History Chapter 32 Homework Great American City 2008 Ivor Van

CHAPTER 32

Twenty-First-Century America, 1993–

Present

This chapter describes recent demographic trends and covers the presidencies of Bill Clinton, George W.

Bush, and Barak Obama, as well as the first few years of Donald Trump’s presidency. The chapter shows

how major issues such as health care reform, gun legislation, and economic policies evolved as the focus

of a clash between the Democratic and Republican parties. While the rise of terrorism was apparent

during the Clinton years, the chapter highlights how 9/11 transformed it into a major security threat for

CHAPTER OUTLINE

I. America’s Changing Population

II. The Clinton Presidency (1993–2001)

A. The Economy

B. Health-Care Reform

C. Landslide Republican Victory

D. The Supreme Court and Race

I. Foreign Policy in the Nineties

i. The Middle East

ii. The Balkans

J. The Scandal Machine

i. Monicagate

ii. The Impeachment of Clinton

iii. Assessing the Clinton Presidency

III. A Chaotic Start to a New Century

A. A Disputed Election

B. A Change of Direction

i. 9/11—A New Day of Infamy

C. The “War on Terror”

IV. Second-Term Blues

A. Hurricane Katrina

B. The “Surge” in Iraq

C. Economic Shock

V. A Historic New Presidency

A. Obama’s First Term

B. Health-Care Reform

C. Regulating Wall Street

D. Foreign Affairs

i. The Obama Doctrine

ii. “Surge” in Afghanistan

E. Polarized Politics

i. The Tea Party

ii. Occupy Wall Street

F. Bold Decisions

i. Marriage Equality

ii. The Dream Act and DACA

iii. The Supreme Court in the Twenty-First Century

iv. The 2012 Election

v. Black Lives Matter

vi. Obamacare on the Defensive

G. New Global Challenges in an Age of Insecurity

i. Russia’s annexation of Crimea

VI. The “Angry” 2016 Election

A. The 2016 Presidential Primaries

B. Clinton versus Sanders

C. Trump the Outsider

D. “Make America Great Again”

E. A Campaign Like No Other

VI. A Populist President

E. Trump’s Assault on Obamacare

F. Building a Wall

G. Forging Foreign Policies

VIII. The 100-Day Mark

LECTURE IDEAS

1. A lecture on Bill and Hillary Clinton would be a great way to trace American politics from the culture

wars of the 1960s into the Obama administration. For Bill Clinton’s life preceding his presidency, see

2. A lecture on the election of 2000 would give students a good insight into the state of politics by the

turn of the twenty-first century. It would also give you an opportunity to discuss the Electoral College

3. A lecture on President George W. Bush’s domestic agenda, including his No Child Left Behind policy,

tax cuts, and environmental policy, would give students a good basis for understanding America in the

early twenty-first century. See No Child Left Behind?: The Politics and Practice of School Accountability,

(2006) and Alexander Moens’s The Foreign Policy of George W. Bush: Values, Strategy, and Loyalty

(2006), and Thomas Ricks’s Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq (2007).

5. A presentation on Hurricane Katrina could facilitate a larger examination of environmental issues of

the 2000s and some of President Bush’s second-term difficulties. For video clips to augment your

lecture, see Spike Lee’s When the Levees Broke (2006), Trouble the Water (2008) for live footage from

6. A presentation on hip-hop as an American and global phenomenon would be an excellent way to

excite student interest about multicultural developments of the recent past. You should cover major

7. Prepare a lecture on the historic presidency and mixed legacies of Barak Obama, including his journey

to the White House and the outcomes of his social policies such as Obamacare. In foreign affairs,

8. Although it is too early to consider the legacy of the Trump presidency in its entirety, Trump’s rise will

undoubtedly be the subject of endless historical debate. A lecture might focus on Trump’s background

(2018).

IN-CLASS ACTIVITIES

1. Divide the class into several groups and have each determine what factors led to the Democratic

resurgence in the early 1990s. How did Bill Clinton contribute to this resurgence? Despite these

developments, what explains the surprising Republican landslide of 1994? Have each group present

2. Ask students to evaluate how the election of 2008 changed the national political conversation.

Consider showing clips from some of the presidential debates, available on C-Span. What were the

major differences between Democratic presidential candidate Barak Obama and Republican candidate

John McCain? What were the major issues of the campaign? Who were their running mates and what

did they represent? What was the nature of voter turnout and the electoral vote? A brief comparison

3. Ask student groups to identify issues that have led to the increasing polarization of American politics

during the early part of the twenty-first century.

4. Outline the state of the world in 2016 and President Obama’s policy as he left office. What challenges

did he face? What were the strengths and weaknesses of his foreign policy decisions? You might ask

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

2. Discuss the foreign policy challenges that President Clinton faced during his presidency. How did he

deal with the many issues that confronted America’s role in the world?

3. Discuss the election of 2000, paying particularly close attention to the role of the third-party

candidate in determining the outcome.

4. Evaluate the idea that George W. Bush followed a domestic agenda based on “compassionate

conservatism.”

5. Why did President George W. Bush go to war against Iraq in the second Gulf War? Was the war

6. Discuss President Obama’s attempt at reviving the American economy.

7. What was President Obama’s response to the growing threat of terrorism?

8. Explain the rise of the Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street.

PRACTICING CITIZENSHIP

One of the challenges and rewards of American citizenship in the early twenty-first century is

experiencing the richness and occasional tension inherent in an increasingly diverse society. Promote

constructive dialogue on this topic with friends and classmates through a showing on or off campus of the

movie Crash, winner of the Academy Award for best picture in 2005. Watch the film together and take

extended time to discuss it over coffee afterward. What points does the film make about racial or ethnic

stereotypes? In what sense is it an examination of the human ecology of a major metropolis? Is the Los