The history of the United States from 1991 to 2008 began after the
dissolution of the Soviet Union. The dissolution signaled the end of the
Cold War and left the U.S. unchallenged as the world's sole
superpower. The U.S. took a leading role in military involvement in the
Middle East
The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...
. The U.S. expelled an
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...
i invasion force from
Kuwait
Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...
, a Middle Eastern ally of the U.S., in the
Persian Gulf War
The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a Coalition of the Gulf War, 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Ba'athist Iraq, ...
. On the domestic front, the
Democrats won a return to the White House with the election of
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...
in
1992. In the
1994 midterm election, the
Republicans won control of Congress for the first time in 40 years. Strife between Clinton and the Republicans in Congress initially resulted in a
federal government shutdown following a
budget crisis, but later they worked together to pass
welfare reform, the
Children's Health Insurance Program
The Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) – formerly known as the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) – is a program administered by the United States Department of Health and Human Services that provides matching funds to ...
, and a balanced budget. Charges from the
Lewinsky scandal
Monica Samille Lewinsky (born July 23, 1973) is an American activist and writer. President Bill Clinton admitted to having an affair with Lewinsky while she worked at the White House as an intern in 1995 and 1996. The affair, and its repercus ...
led to the 1998
impeachment of Clinton by the House of Representatives but he was later acquitted by the Senate. The U.S. economy boomed in the enthusiasm for high-technology industries in the 1990s until the
NASDAQ crashed as the
dot-com bubble
The dot-com bubble (dot-com boom, tech bubble, or the Internet bubble) was a stock market bubble in the late 1990s, a period of massive growth in the use and adoption of the Internet.
Between 1995 and its peak in March 2000, the Nasdaq Compo ...
burst and the
early 2000s recession
The early 2000s recession was a decline in economic activity which mainly occurred in developed countries. The recession affected the European Union during 2000 and 2001 and the United States from March to November 2001. The UK, Canada and Au ...
marked the end of the sustained economic growth.
In
2000
File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...
, Republican
George W. Bush was elected president in one of the closest elections in U.S. history. Early in his term, his administration approved
education reform
Education reform is the name given to the goal of changing public education. The meaning and education methods have changed through debates over what content or experiences result in an educated individual or an educated society. Historically, t ...
and a large
across-the-board tax cut aimed at stimulating the economy. Following the
September 11 attacks
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...
in 2001, the U.S. embarked on the
Global War on Terrorism
The war on terror, officially the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT), is an ongoing international counterterrorism military campaign initiated by the United States following the September 11 attacks. The main targets of the campaign are militant ...
, starting with the 2001
war in Afghanistan
War in Afghanistan, Afghan war, or Afghan civil war may refer to:
*Conquest of Afghanistan by Alexander the Great (330 BC – 327 BC)
* Muslim conquests of Afghanistan (637–709)
*Conquest of Afghanistan by the Mongol Empire (13th century), see al ...
. In 2003, the U.S.
invaded Iraq, deposing
Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein ( ; ar, صدام حسين, Ṣaddām Ḥusayn; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolutio ...
and resulting in a prolonged conflict that would continue over the course of the decade. The
Homeland Security Department was formed and the controversial
Patriot Act
The USA PATRIOT Act (commonly known as the Patriot Act) was a landmark Act of the United States Congress, signed into law by President George W. Bush. The formal name of the statute is the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appro ...
was passed to bolster domestic efforts against terrorism. In 2006, criticism over the handling of the disastrous
Hurricane Katrina (which struck the
Gulf Coast region in 2005), political scandals, and the growing unpopularity of the Iraq War helped the Democrats
gain control of Congress.
Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein ( ; ar, صدام حسين, Ṣaddām Ḥusayn; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolutio ...
was later tried, charged for
war crimes and
crimes against humanity, and
executed by hanging. In 2007, President Bush ordered a
troop surge in Iraq, which ultimately led to reduced casualties.
