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Columbine High School Shooting
On this day, two teenage boys from Columbine High School would kill 16 of their classmates and injure 23 more in what is largely viewed as the first of the modern school shootings. This isn't to say there wasnt gun violence in school previously, but this marks a time where we see shooters going into schools with the intention of killing as many children as possible. This event would change police protocols for handling school shootings. It shocked the nation to its core, but not enough to change -
2000 Presidential Election
The 2000 election was between Vice President Al Gore vs Texas Governor George Bush. A winner can not be called the night of the race, and despite not having a president for a month polarization was low enough that Americans were rather impartial to this. The race came down to Florida where thousands of votes are contested and disqualified. Indecisiveness continues for a month, before the election is finally decided by Supreme Court. They ultimately decided in a 5-4 election George Bush won. (242 -
9/11 Attacks
The United States is attacked on September 11 by the terrorist group Al Queda. On this fateful day, islamic extremists hijacked four airplanes, flying 2 into the World Trade Center, 1 into the Pentagon, and 1 was crashed into a field in Pennsylvania. This began an American crusade against radical islam globally, fundamentally changing our foreign policy, and our domestic security policy. It began our wars in Iraq, and Afghanistan, and would drag us into the middle east for twenty years. (243,244 -
Invasion of Iraq
For the second time in a little over a decade the United States would go to war with Iraq. Instead of a limited objective war like the first Gulf War, this was a regime change war- our goal was to turn Iraq into a liberal democracy. This is one of the greatest foreign policy failures in American history for two reasons. It created a vacuum for terrorists to take control of Iraq, and it took away Irans greatest natural enemy. The downstream effects have been disastorous for the region. -
Lehman Brothers Fails, Begins 2008 Financial Crisis
Lehman Brothers, an investment bank that primarily invested in mortgage backed securities went under exposing the true nature of the subprime mortgage crisis and creating widespread panic that led to the 2008 financial crisis. When this institutional bank went under, it more or less exposed to the world that the housing market in the United States was a bubble waiting to burst. This would lead to a world wide economic crisis, and in the United states massive government bailouts. -
Barrack Obama Becomes First Black U.S. President
Senator Barrack Obama defeats Senator John McCain in the 2008 presidential election. This election was a shoe-in for democrats, as the Bush administration had facilitated the death of the republicans image by overseeing the largest foreign policy failure since 'nam, and the largest economic failure since Hoover. Barrack Obama ran on a campaign of hope and change, particularly in the areas of healthcare, economy, and foreign policy. Some argue this greatly heightened American polarization. -
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Rise of Tea Party, Occupy Wall Street
Partisan reaction to 2008 financial crisis. On the left we saw the occupy movement, and on the right the rise of the tea party. Occupy movement was largely undertaken by people who felt left behind in the government bailouts, and demanded accountability from the "elite" for their role in the financial crisis. The tea party movement was opposed to government spending, arguing for fiscal responsibility. Occupy focused on capturing the streets, while tea party captured the state in 2012 midterms. -
Affordable Care Act Is Signed Into Law
The central piece of legislation in Obamas first term. Attempting to tackle spiraling healthcare costs, especially popular at the time because people were going through economic hardship. Creates a system where people are required to have health insurance, if they can’t get it from work then they must get it from the government and the government must make it available to them. The original version of the ACA was watered down due to fierce opposition from Republicans, lobbies. (Class Notes) -
Osama Bin Laden Is Killed by US Special Forces
US special forces kill OBL in a CIA special operation in Pakistan, who are our supposed allies. I remember staying up late to watch WWE that night w/ my dad and hearing John Cena announce "We have caught and compromised to a permanent end Osama Bin Laden." One of my fondest memories, The pain that he brought to our country and forced us to bring to the islamic world is unparalleled, and to be honest the worst parts of me feel his death was too painless. It was a major blow to jihadist globally. -
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Rise of the Black Lives Matter Movement
Black Lives Matter is the most prominent social movement of my lifetime, and their goal is to achieve police reform. Their action before 2015 is really defined by two cases in my opinion: Trayvon Martin, and Michael Brown. The case of Trayvon Martin kind of exposed that the two tier justice system still exists in some parts of this country. Michael Browns death at the hands of a police officer raised questions about urban policing. Both cases black teens are killed and their killers are freed. -
Donald Trump Announces His Candidacy For President
Donald Trump, New York real estate mogul, and host of the Apprentice descends down the golden escalator of his building "Trump Tower" and announces his candidacy on the republican ticket for president. He was ridiculed at the time for slim chance that he had to win. His decision to run for president would define American politics from 2015 until at least 2028. To his detractors he is a reckless tyrant, but his followers feel that he is their retribution against the establishment.