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Chapter 27. Entering a New Era. Chapter 27 Section 1: Politics in Recent Years. Scandal and Clinton’s Second Term.
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Chapter 27 Entering a New Era
Scandal and Clinton’s Second Term • Charges of scandal in Clinton’s first term, which Bob Dole had emphasized in the 1996 campaign, continued into the new administration. In what came to be known as the Whitewater affair, Clinton was accused of having taken part in fraudulent loan and land deals in Arkansas years earlier and of having used his influence as then-governor to block an investigation of his business partners. Attorney General Janet Reno appointed a special prosecutor to look into these charges. As a result, some of Clinton’s friends and former associates were convicted of various crimes and sentenced to prison. Yet no evidence was found to link the President to any wrong doing. • Another charge made against Clinton, shortly after his reelection, was that he had accepted illegal campaign donations in return for political favors. A Senate committee found violations of campaign finance laws by members of both political parties, but Clinton was not directly linked to these violations.
Clinton is Impeached • Clinton’s sixth year in office, 1998, began with good news: the government had achieved its first budget surplus since 1969. This bright moment was short-lived, however. Later that year, a scandal erupted that engulfed Clinton, leading to only the second impeachment of a President in the nation’s history. • The crisis arose when the special prosecutor, Kenneth Starr, who had been looking into the Whitewater affair, began to investigate the relationship between Clinton and a young White House intern. Under oath in a separate sexual harassment lawsuit Clinton had denied having sexual relations with the intern. He repeated this denial again to a grand jury convened by Starr in August. Eventually, Clinton admitted to having had an “inappropriate relationship” and to having “misled” his family and the country.
Clinton is Impeached cont. • In September, Starr sent a report listing numerous grounds for impeachment to the House of Representatives. Polls showed that while most Americans criticized Clinton’s actions, a majority believed that he was doing a good job as President and should not be impeached. • Nonetheless, on December 19, the House voted to impeach Clinton on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice. Most Republicans voted yes; most Democrats voted no. • The Senate trial that followed opened on January 7, 1999. Many senators believed that Clinton had committed offenses, but debate centered on whether these offenses qualified as “high crimes and misdemeanors,” the constitutional requirement for conviction of a President. On February 12, 1999, the Senate voted to acquit the President. • Support for Clinton throughout the process may have been bolstered by an unprecedented economic boom. The Clinton presidency marked the longest period of economic expansion in American history. As the economy continued to grow, the nation maintained low levels of unemployment and inflation.
The 2000 Election • Leading up to the election, national polls showed that the Republican candidate, Texas Governor George W. Bush, was virtually tied with Vice President Gore the Democratic candidate. Polls also showed that many Americans were not enthusiastic about either candidate. • Much of the campaign debate focused on what the government should do with the federal budget surplus. Bush and the Republicans wanted to give much of this money back to the public in the form of a tax cut. Democrats argued that most of Bush’s tax cut would benefit only the wealthiest Americans, and that the surplus should be used to protect Social Security and pay down the national debt. • On election night, the votes in several states were too close to call; neither candidate had captured the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency. One undecided state, Florida, could giver either candidate enough electoral votes to win the presidency. Because the vote there was so close, state law required a recount of the ballots.
The 2000 Election cont. • Democrats and Republicans argued bitterly over how the recount should proceed. Charges were made on both sides that the recounts were not fair or accurate. • Eventually, matters reached the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of Bush v. Gore. Like the nation, the nine justices were sharply divided about how to remedy the elections crisis. By a majority of five to four, they issued a ruling that discontinued all recounts in Florida. This ruling effectively secured the presidency for George W. Bush. Although Gore won the national popular vote, Bush won 271 electoral votes to Gore’s 266.
Bush on Domestic Policy • Bush succeeded in gaining congressional approval of a major tax cut, the largest in history. As part of this plan, most taxpayers received a rebate of $300. Bush argued that by returning money to the taxpayers, he would jumpstart a faltering economy. Bush also pushed for the passage of a major education reform bill. The President’s plan called for increased accountability for student performance, flexible funding at the state and local levels, and targeted funds for improving schools and teacher quality through research-based programs and practices. It also proposed to give parents more information about the quality of their children’s schools.