Globalization and the new economy
During Bill Clinton's presidency American political discourse focused mostly on domestic issues. While the early 1990s saw the US economy mired in recession, a recovery began starting in 1994 and began accelerating thanks to a boom created by technology. The Internet and related technologies made their first broad penetrations into the economy, prompting a
Wall Street technology-driven
bubble, which
Federal Reserve
The Federal Reserve System (often shortened to the Federal Reserve, or simply the Fed) is the central banking system of the United States of America. It was created on December 23, 1913, with the enactment of the Federal Reserve Act, after a ...
chairman
Alan Greenspan
Alan Greenspan (born March 6, 1926) is an American economist who served as the 13th chairman of the Federal Reserve from 1987 to 2006. He works as a private adviser and provides consulting for firms through his company, Greenspan Associates LLC. ...
described in 1996 as "
irrational exuberance
"Irrational exuberance" is the phrase used by the then-Federal Reserve Board chairman, Alan Greenspan, in a speech given at the American Enterprise Institute during the dot-com bubble of the 1990s. The phrase was interpreted as a warning that the ...
". By 1998, the economy was booming and unemployment below 5%.
After the
dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the United States was the world's dominant military power and Japan, sometimes seen as the largest economic rival to the U.S., was caught in a period of stagnation. China was emerging as the U.S.'s foremost trading competitor in more and more areas. Localized conflicts such as those in Haiti and the
Balkans
The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...
prompted President
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...
to send in U.S. troops as
peacekeepers, reviving the
Cold-War-era controversy about whether policing the rest of the world was a proper U.S. role.
Islamic radicals overseas loudly threatened assaults against the U.S. for its ongoing military presence in the Middle East, and even staged the
first World Trade Center attack, a truck bombing in New York's twin towers, in 1993, as well as a number of deadly attacks on U.S. interests abroad.
Immigration, mainly from Latin America and Asia, swelled during the 1990s, laying the groundwork for great changes in the demographic makeup of the U.S. population in coming decades, such as
Hispanic
The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad.
The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties forme ...
s replacing African-Americans as the largest minority. Despite tougher border scrutiny after the
September 11 attacks
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...
, nearly 8 million
immigrants came to the United States from 2000 to 2005—more than in any other five-year period in the nation's history—with almost half entering illegally.
Dot-com bubble
![US 90s 00s unemployment](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/06/US_90s_00s_unemployment.png)
Early 2000 to 2001 saw the dramatic bursting of the
dot-com bubble
The dot-com bubble (dot-com boom, tech bubble, or the Internet bubble) was a stock market bubble in the late 1990s, a period of massive growth in the use and adoption of the Internet.
Between 1995 and its peak in March 2000, the Nasdaq Compo ...
. Excitement over the prospects of Internet stocks had led to huge increases in the major indexes. However, dozens of start-up Internet companies failed as many of the lofty promises heralded by the new world of the Web failed to materialize. On March 10, 2000, the
NASDAQ peaked at 5,048.62, more than double its value just a year before. The downturn began on March 13, 2000, triggering a chain reaction of selling that fed on itself as investors, funds, and institutions liquidated positions. In just six days, the NASDAQ had lost nearly nine percent, falling to 4,580 on March 15. By 2001, the bubble was deflating at full speed. A majority of the dot-coms ceased trading after burning through their
venture capital
Venture capital (often abbreviated as VC) is a form of private equity financing that is provided by venture capital firms or funds to start-up company, startups, early-stage, and emerging companies that have been deemed to have high growth poten ...
, many having never made a profit.
In 2002, the GDP growth rate rose to 2.8%. A major short-term problem in the first half of 2002 was a sharp decline in the
stock market, fueled in part by the exposure of
dubious accounting practices in some major corporations. Another was unemployment, which experienced the longest period of monthly increase since the
Great Depression. The United States began to recover from the
post-9/11 recession in 2003, but the robustness of the market (7% GDP growth), combined with the unemployment rate (above 6%), led some economists and politicians to refer to the situation as a "
jobless recovery
A jobless recovery or jobless growth is an economic phenomenon in which a macroeconomy experiences growth while maintaining or decreasing its level of employment. The term was coined by the economist Nick Perna in the early 1990s.
Causes
Economi ...
". Despite this, economic growth continued apace through early 2008 and unemployment dropped below 5%.
