularity after that war in

the face of an economic recession, Bush lost the 1992 election to Bill Clinton. Like Carter, Clinton tried to elevate human rights in

international policy. At home he practiced triangulation, adopting some moderate Republican issues while rejecting the more conten-

CHAPTER OUTLINE

I. Introduction: The Collapse of Communism

II. The Post–Cold War World

A. The Gulf War

2. The Gulf War was the first post–Cold War international crisis.

B. Visions of America’s Role

C. The Election of Clinton

1. The economy slipped into recession in 1991, and Bill Clinton took advantage to win the election.

D. Clinton in Office

1. During his first two years in office, Clinton turned away from some of the social and economic policies of the Reagan and

Bush years.

2. Clinton shared his predecessor’s passion for free trade.

3. The major policy initiative of Clinton’s first term was a plan to address the rising cost of health care and the increasing

number of Americans who lacked health insurance.

E. The “Freedom Revolution”

1. In 1994, for the first time since the 1950s, Republicans won control of both houses of Congress.

F. Clinton’s Political Strategy

1. Clinton rebuilt his popularity by campaigning against a radical Congress.

2. Clinton signed into law a Republican bill that abolished the program of Aid to Families with Dependent Children

(AFDC).

G. Clinton and World Affairs

2. The Oslo agreement brought temporary peace between Israel and Palestine.

3. Like Carter, Clinton found it difficult to balance concern for human rights with strategic and economic interests.

a. Rwanda

H. The Balkan Crisis

2. With the Cold War over, protection of human rights in the Balkans gave the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

a new purpose.

I. Human Rights

III. Globalization and Its Discontents

A. The Computer Revolution

1. Computers and the Internet produced a new economy.

B. The Stock Market Boom and Bust

2. Investors were especially attracted to the new “dot coms,” companies that conducted business via the Internet and seemed

to symbolize the promise of the new economy.

4. Only after the market dropped did it become apparent that the stock boom of the 1990s had been fueled in part by fraud.

a. Enron

C. Fruits of Deregulation

1. The sectors of the economy most affected by the scandals—energy, telecommunications, and stock trading—had all been

subjects of deregulation.

3. Many stock frauds stemmed from the repeal in 1999 of the Glass-Steagall Act, a New Deal measure that had separated

commercial banks from investment banks.

D. Rising Inequality

1. The boom that began in 1995 benefited nearly all Americans.

2. The economy, in large part due to NAFTA, continued its shift away from manufacturers.

4. Voices of Freedom (Primary Source document feature) focuses on the Declaration for Global Democracy (1999), which

expresses public dissatisfaction with the economic effects of “globalization.”

IV. Culture Wars

A. The Newest Immigrants

1. Because of shifts in immigration, cultural and racial diversity became increasingly visible in the United States.

3. Post-1965 immigration formed part of the worldwide uprooting of labor arising from globalization.

4. For the first time in American history, women made up most newcomers.

B. The New Diversity

1. Latinos formed the largest single immigrant group, numbering 50 million by 2010.

2. Latino communities remained far poorer than the rest of the country.

a. Who Is an American? (Primary Source document feature) showcases the song lyrics by Los Tigres del Norte

3. Only after 1965 did immigration from Asia assume large proportions.

C. The Changing Face of Black America

1. Between 1970 and 2000, twice as many Africans immigrated to the United States than had entered during the entire

period of the Atlantic slave trade.

3. Despite the nation’s growing racial diversity, school segregation was on the rise.

D. The Spread of Imprisonment

2. As the prison population grew, a “prison–industrial complex” emerged.

a. Convict labor

E. The Burden of Imprisonment

1. Over one-quarter of all African-American men could expect to serve time in prison at some time during their lives.

3. New state laws disfranchising persons with a felony conviction impacted 5 million Americans, mostly black men.

4. The continuing frustration of urban African-Americans exploded in 1992.

a. Rodney King

F. The Continuing Rights Revolution

1. In 1990, newly organized disabled Americans won passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

2. The campaign for gay rights continued to gain momentum in the 1990s.

a. AIDS

G. Native Americans in the New Century

2. Many Native American tribes have profited from casinos on their lands.

H. Multiculturalism

2. One sign of multiculturalism could be seen in the spread of academic programs dealing with specific groups.

I. The Identity Debate

2. Increased cultural diversity and changes in educational policy inspired sharp debates.

3. In 1994, California voters approved Proposition 187, mobilizing Latinos and making the state more Democratic.

J. Cultural Conservatism

2. It sometimes appeared during the 1990s that the country was refighting old battles between traditional religion and

modern secular culture.

K. Family Values in Retreat

L. The Antigovernment Extreme

1. At the radical fringe of conservatism, the belief that the federal government posed a threat to American freedom led to the

2. An Oklahoma federal building was bombed by Timothy McVeigh in 1995.

V. Impeachment and the Election of 2000

A. The Impeachment of Clinton

1. In the 1980s and 1990s scrutiny of politicians’ private lives became far more intense than in the past.

a. Whitewater

B. The Disputed Election

1. The 2000 election was between Al Gore and George W. Bush.

3. It fell to Supreme Court justices to decide the outcome.

C. A Challenged Democracy

VI. The Attacks of September 11