Post-Cold War Politics • South Africa- The collapse of communism shocked the world. Just as stunning was South Africa’s rejection of apartheid, the systematic separation of people with different racial backgrounds. South Africa’s white minority, which made up only about 15 percent of the population, had long denied equal rights to the black majority. To encourage reform, the United States and other nations had used economic sanctions, or trade restrictions and other economic measures intended to punish another nation. Finally, in 1990, Prime Minister F. W. de Klerk released anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela from jail. Mandela had been held prisoner for 27 years. Former rivals de Klerk and Mandela worked together to end apartheid. In 1994, South Africa held its first elections in which blacks as well as whites voted. These democratic elections produced a new government, led by President Nelson Mandela and his apartheid organization, the African National Congress (ANC). Despite fears of Civil War, South Africa made a peaceful transition to black majority rule.
Post-Cold War Politics • China- Probably the greatest source of tension was the issue of Taiwan. China viewed Taiwan as a province of China and refused to rule out the use of force to gain control of the island. In particular, China warned Taiwan not to declare its independence from the mainland. The United States opposed any military action by China against Taiwan and, against China’s wishes, sold fighter jets and other weapons to show the American commitment to Taiwan. • In 1996, as Taiwan prepared for elections, China held missile test and military exercises nearby to try to frighten voters away from supporting a pro-independence candidate. President Clinton responded by sending warships to the area to show the American commitment to Taiwan.
Post-Cold War Conflicts • Some Yugoslav republics, including Bosnia, wanted to become independent nations. The republic of Serbia-and its leader Slobodan Milosevic-wanted to preserve a unified Yugoslavia, dominated by Serbia. A minority of Bosnians were ethnic Serbs; they, too, opposed independence for Bosnia. • Thus, when Bosnia declared its independence in 1991, the Bosnian Serbs took military action. Backed by Serbia, the Bosnian Serbs began a siege of Sarajevo, Bosnia’s major city and carried on a ferocious “ethnic cleansing” campaign to remove non-Serbs from the republic. Millions were forced to flee their homes, and more than 200,000 people were killed in the most brutal violence seen in Europe since World War KK. • When Clinton campaigned for President in 1992, he promised to take strong action in Bosnia. Once in office, however, he hesitated, partly because America’s European allies resisted the use of force. Finally, in mid-1995, an American-led NATO bombing campaign pushed the Bosnian Serbs into peace talks. These talks, held in Dayton, Ohio, produced a cease-fire and the commitment to allow foreign peacekeeping troops, including thousands of U. S. soldiers, to monitor the region.
Post-Cold War Conflicts • Israel and Palestine- In September 1993, Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) leader Yasir Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin signed a historic peace agreement in Washington, D. C. It was an extremely difficult step for both sides. The pact provided for Palestinian self-rule in the Gaza Strip (between Israel and Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula) and in the town of Jericho on the West Bank of the Jordan River. Also in the agreement, the PLO formally recognized Israel’s right to exist. • Radicals on both sides, however, tried to destroy the agreement by carrying out terrorist attacks. In 1995, a Jewish extremist assassinated Prime Minister Rabin. The prospects for peace declined. Then, in 1999, newly elected Prime Minister Ehud Barak called for a greater commitment to peace talks. The next year, President Clinton invited Barak and Arafat to Camp David to try to settle the issues that still divided them. Although they were unable to solve all the remaining issues, such as control of the holy city of Jerusalem.
Post-War Conflicts cont. • Hopes for peace then faded rapidly, and violence again increased. Palestinian extremists stepped up their suicide bombings, killing Israelis in restaurants, buses, and other public places. Israel regularly countered these terrorist attacks with military strikes on Palestinian targets, often killing civilians in the process. After a wave of suicide bombings in 2002, Israeli troops reoccupied the West Bank and completely cut off Arafat’s headquarters, trapping him in his offices. • In 2003, new hopes for peace emerged when the United States, the European Union, the UN, and Russia presented the Israelis and Palestinians with a “road map” to peace. Both sides approved the plan, a three-step approach to establishing a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. In accepting the plan, the Israeli government for the first time formally recognized the Palestinians’ right to a state.
The War on Terrorism • On September 11, 2001, terrorists struck at targets in New York City and just outside Washington, D. C. Using hijacked commercial airplanes as their weapons, the terrorists crashed into both towers of New York’s World Trade Center and part of the Pentagon. A total of 266 passengers and crew on the four planes lost their lives. More than 180 people in the Pentagon were killed. The number of people missing and presumed dead after the assault was estimated to be 2,800.