[ftp://ftp.bls.gov/pub/special.requests/lf/aat1.txt]
Conflicts
Persian Gulf War
The considerable dependence of the industrialized world on oil starting in the 1930s, with much of the proved oil reserves situated in Middle Eastern countries, became evident to the U.S., first in the aftermath of the
1973 world oil shock and later in the
second energy crisis of 1979. Although in real terms oil prices fell back to pre-1973 levels through the 1980s, resulting in a windfall for the oil-consuming nations (especially North America, Western Europe, and Japan), the vast reserves of the leading Middle East producers guaranteed the region its strategic importance. By the early 1990s the politics of oil still proved as hazardous as it did in the early 1970s.
Conflict in the Middle East triggered yet another international crisis on August 2, 1990, when
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...
invaded and attempted to annex neighboring Kuwait. U.S. officials feared that Hussein was then on the verge of armed conflict with oil-rich Saudi Arabia, a close ally of Washington's since the 1940s. The
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...
condemned the invasion as an act of aggression; President Bush compared Hussein to
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
and declared that if the United States and international community did not act, aggression would be encouraged elsewhere in the world. The Security Council gave Iraq a deadline to leave Kuwait, but Saddam Hussein ignored it, and the Security Council authorized a military response. The war began in January 1991, with U.S. troops forming the majority of the coalition which participated in
Operation Desert Storm
Operation or Operations may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media
* ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity
* Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory
* ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Ma ...
. By the time Iraqi troops withdrew from Kuwait in late February, Iraq had lost approximately 20,000 troops, with some sources citing as many as 100,000 casualties on the Iraqi side.
Conflicts in Somalia, Bosnia, Kosovo, and the Middle East
![Black Hawk Down Super64 over Mogadishu coast](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c4/Black_Hawk_Down_Super64_over_Mogadishu_coast.jpg)
In December 1992, President Bush sent troops to join the UN
Operation Restore Hope
The Unified Task Force (UNITAF) was a United States-led, United Nations-sanctioned multinational force which operated in Somalia from 5 December 1992 until 4 May 1993. A United States initiative (code-named Operation Restore Hope), U ...
, a multi-national effort to restore order and provide humanitarian aid in Somalia, which was torn by civil war, famine, and warlords. By the summer of 1993, the situation had deteriorated. After 24 Pakistani soldiers were killed in June 1993, the UN passed a resolution calling for the arrest and trial of those responsible for the attack. Under the leadership of newly elected President
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...
, U.S. forces launched a concentrated attack on Aidid's stronghold in
Mogadishu
Mogadishu (, also ; so, Muqdisho or ; ar, مقديشو ; it, Mogadiscio ), locally known as Xamar or Hamar, is the capital and most populous city of Somalia. The city has served as an important port connecting traders across the Indian Oc ...
in
Operation Gothic Serpent
Operation Gothic Serpent was a military operation conducted in Mogadishu, Somalia, by an American force code-named ''Task Force Ranger'' during the Somali Civil War in 1993. The primary objective of the operation was to capture Mohamed Farra ...
. In October 1993, 18 soldiers were killed and 84 were wounded in the
Battle of Mogadishu. After the attack, Clinton ordered U.S. forces withdrawn from the region, with the last being withdrawn by 1995, and fired his Secretary of Defense
Les Aspin who had not sent adequate forces.
In the mid-1990s, the United States was involved in the
Bosnian War through the
North Atlantic Treaty Organization
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
(NATO), most notably the
1995 bombing campaign, which finally led to the
Dayton Peace Agreement which ended the war by the end of 1995. In early 1998, the region became volatile again as war erupted between the army of the
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
Serbia and Montenegro ( sr, Cрбија и Црна Гора, translit=Srbija i Crna Gora) was a country in Southeast Europe located in the Balkans that existed from 1992 to 2006, following the breakup of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yu ...
and the
Kosovo Liberation Army, a guerrilla group. A
1999 NATO bombing campaign struck Yugoslavia, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of Yugoslavian soldiers and civilians. As a result, Yugoslavia withdrew from Kosovo and Kosovo became an independent state.
