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The Bakke Decision
Allowed affirmative action, but invalidated the spreading of racial quotas. (Basically, race stopped being a factor in the admission of students.) -
"Moral Majority"
A christian evangelical political group that campaigned for the denouncement of abortion and the stripping of gays' rights. Led by Jerry Falwell. -
Saddam Hussein
Served as the Iraqi president up until 2006. Leader of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party. -
Perestroika and Glasnost
Glasnost means openness in Russian, and Perestroika points towards Gorbachev's changes towards in the economic structure of the Soviet Union. -
Religious Fundametalism
George Marsden wrote a book pertaining the religious fundamentalism, which was the belief that religious texts were to be taken literally. -
Trickle Down Economics
Trickle down economics was the belief that relief on the upper class would stimulate economics growth and would benefit society as a whole for the long run. -
Walter Mondale
In his running, he lost against Reagan with a total of 49 states stacked against one. -
Geraldine Ferraro
Ferraro was the first woman to run in the vice presidential slot of the house race. -
Ronald Reagan
The 40th U.S. President who occupied the office; he was also the first president who advocated for the ending of the Vietnam War. -
AIDS
The AIDS epidemic came when men from the populated areas of N.Y. and L.A. were found to have AIDS, mass hysteria and the reduction of gay rights'. -
Side Supply Economics (Reaganomics)
This was the belief that the way to stimulate the economy was to lower taxes and decreasing regulation. -
Economic Recovery Act of 1981
A law that lowered the income tax responsibilities for the country; held incentives for the small business owners and those who saved. -
Sandra Day O'Connor
Mrs. O'Connor was a the first woman to hold the role of being the head of the supreme court. She served until 2006. -
PACTO Strike
PACTO was founded in 1968; morphed into a trade union; after thousands of controllers held a "sick strike", Reagan called it unconstitutional and busted the strike. -
Boland Amendments
The Boland amendments are pointing to a trinity of documents formulated to limit the amount of U.S. participation in assisting the Contras. -
Internet
ARPANET adopted the software necessary in order to create what we know today as the modern necessary. -
SDI
The Strategic Defense Initiative was a plan in order to protect America in the event that a nuclear ballistic attack were to happen. -
Beirut Bombing
An act of terrorism took place when Beirut, Lebanon was bombed during the Lebanese Civil War. -
The Iran-Contra Affair
America had been giving weapons to the Iranians, who were, in turn, passing on such weapons to the Contras in Africa, who were in turn giving the Iranians profits. -
Immigration Act of 1986
Passed in 1986, the act was passed in order to dissuade people from hiring illegal aliens, in the hopes that immigration from them would decrease. -
William Reinquist
The above was appointed to the court by Richard Nixon and elevated to the Chief Justice by Reagan in 1986. -
INF
Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces Treaty: Missiles with a range of 500 to 5,500 Km range were to be rid of by both America and the Soviet Union; first agreement between the two superpowers in decades. -
"Tear down this wall!"
The quote is in relation to Ronald Reagan advocating for the destruction of the Berlin Wall, which kept the East end and the West end of Germany separated for decades. -
Osama Bin Laden
The founder of al-qaeda, the organization that was responsible for the 9/11 attacks. -
Al-Queda
An extremist group coming out of Afghanistan which fought against the Soviet Union within Afghanistan. -
George H.W. Bush
George H.W. Bush was the 41st president of the united states form 1989 to 1993. -
Tiananmen Square
Whist students were protesting in Beijing (the capital of the People's Republic of China), troops were sent in on the date below, killing approx. a thousand people. -
The Berlin Wall
Announced by the speaker of the communist party, it said that at midnight on the date below, the ability to cross the borders would be allowed. -
Sandinistas
The Sandinistas are a political party that formed in Nicaragua that came to power in the early 80's. The U.S. opposed this political party. -
Mikhail Gorbachev
In 1990, Gorbachev was marked as being the last leader of the Communist Party to be the head of the Soviet Union. -
Lech Wasala
A politician who founded Solidarity, the Soviet Union's first trade union; he also served as the president of Poland from 1990-95. -
Nuclear Proliferation
The spread if nuclear technology, sciences, and information spread to the areas that are not recognized as being nuclear states. -
"Ethnic Cleansing"
Due to Yugoslavia's crumbling gov't, this was a term used to describe the treatment that people has to go through due to the gov't's collapse. -
Americans with Disabilities
This was an act written that expelled discrimination in hiring based on one's disabilities. -
Operation Desert Shield
An international conflict that was triggered by Iraq' s invasion of Kuwait; Egypt, America and other countries coagulated to reverse these forces. -
Boris Yeltsin
Yeltsin was the first president of the Russian Federation who served from 1991-99. -
Clarence Thomas
The second supreme court justice who was African American; summoned by George Bush. -
"Read my lips..."
George H.W. Bush made the campaign promise that there would be no new taxes during his time in office. -
Bosnia and Konovo
Two parts of the former Yugoslavia before it was broken up by war. -
Breakup of the S.U.
