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"Don't ask, Don't tell" 1993
President Clinton informed a gay rights group that if he was elected president he would put effort into overturning the ban against gays and lesbians in the armed forces. People started to threat and turn on Clinton even members of his party because he had a timid approach to this issue once he was elected. These made Clinton face pressure and effects from society. Just nine days into his presidency "He announced a compromise commonly known as "Dont ask, Don't tell" (Kruse and Zelizer, 206) -
Rise of talkshow radio 1995
In 1995 there was a growth of talkshow radios. It grew rapidly in the postwar era. "In 1960, there were only two all-talk radio stations in America; by 1995, there were over 1,130" (Kruse and Zelizer, 214). The talk shows were fed by political issues. A lot of people on the right would get their information from Rush Limbaugh. His influence was so big he had 20 million listeners. "He made a powerful force on the political right" (Kruse and Zelizer, 215). Rush knew the radio was entertainment. -
Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996
The rise in attacks made Clinton push for a bill that would increase the power of the federal government. "Authorizing roving wiretaps that would follow a suspect and no longer require individual warrants for each new phone used" (Kruse and Zelizer, 221). The Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act prohibited some firearms and gave the military more power. When the bill was signed, it made terrorism a federal crime and allowed individuals who entered the country illegally to be deported. -
DOMA 1996
One of the most significant changes of the 90s was the debate on same sex marriage. Clintons support for conservative issues is shown with his signing of DOMA to make it a law. Social conservatives saw same sex marriage as a threat to straight marriages and marriage itself. They passed a legislation that gave "States the right to not recognize same sex marriage; it established a legal definition of marriage as purely heterosexual"(Kruse and Zelizer, 218). Multiple votes approved DOMA to advance. -
Children's Health Insurance Program 1997
In 1997 Bill Clinton created the Children's Health Insurance Program which benefited many things. "The children's Health Insurance Program, which offered states matching funds to provide health insurance to children". (Kruse and Zelizer, 222). The program was an expansion of coverage even though it was not a national health insurance. This program helped family's who had low income. This was one example of how Bill Clinton secured his reelection because of his successes. -
Internet and Y2K
Y2K a lot had thought that the computers were not going to rest themselves as soon as the year 2000 hit. Many people thought that the computer systems were going to shut down because of this. People put their time and effort into trying to figure out if this was really the case. On New Years eve when the year 2000 hit, there were no signs of the computer systems shutting down. Many people were also afraid of banks being effected by Y2K since a lot of their systems were ran on outdated computers. -
2000 Election
The 2000 election was between Republican George W. Bush and Democrat Al Gore. George W. Bush had won the election because of the electoral college, even though Al Gore had won the popular vote. On election night there was no clear winner. "Florida state election required a mandatory state wide machine count...Bush's lead stood at 327 votes out of six million cast" (Britannica). The mandatory recount made the outcome of the election unknown for a couple of weeks after the initial election. -
9/11
September 11, 2001 was a horrendous day for Americans. There were four attacks from terrorists from a group called Al-Queda led by Osama Bin Laden. They hijacked four planes and crashed them into the two twin towers also known as the world trade center, the pentagon and the third plane crashed in Pennsylvania. These attacks killed thousands of people which was devastating but despite these horrible attacks it made everyone come together as a country and be there for everyone. -
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina was in the summer of 2005. Hurricane Katrina was devastating too many people. Hurricane Katrina was deadly and destroyed peoples homes and towns. This hurricane was one of the most destructive hurricanes we have had today. The hurricane went through Louisiana and broke a dam, which caused massive floods. People had to quickly evacuate and find new shelter. Some had to get rescued because they could not evacuate. Sadly many people died due to how strong this hurricane really was -
2007-2008 Financial Crisis
The 2007-2008 financial crisis was a very scary time. The financial crisis caused the market to crash and a rapid rate. The prices of homes before the crisis began to drop so many people were buying on credit and were unable to pay it back. This then caused many people to file for bankrupsy and loans. This financial crisis was years in the making. This huge economic crash had caused a lot of people to lose all their money, their jobs and even their homes.