Afghanistan • After the Soviet Union withdrew from Afghanistan in 1989, the civil war there continued, as several private armies vied for power. In 1996, one of those militias, a group of Islamic fundamentalists called the Taliban, seized the Afghan capital of Kabul. • Taliban leaders sought to set up their version of a pure Islamic state, banning such things as television and music. The Taliban also provided sanctuary for Osama bin Laden, who established terrorist training camps in the countryside. The United States demanded that the Taliban shut down the training camps and turn over bin Laden and other terrorist leaders. The Taliban refused to meet those demands. As a result, President Bush vowed that the would “pay a price.”
Afghanistan cont. • On October 7, 2001, the United States, along with Great Britain, launched a bombing campaign known as “Operation Enduring Freedom” on Taliban military and communications bases. After just two months, United States and rebel Afghan forces had established an interim government in Kabul. Though bin Laden was not found, defeating Taliban was the first victory in the war on terrorism. This war, according to Bush, would not be limited to “instant retaliation and isolated strikes” but would be “a lengthy campaign unlike any other we have seen.”
Homeland Security • Less than a month after the 9/11 attacks, Bush created the Office of Homeland Security, to be headed by Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge. Ridge took office amidst a new wave of mysterious attacks. Anthrax spores, which can be deadly if inhaled, began turning up in letters mailed to the media and government officials. This rare organism is considered a possible agent of biological warfare-the use of deadly viruses, bacteria, or other micororganisms against humans. By December, the anthrax attacks had come to an end, after a total of 18 people had been infected, fiver of whom died. The attacks opened Americans’ eyes to the dangers of bioterror.
Homeland Security cont. • He attacks of September 11 and the potential for further, more sophisticated assaults pointed to a need for more safeguards against terrorism. The Bush administration responded to this need by establishing a new, Cabinet-level Department of Homeland Security, with Ridge as its first secretary. • It merged 22 existing agencies, including the Customs Service, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (along the Border Patrol), the Coast Guard, and the Secret Service. The agencies would work together to prevent terrorist attacks, to reduce the country’s vulnerability to terrorism, and to design ways of dealing with the potential damage of an attack.
Homeland Security cont. • The Department of Homeland Security set to work to make Americans feel more secure. Perhaps the most obvious effects of the department’s efforts could be found at airports across the country. Thorough screening of passengers and baggage caused lengthy waits for air travelers, although most people welcomed the tighter security. The new department also tried to keep Americans informed of the risk of terrorist attacks through a color-coded terror alert system. Alert levels changed based on reports from the FBI and other intelligence-gathering agencies.
War With Iraq • Following the terrorist attacks on the United States in 2001, President Bush sent a warning to hostile nations to stop developing weapons of , mass destruction. Bush declared Iraq, Iran, and North Korea to be part of an “axis of evil,” recalling the United States’ enemies in World War II., the Axis Powers. • With the conflict in Afghanistan winding down, President Bush turned his attention to Iraq. Despite Iraq’s defeat in the Gulf War. Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein continued his brutal oppression of the Iraqi people. He also refused to cooperate fully with UN inspectors sent to Iraq to ensure that the nation destroyed its most dangerous weapons. In 1998, Saddam had put a halt to all UN monitoring activities. Bush pointed to these actions as he sought support in Congress and among America’s allies for a possible attack on Iraq. He also linked Iraq to international terrorist organizations.
War With Iraq cont. • In October 2002, Congress passed a joint resolution authorizing the President to use force against Iraq. Under mounting pressure, Saddam allowed UN inspectors to return to his country in November. Two months later, they reported that they had found no banned chemical or biological weapons or any sign of a nuclear-weapons program. Despite this report and a lack of support from several key allies, Bush went ahead with a massive buildup of troops and weapons in the Persian Gulf region. Great Britain, Poland, and several other nations provided support, forming what Bush called “a coalition of the willing.” • The war, which the military called “Operation Iraqi Freedom,” started on March 19, 2003.