Allowed self governing to the republics of the Soviet Union; declaration 142-H -
Ross Perot
During his campaign, Perot pulled out of the race, but then reinstated himself, hurting his chances for office. -
Failure of Health Reform
During his time, Clinton failed to provide health care for all Americans. (ADA and Contract with America rebuttal this.) -
Kyoto Accord
Basically, countries signed an agreement to cut down on greenhouse gases in order to curb global warming. -
Yasser Arafat
The Palestinian leader struck an agreement with Bill Clinton in order for the PLO to create a self rule for the Palestinians in Israel. -
Brady Bill
Called for a waiting period for those who wished to purchase handguns, and a background check. -
NRA
Against the Brady Bill in all of it's context. -
Budget Deficits
An all out war was declared on budget deficits and taxes in America. (Newt Gingrich, Contract with America) -
West Bank and the Gaza Strip
PLO and the Israeli gov't agreed that it was okay that the PLO controlled the area above in exchange for Israeli control over the area in question. -
Bill Clinton
Following H.W. Bush out of office, Bill Clinton form AR stepped up to the plate. -
Start I and II
This was a treaty between Russia and America concerning them downsizing their arms. -
PLO
The Palestinian Liberation Organization was founded inn 1964; it's purpose was to create a homeland in Israel for the Palestinians. In 1993, an agreement was made concerning Palestinians being allowed in Israel. -
EU
The European Union is made up of 28 states that are primarily located within Europe itself. (EURO) -
NAFTA
The North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement created a trading bloc between America, Canada, and the United States. -
"Don't ask, don't tell"
What was being said here was that if you were part of the LBGTQ community, that you id not get to display your sexuality openly. -
Taliban
Sunni Islamic Fundamentalist Political Movement that is raging war within Afghanistan. -
WTO
A international trade organization that regulates global trade. -
Oklahoma Truck Bombing
This took place when 189 people were killed due to a truck rigged with a bomb in Oklahoma. -
Bob Dole
Was the man to run against Bill Clinton in 1996; senator of Kansas. -
Welfare Reform
Called for time limited assistance on welfare; required one to be working until welfare could be received. -
G-8
A group of the largest industrialized democracies in the world met together to create a forum. (Russia is on suspension, making it the G-& currently.) -
Contract w/America
A book published that deeply appealed to the conservative side of the political spectrum; seen as a huge success. -
Madeline Albright
The first woman to serve as the secretary of state, she was nominated by Clinton and unanimously sworn in. -
Clinton Impeachment
Bill Clinton was impeached due to the Monika Lewinsky scandal.(Perjury and the obstruction of justice.) -
Panama Invasion
Nicknamed Operation Just Cause, this was when the U.S. invaded Panama. -
WMD's
The Bush Administration pushed that weapons of mass destruction were still in Iraq. -
George W. Bush
The son of George H.W. Bush who decided to run for the presidency like his pops. -
Newt Gingrich
The man who declared an "all out war"on taxes and debt. First Republican speaker in 40 years. -
Bush v. Gore
The supreme court made a decision pertaining to the fact that there was a close count in the state of Florida. -
Bush Tax Cuts
The Tax Relief Conciliation Act of 2001 was an effort made by Bush pertaining to his "no new taxes" shtick. -
Al Gore
The man who served as the 45th vice president of the U.S. up until 2001, in which he ran during 2000 against Bush. -
9/11
On the date below, two passenger air planes were flown into the twin towers and one into the pentagon. -
Enron
Enron went suddenly bankrupt when a scandal came to the light involving false accounts; it shook wall street at its core. -
No Child Left Behind
A legislative act that made it the where if a poor student where to score higher, more money would be admitted to the institution in question. -
Axis of Evil
A term used on the countries in the southwest that were bent on terrorism and violence. -
Homeland Security
Short after 9/11, this was instated in order to avoid terrorism (again). -
OIF
Following 9/11, the U.S. released Iraqi troops into the Southwest Asia in order to quell the Iraqi conflict. -
John Kerry
A decorated Vietnam veteran who lost the presidential race of 2004. -
Great Recession
Recession swept across the nation and the deficit spread widely across the nations, but the dips varied. -
Housing Bubble
The actual values of houses were being inflated; technically, land over speculation morphed into the housing market. -
D.C. v Heller
This case allowed reinforced that American citizens who did not serve the military could have firearms, if they were used for lawful purposes. -
Sarah Palin
Palin was a catalyst among the evangelical wing of the voters who was used for McCain's election/ -
John McCain
With his running mate Sarah Palin, McCain ran for the president against Barack Obama. -
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
This happened when the housing bubble burst; the credit of America plummeted down. -
Hurricane Katrina
A monstrous hurricane that destroyed a large portion of the lower east coast. -
Sonia Sotomayor
Sotomayor is distinguished as being the first Hispanic and Latina person to serve on the Supreme Court. -
Barack Obama
The first African-American president to win the spot. -
Tea Party
The Tea Party is a conservative party that has developed within the country; protests pertaining to heavy taxing and an increase in the national debt. -
Dodd-Frank Act
Places the responsibility of the financial industry's regulation in the hands of the gov't. -
Citizens United
The court decision was that since campaign funds were a form of free speech, they could not disallow the money to be used to support or deny a candidate. -
ACA
The Affordable Care Act ensures that every single person in the U.S. has insurance, which unfortunately adds to the welfare state syndrome. -
Arab Spring
This was a series of (non)peaceful demonstrations that were held in North Africa and the Middle East against police abuse. -
Syrian Civil War
The Free Syrian Army began to make attempts at overthrowing the government; the conflict is still in motion today. -
Mitt Romney
The previous governor of Massachusetts who ran against Obama in the year of 2012 -
Boston Bombings
The date of the Boston Marathon, two bombs went off, injuring and/or killing over 100 people. -
Shelby County V. Holder
Section 4 of the voting rights act was declared unconstitutional. -
Abu Ghraib Prison
The gov't padlocked the doors of the Iraqi prison for good. -
Same Sex Marriage
The Supreme Court ruled that states has to recognize the existence of gay marriages. -
Clinton
Hilary was at first the Secretary of State, but in 2016, she ran for the presidency in 2016; she was the first woman to nominated by a major political party (the democrats). -
Debt Ceiling
The gov't belief that if they kept raising the debt ceiling, they would be able to borrow more money to help them get out of their already hefty debt.