President Clinton also ordered
cruise missile strikes on Iraq in 1996 and
bombing attacks on Iraq in 1998, which were launched in response to Saddam Hussein's violation of several UN resolutions, including repression of ethnic minorities (
Kurds ug:كۇردلار
Kurds ( ku, کورد ,Kurd, italic=yes, rtl=yes) or Kurdish people are an Iranian ethnic group native to the mountainous region of Kurdistan in Western Asia, which spans southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Ira ...
) and removing UN weapons inspectors. The 1998 campaign, in particular, was meant to de-stabilize the Iraqi government and degrade the power of Hussein. Clinton also signed the
Iraq Liberation Act to appropriate funds to Iraqi opposition groups in the hopes of overthrowing Hussein's regime and establishing democracy.
Throughout the 1990s, the United States also played an active role in
peace efforts in the
Israeli–Palestinian conflict. President Clinton, Israeli Prime Minister
Yitzhak Rabin
Yitzhak Rabin (; he, יִצְחָק רַבִּין, ; 1 March 1922 – 4 November 1995) was an Israeli politician, statesman and general. He was the fifth Prime Minister of Israel, serving two terms in office, 1974–77, and from 1992 until h ...
, and Palestinian Prime Minister
Yasser Arafat
Mohammed Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf al-Qudwa al-Husseini (4 / 24 August 1929 – 11 November 2004), popularly known as Yasser Arafat ( , ; ar, محمد ياسر عبد الرحمن عبد الرؤوف عرفات القدوة الحسيني, Mu ...
met and signed the
Oslo Accords in 1993, which called for the gradual ceding of control of Palestinian areas to the Palestinians in exchange for peace. However, Rabin was assassinated in 1995 and by 2000, the
Camp David Summit failed to yield a new agreement.
Early Islamist terrorist attacks
The 1990s also featured a series of increasingly violent attacks associated with
Islamist terrorists, including
al-Qaeda, a radical Islamist militant organization led by
Osama bin Laden. On February 26, 1993,
a truck bomb was detonated at the
World Trade Center
World Trade Centers are sites recognized by the World Trade Centers Association.
World Trade Center may refer to:
Buildings
* List of World Trade Centers
* World Trade Center (2001–present), a building complex that includes five skyscrapers, a ...
in New York City, killing six civilians and injuring 919 others, 88 firefighters, and 35 police officers. The attack was intended to destroy the foundation of the North Tower, knocking the tower into the South Tower, which would destroy both buildings and kill thousands of people. While this did not happen, the bomb caused considerable damage to the lower levels of the North Tower. In 1994, four men were convicted of carrying out the bombing and in 1997, two men were convicted for their roles, including the truck driver and the mastermind,
Ramzi Yousef
Ramzi Ahmed Yousef ( ur, , translit=''Ramzī Ahmad Yūsuf''; born 20 May 1967 or 27 April 1968) is a Pakistani convicted terrorist who was one of the main perpetrators of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and the bombing of Philippine Airlines ...
.
On June 25, 1996, members of
Hezbollah Al-Hejaz
Hezbollah Al-Hejaz ( ar, حزب الله الحجاز; literally Party of God in the ''Hejaz''), or Hizbollah in the Hijaz, was a militant Shia organization operating in Saudi Arabia. It was founded in May 1987 in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Provinc ...
bombed the Khobar Towers, a complex in Khobar, Saudi Arabia, where members of the
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part ...
were being housed, killing 19 American airmen and injuring over 300 other people.
On August 7, 1998, Al-Qaeda
bombed the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, killing 224 people, including 12 Americans. The U.S. launched cruise missile strikes on a terrorist training camp in Afghanistan, yet this failed to destroy al-Qaeda's vast network.
On October 12, 2000, al-Qaeda militants
bombed the USS ''Cole'' off the coast of Yemen, killing 17 U.S. sailors and severely damaging the ship.