War With Iraq cont. • Three weeks after the start of the war, American tanks arrived in Baghdad. Saddam’s regime had fallen. Within days, all areas of the country were in coalition hands, although violent resistance continued. • On May 1, President Bush declared that major combat operations in Iraq had ended, but Saddam’s supporters continued to attack coalition soldiers and others involved in rebuilding Iraq. In the months that followed, coalition troops continued their search for Saddam and his supporters. Saddam was finally captured by coalition troops in December and many people hoped that his capture would help put an end to the violence. Meanwhile, American officials worked to restore Iraq’s basic services and began putting the pieces in place for the Iraqis to establish their own democratic system of government.
America’s Aging Population • As the United States entered the twenty-first century, its population was older than ever before. Advances in medical care increased the average life expectancy of newborns from 47 to 77 years during the 1900s. In 2000, more than 12 percent of all Americans were 65 or older, compared with 4 percent in 1900. • The Social Security system, for example, faced difficulties because the number of retirees receiving benefits from the program was rising faster than the number of workers paying taxes into it. In fact, polls showed that many young Americans doubted that the Social Security system would even exist when they reached retirement age. • Medicare, a federal program established during the Great Society of the 1960’s, paid for many of the medical expenses of older Americans. As the number of recipients and the price of healthcare rose, however, Medicare costs exploded from $7.5 billion in 1970 to more than $225 billion in 2002. As with Social Security, federal law makers agreed that long-term changes were needed but disagreed on what those changes would be.
A Technological Revolution • Communication and Information– The centerpiece of the Information Age is the computer. Between 1984 and 2001, the percentage of American households with a computer jumped from 8 percent to 56 percent. In 2002, only about 10 percent of the world population had access to the internet.
The “New Economy” • The United States enjoyed the greatest period of economic expansion in history during the 1900s, thanks in large part to the technological boom. • Education, therefore, has never been as important to economic success as it is now.
Impact on Government • The government also face a problem with the giant software company Microsoft. By 1998, Microsoft had become the world’s second most valuable company, worth some $200 billion. However, Microsoft’s size and success gave it great power in the marketplace. Several competitors argued that Microsoft was trying to drive them out of business. • In 1998, the federal government and 20 states sued Microsoft for violating the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890. They accused Microsoft of using its power to gain a monopoly over the market for software needed to browse the Internet. In 2000, a federal judge ruled that Microsoft was indeed a monopoly and had used unfair business practices, and he ordered that the company be split apart. The following year, an appeals court reversed this order but upheld the judgment that Microsoft had acted improperly. In 2002, Microsoft and the Department of Justice settled the antitrust case.
Trade and the Global Economy • In 1993, the EEC nations formed the European Union (EU) to begin coordinating their political and momentary policies. The EU established a parliament and a council in which all member nations are represented. In the late 1990s, member nations agreed to replace their individual monetary systems gradually with a single new currency called the eurodollar, or euro. In 2002 the EU, now with 15 members, voted to invite 10 additional European nations to join. The following year, they drafted a constitution designed to suit a greatly expanded union. • One important goal of the EU is to create a European economic unit that rivals the size and strength of the American economy.
NAFTA • Meanwhile, the United States encouraged greater economic cooperation within the Western Hemisphere. In 1992, the United States, Canada, and Mexico signed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which called for a gradual removal of trade restrictions among the three nations. The resulting free trade zone created a single market similar to the marked of the European Union. The goal of NAFTA was to stimulate economic growth. • The U.S. Senate ratified NAFTA, but only after a bruising battle. Its opponents worried that American jobs would move to Mexico, where wages were lover and government regulations (such as environmental controls) were less strict. In the years since NAFTA went into effect, supplemental agreements have dealt with such issues as worker rights, occupational safety, and environmental protection.
Rise of Multinationals • One multinational, the Enron Corporation, owned energy-related businesses in the United States and throughout the world. When it filed for bankruptcy in 2001, Enron was the seventh-largest American corporation. A congressional investigation into the bankruptcy turned up improper accounting practices. Several Enron executives faced charges of overstating profits and enriching themselves at the expense of investors. The resulting scandal led to the collapse of Arthur Andersen, the global accounting firm that monitored Enron’s finances.
American Economy • Early in the recession, President Bush proposed to stimulate the economy through a tax-cut package, to be spread out over 10 years. Still, the economy remained shaky through the next two years, with unemployment rising to its highest level in 10 years. • In May 2003, Bush signed another tax cut into law, this one for $350 billion. The President insisted that this “bold package of tax relief” would add a million jobs in the first year and boost the stock market. Critics charged that the tax cuts would create huge budget deficits far into the future.
