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Oklahoma City Bombing
On April 19, 1995, a Federal Building in Oklahoma City was bombed, which was thought to be an Islamic terrorist attack, but was actually 2 white men who were part of a nationalist group. This bomb ended up killing 168 people and caused the government to look closely about the effects of domestic and foreign terrorism. This led to a new legislation to be put into place -Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 and was important event during this time. (Kruse and Zelizer 220-21) -
Bombing at the Olympics
What is supposed to be an exciting time for the United States and the other countries that participate in the Olympics turned into a nightmare when a pipe bomb went off at Centennial Olympic Park at the Atlanta Olympic Games. This was another domestic terrorist attack that killed 2 people and injured 100. This event is relevant to this timeline as it is another domestic bombing that may have been politically motivated. (Wikipedia.com) -
Fox News Channel
In October 1996, right before the Presidential election where Bill Clinton was running against Bob Dole, Rupert Murdoch created Fox News which was a more conservative news station that would have different political opinions than the other networks. This event was important because there needed to be a "fair and balanced" network that would help show other important and conservative views. (Kruse and Zelizer 224-25) -
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
On November 7, 2000, Al Gore and George Bush were the candidates and this election was the closest in American history. There was confusion on election night by the media over who won the election because it was so close. They were waiting on Florida results because neither candidate made the electoral votes needed. There was controversy that ended up in the Sup Court who ruled that Bush won. This election is important to the timeline because it shows division in the country(Kruse, Zelizer 240) -
September 11, 2001
Even though I was not alive the day of the terrorist attacks on the US in 2001, I hear stories to this day over the tragic events that occurred. The horrible events that impacted the entire country on 9/11 was a time when our whole nation came together. Unfortunately, this was short lived "it became clear that the fault lines that had emerged over previous decades stubbornly remained." Division on politics seems to always take over creating problems within our own country. (Krause, Zelizer 243) -
War on Terror
On October 24, 2001 The USA Patriot Act was passed by the House of Representatives. This was put into place to give the government the ability to find terrorists that were hiding in plain sight without having to get subpoenas. This was one of the counterterrorism programs to help protect our country. There was not support from both political sides and is relevant to this timeline because of the division. (Krause, Zelizer 255-57) -
War In Iraq
On March 20, 2003, the war in Iraq began. There seemed to be many who were Antiwar and made their opinions known. There were protests against the war in Iraq but Americans needed to be convinced that the war needed to happen and that Iraq was a threat to us. Bush used the media by actually mixing reporters with the troops to see live what was happening there. The war in Iraq is another example of the division between US citizens. (Krause, Zelizer 266) -
More Division in the Nation.
During Bush's reelection time in 2004, there was more division created within the US when part of his campaign spoke about the politics over abortion and LQBTQ rights. This is a topic that is very sensitive for many and Bush talking about his views on these issues was criticized. He won the election anyway, but it was a very close election. (Krause, Zelizer 271) -
The First Black President
On November 4, 2008, a historical event occurred when the first black person was elected President of the United States. Barack Obama was a Senator from Illinois who announced he would run for President. He had some new ideas and policies that made people excited for a new President. He was elected and became the United States' 44th President. This was a big moment in our history and is important to the timeline of the United States events. (www.obamalibrary.gov) -
Osama Bin Laden Killed
On May 2, 2011, there was a mission to raid Osama Bin Laden, who was behind the 9/11 attacks, and the operation worked. Barack Obama announced that Bin Laden was killed during the raid where he was hiding, and the leader of the al-Qaeda terrorist group was gone. This operation was crucial to bring the people responsible for 9/11 to justice and help secure the United States. This was so important to this timeline as it sums up how the US won't back down to terrorists. (www.911memorial.org)