George W. Bush
43rd President of the United States of America
Republicanism
First elected in 2000
elected to two terms
Republican dominated in White House and Congress
Popular with conservatives
- Bush ran against Al Gore and both fell short of winning the 270 electoral votes needed to get the presidency
Foreign Policy
- Invading Iraq
Bush next contemplated invading Iraq as part of his wider war on terrorism
Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)
many people believed that Iraqi president Saddam Hussein was building nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons
UN weapons inspectors should be allowed to continue their search for Iraqi WMD
congress authorized Bush to use military force against Iraq
attacked on March 19th, 2003
- as Iraqi capital of Baghdad fell, Saddam and other Iraq leaders went into hiding
- Invading Afghanistan
“War of terrorism”-prior to 9/11
Economic boycott against Iraq
Bush believed that any government that sponsored terrorism should be held accountable
After the Taliban refused to hand over bin Ladin, American forces and British invaded Afghanistan
Bin Ladin escaped after Allied forces overthrew the Taliban
Domestic Policy
Improving National Security
moved quickly to prevent future terrorist attacks
Congress passed the Patriot Act
give law enforcement broader powers to monitor suspected terrorists
accused of violating civil liberties
many americans were willing to give up some freedoms in return for improved security
Department of Homeland Security
Bush’s call for the creation of a new cabinet-level
- Bush favored widespread tax cuts
- He was mostly concerned with domestic issues
- believed that tax cuts would stimulate the economy and create new jobs (2001-$1.3 trillion tax cut through Congress; put more money in the hands of consumers)
- Most tax cuts benefits went to the rich (federal budget deficit increased)
- No Child Left Behind Act of 2002 penalized schools that did not reach federal performance standards. It also called for improving teacher quality and other reforms
- Had Congress extend Medicare to cover prescription drugs to senior citizens (expensive and seniors were confused as to how it worked and found the coverage inadequate)
- Financial Crisis
Autumn of 2008, potentially dangerous economic crisis centered on the financial industry.
stemmed off of “subprime” home mortgage loans that banks made to less-qualified, low income borrowers
Banks placed high interest rates on these loans
Slid into a recession in late 2007
unemployed Americans could no longer pay for their mortgages.
foreclosures increased
Housing prices fell and mortgage-related investments lost their value
Several large banking and investment firms collapsed or were sold.
Financial Industry Bailout
stock Market plunged in September 2008
worst economic crisis since Great Depression
$700 billion bailout of the banks
The Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) was supported by Bush and approved by Congress
TARP funds were used to make multibillion-dollar loans to at -risk banks.
public outrage ensued do to the use of taxpayer-funded bailout grew after executives at some of these companies got multimillion-dollar bonuses.
- Many credit the bailout with preventing a financial meltdown
Condoleezza Rice
Born in 1954 and at age 15, she entered college to become a concert pianist but graduated at age 19 with a degree in political science
Served as an intern in the Carter administration and held a professorship at Stanford University
In 2000, Rice became a National Security Adviser to George W. Bush
In 2004, she became the first African American woman to be named Secretary of State
- Had an active role in the US rebuilding of Iraq
Jonathan Lowder, Hannah Robinson, Emma Russell, Jamie Stroud, Julie Goodman
Email: jamie_stroud@kcsdschools.org
Phone: (803) 438-3481