Attacks of September 11
![North face south tower after plane strike 9-11](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e5/North_face_south_tower_after_plane_strike_9-11.jpg)
On the morning of September 11, 2001, four airliners were hijacked by 19 members of the terrorist organization
al-Qaeda. The first hijacked airliner,
American Airlines Flight 11
American Airlines Flight 11 was a domestic passenger flight that was hijacked by five al-Qaeda terrorists on September 11, 2001 as part of the September 11 attacks. Lead hijacker Mohamed Atta deliberately crashed the plane into the North Towe ...
, struck the
North Tower of the
World Trade Center
World Trade Centers are sites recognized by the World Trade Centers Association.
World Trade Center may refer to:
Buildings
* List of World Trade Centers
* World Trade Center (2001–present), a building complex that includes five skyscrapers, a ...
at 8:46 A.M. (EST) in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
; with a second,
United Airlines Flight 175
United Airlines Flight 175 was a domestic passenger flight that was hijacked by five al-Qaeda terrorists on September 11, 2001, as part of the September 11 attacks. The flight's scheduled plan was from Logan International Airport, in Boston, ...
, striking the
South Tower less than twenty minutes later at 9:03 A.M. (EST), resulting in the collapse of both 110 story skyscrapers, and the destruction of the World Trade Center. The third hijacked plane,
American Airlines Flight 77, was crashed into
the Pentagon
The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense. It was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As a symbol of the U.S. military, the phrase ''The Pentagon'' is often used as a meton ...
(the headquarters of the
United States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national sec ...
) in
Arlington County, Virginia
Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the District of Columbia, of which it was once a part. The county ...
, demolishing a section of the outer southwest facing wall. After passengers discovered that their plane,
United Airlines Flight 93
United Airlines Flight 93 was a domestic scheduled passenger flight that was hijacked by four al-Qaeda attackers aboard the plane on the morning of September 11, 2001, as part of the September 11 attacks. The plane eventually crashed in S ...
, was going to be used as a missile, they attempted to regain control of the aircraft which had been redirected towards
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
However, after regaining control from the hijackers, the plane crashed close to a
rural community near
Shanksville, Pennsylvania
Shanksville is a borough in Somerset County, Pennsylvania. It has a population of 197 as of the 2020 U.S. census. It is part of the Somerset, Pennsylvania Micropolitan Statistical Area and is located southeast of Pittsburgh and west of Philade ...
. It is believed that the target of Flight 93 was either the
White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...
or the
Capitol
A capitol, named after the Capitoline Hill in Rome, is usually a legislative building where a legislature meets and makes laws for its respective political entity.
Specific capitols include:
* United States Capitol in Washington, D.C.
* Numerous ...
. In total, the attacks killed 2,996 people—2,507 civilians, 343 firefighters, 72 law enforcement officers, 55 military personnel, and the 19 terrorists. The 9/11 attack was the single deadliest international terrorist incident and the most devastating foreign attack on American soil since the
Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. It refocused American attention to a long war on terrorism, beginning with an attack on al-Qaeda and its Taliban supporters in Afghanistan.
War in Afghanistan
![President George W](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ab/President_George_W._Bush_rallies_firefighters_and_rescue_workers_during_an_impromptu_speech_at_the_site_of_the_collapsed_World_Trade_Center.jpg)
After the 9/11 attacks, Congress passed the
Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Terrorists
The Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) (, ) is a joint resolution of the United States Congress which became law on September 18, 2001, authorizing the use of the United States Armed Forces against those responsible for the September ...
, authorizing the President "all necessary and appropriate force against the nations, organizations, or persons he determines planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001." This act resulted in the
2001 invasion of Afghanistan
In late 2001, the United States and its close allies invaded Afghanistan and toppled the Taliban government. The invasion's aims were to dismantle al-Qaeda, which had executed the September 11 attacks, and to deny it a safe base of operati ...
, in President
George W. Bush's broader
Global War on Terrorism
The war on terror, officially the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT), is an ongoing international counterterrorism military campaign initiated by the United States following the September 11 attacks. The main targets of the campaign are militant ...
. The objective of the 2001 invasion, known as
Operation Enduring Freedom, was to remove the
Islamic fundamentalist
Islamic fundamentalism has been defined as a puritanical, revivalist, and reform movement of Muslims who aim to return to the founding scriptures of Islam. Islamic fundamentalists are of the view that Muslim-majority countries should return t ...
Taliban
The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalist, militant Islamist, jihadist, and Pasht ...
lead government from power in Afghanistan, and to capture top level al-Qaeda leaders, including its founder Osama bin Laden. The invasion, fought in conjunction with the U.S.'s NATO allies, began on October 7, 2001, quickly leading to the overthrow of the Taliban government and implementation of
Hamid Karzai
Hamid Karzai (; Pashto/ fa, حامد کرزی, , ; born 24 December 1957) is an Afghan statesman who served as the fourth president of Afghanistan from July 2002 to September 2014, including as the first elected president of the Islamic Repub ...
as Afghanistan's interim president. In early 2002, after the
Battle of Tora Bora
The Battle of Tora Bora was a military engagement that took place in the cave complex of Tora Bora, eastern Afghanistan, from December 6–17, 2001, during the opening stages of the United States invasion of Afghanistan. It was launched by the ...
and success with
Operation Anaconda
Operation Anaconda was a military operation that took place in early March 2002 as part of the War in Afghanistan. CIA paramilitary officers, working with their allies, attempted to destroy al-Qaeda and Taliban forces. The operation took plac ...
, the United States began focusing on military intervention in Iraq, shifting military and intelligence resources away from Afghanistan in War on Terror, with
U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld stating in May 2003 that the "major combat" in the conflict was over. With the approval of the new
Afghan Constitution by the
Loya jirga
A jirga ( ps, جرګه, ''jərga'') is an assembly of leaders that makes decisions by consensus according to Pashtunwali, the Pashtun social code. It is conducted in order to settle disputes among the Pashtuns, but also by members of other ethnic ...
and
election
An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office.
Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...
of President Karzai in 2004, Afghanistan later held its first
parliamentary elections in over 30 years in 2005.
With a total of 22,000 U.S. troops deployed in Afghanistan by May 2006, the U.S. joined in the
ISAF
' ps, کمک او همکاري '
, allies = Afghanistan
, opponents = Taliban Al-Qaeda
, commander1 =
, commander1_label = Commander
, commander2 =
, commander2_label =
, commander3 =
, command ...
lead
Operation Mountain Thrust. In the attempt to quell the
Taliban insurgency
{{Infobox military conflict
, partof = the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) and the Afghanistan conflict
, image = 2021 Taliban Offensive.png
, image_size = 300px
, caption = Map of the 2021 Taliban of ...
in southern Afghanistan, more than 1,000 insurgents and 150 ISAF troops were killed in the two-month operation, being the bloodiest period since the start of the war in 2001. With ISAF assuming complete command of security forces in Afghanistan in October 2006, the U.S. saw mounting skepticism from European allies over the war at the
2006 Riga summit
The 2006 Riga summit or the 19th NATO Summit was a NATO summit held in the Olympic Sports Centre, Riga, Latvia from 28 to 29 November 2006. The most important topics discussed were the War in Afghanistan and the future role and borders of the ...
. U.S.-Afghan diplomatic relations began to flare after the August 2008
Azizabad airstrike in
Herat Province
Herat ( Persian: ) is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan, located in the north-western part of the country. Together with Badghis, Farah, and Ghor provinces, it makes up the north-western region of Afghanistan. Its primary city a ...
, which killed 91 civilians, including 60 children and 15 women. The attack sparked protest over "
collateral damage
Collateral damage is any death, injury, or other damage inflicted that is an incidental result of an activity. Originally coined by military operations, it is now also used in non-military contexts.
Since the development of precision guided ...
"; with a 40% increase in civilian deaths in 2008.
Iraq War
![UStanks baghdad 2003](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/80/UStanks_baghdad_2003.JPEG)
In his
State of the Union address
The State of the Union Address (sometimes abbreviated to SOTU) is an annual message delivered by the president of the United States to a joint session of the United States Congress near the beginning of each calendar year on the current conditi ...
in January 2002, President George W. Bush called Iran,
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...
, and North Korea an "
axis of evil
The phrase "axis of evil" was first used by U.S. President George W. Bush and originally referred to Iran, Iraq, and North Korea. It was used in Bush's State of the Union address on January 29, 2002, less than five months after the 9/11 attac ...
". The Bush administration later began making a public case for an invasion of Iraq, accusing them of violating the 1991 UN-imposed
ceasefire
A ceasefire (also known as a truce or armistice), also spelled cease fire (the antonym of 'open fire'), is a temporary stoppage of a war in which each side agrees with the other to suspend aggressive actions. Ceasefires may be between state act ...
, supporting terrorism and being in possession of
weapons of mass destruction
A weapon of mass destruction (WMD) is a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, or any other weapon that can kill and bring significant harm to numerous individuals or cause great damage to artificial structures (e.g., buildings), natu ...
(later, the latter of these accusations were proved to be false, and the first two are considered very dubious by most historians).
Some important allies of the U.S., including India, Japan, Turkey, New Zealand, France, Germany, and Canada, did not believe that the evidence for the President's accusations was well-founded enough to justify a full-scale invasion, especially as military personnel were still needed in Afghanistan. The UN Security Council did not approve of the invasion, and the U.S. therefore provided most of the forces in the
invasion of Iraq
The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a United States-led invasion of the Republic of Iraq and the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 (air) and 20 March 2003 (ground) and lasted just over one month, including 26 ...
. With the support of a coalition whose major partners included the United Kingdom, Australia, Poland, Spain, and Italy, Iraq was invaded on March 20, 2003.
![OIF fatalities by month](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d2/OIF_fatalities_by_month.png)
After six weeks of combat between the coalition and the Iraqi army, the invading forces had secured control of many key regions; Hussein had fled his palace, his regime clearly over; on May 1, President Bush declared, under a sign reading "
mission accomplished", that major ground operations were at an end. Saddam Hussein's sons
Qusay Qusay (also transliterated as Qusai, ar, قصي, ) is a masculine given name. It may refer to:
People
* Qusai Abu Alieh, Jordanian footballer
* Qusai Abtini, Syrian child actor
* Ahmed Kousay Altaie, Iraqi American United States Army soldier, capt ...
and
Uday were killed by U.S. forces; Saddam himself was captured in December 2003 and taken into custody. Nevertheless, fighting with the
Iraqi insurgency continued and escalated through the
2004 U.S. national elections and beyond.
With
casualties
A casualty, as a term in military usage, is a person in military service, combatant or non-combatant, who becomes unavailable for duty due to any of several circumstances, including death, injury, illness, capture or desertion.
In civilian usag ...
increasing and the cost of the invasion and reconstruction of Iraq estimated at over $200 billion, the war has lost about one-third of its supporters in the U.S. since the end of major operations was announced. Contemporary polls suggested that international displeasure with the United States was at an all-time high, with a majority of people in Europe believing that the country was too powerful and acted mainly in self-interest, and a vast majority in predominantly Muslim nations believing that the United States was arrogant, belligerent, or hateful to Islam.
Domestic terrorism
![Oklahomacitybombing-DF-ST-98-01356](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cb/Oklahomacitybombing-DF-ST-98-01356.jpg)
The 1990s and 2000s (decade) became known for several incidents of
domestic terrorism
Domestic terrorism or homegrown terrorism is a form of terrorism in which victims "within a country are targeted by a perpetrator with the same citizenship" as the victims.Gary M. Jackson, ''Predicting Malicious Behavior: Tools and Techniques ...
, usually perpetrated by those dissatisfied with actions of the federal government, big business, or other aspects of American society.
Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, a mysterious man known in the media as the "Unabomber" sent
mail bomb
A letter bomb, also called parcel bomb, mail bomb, package bomb, note bomb, message bomb, gift bomb, present bomb, delivery bomb, surprise bomb, postal bomb, or post bomb, is an explosive device sent via the postal service, and designed with t ...
s to figures in the academic and airline industries for various reasons. After a lull, he began another mail bombing campaign in earnest, beginning in 1993. Two people were killed in the mid-1990s and an exhaustive and expensive investigation by the FBI coupled with intense national media interest in the story resulted in the identification and arrest of the perpetrator
Theodore Kaczynski, who was sentenced to life in prison.
On April 19, 1995, a
truck bomb
A car bomb, bus bomb, lorry bomb, or truck bomb, also known as a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED), is an improvised explosive device designed to be detonated in an automobile or other vehicles.
Car bombs can be roughly divided ...
was detonated outside the
Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, and ...
, killing 168 people and injuring over 600. The bombing became the deadliest act of domestic terrorism in the United States and led to sweeping reforms in
United States federal building security
United States federal building security refers to the security of federal government installations in the United States. A variety of measures are undertaken to make the buildings safer, while preserving an open architecture consistent with democr ...
. The attack's perpetrator,
Timothy McVeigh
Timothy James McVeigh (April 23, 1968 – June 11, 2001) was an American domestic terrorist responsible for the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing that killed 168 people, 19 of whom were children, injured more than 680 others, and destroyed one-third ...
, was an anti-government extremist who used the
Waco Siege
The Waco siege, also known as the Waco massacre, was the law enforcement siege of the compound that belonged to the religious sect Branch Davidians. It was carried out by the U.S. federal government, Texas state law enforcement, and the U.S. ...
and
Ruby Ridge
Ruby Ridge was the site of an eleven-day siege in 1992 in Boundary County, Idaho, near Naples. It began on August 21, when deputies of the United States Marshals Service (USMS) initiated action to apprehend and arrest Randy Weaver under a bench ...
incidents as justification for his retaliation against the federal government. While McVeigh wanted to specifically target the federal agencies involved in the Waco siege, such as the
ATF and
DEA, the bombing killed many innocent civilians, including 19 children. McVeigh was executed in 2001 and his accomplice
Terry Nichols
Terry Lynn Nichols (born April 1, 1955) is an American domestic terrorist who was convicted of being an accomplice in the Oklahoma City bombing. Prior to his incarceration, he held a variety of short-term jobs, working as a farmer, grain elevato ...
was sentenced to life in prison.
In July 1996, in the midst of the
1996 Summer Olympics
The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...
at
Centennial Olympic Park in
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...
,
a homemade bomb was detonated, resulting in the deaths of 2 people and injuring over 100. This was followed by similar attacks at two
abortion clinic
Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pregnan ...
s and a lesbian nightclub. In 2003, suspect
Eric Robert Rudolph
Eric Robert Rudolph (born September 19, 1966), also known as the Olympic Park Bomber, is an American domestic terrorist convicted for a series of bombings across the southern United States between 1996 and 1998, which killed two people and inju ...
was arrested and sentenced in 2005 to five life sentences for these attacks.
In 2001, only days after the
September 11 attacks
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...
, letters laced with
anthrax were sent to several individuals, including prominent news personalities and government officials. The letters killed 5 people and infected a further 17. This incident of
bioterrorism
Bioterrorism is terrorism involving the intentional release or dissemination of biological agents. These agents are bacteria, viruses, insects, fungi, and/or toxins, and may be in a naturally occurring or a human-modified form, in much the same ...
was initially blamed on international terrorist organization al-Qaeda, but in 2008, was determined to stem from a Maryland scientist by the name of
Bruce Edward Ivins, who committed suicide before he could be prosecuted.
Crime and violence
The crime epidemic that had begun during the late 1960s finally reached its climax in the early 1990s before starting a steady decline during the Clinton administration. Nevertheless, ongoing addiction (involving sales of marijuana and cocaine) continued to be a major factor in
crime in the United States
Crime in the United States has been recorded since its founding. Crime rates have varied over time, with a sharp rise after 1900 and reaching a broad bulging peak between the 1970s and early 1990s. After 1992, crime rates began to fall year by ye ...
. The overall rate of major crimes fell during the period. In 2009, the FBI estimated 1,318,000 violent crimes occurred nationwide, 1,425,000 in 2000, down from the 1991 level of 1,912,000. Measured per capita, this was a 43% percent drop in violent crime rates. At the time, it was believed that crime had declined because of stricter judicial sentencing practices, the implementation of Three Strikes laws, improving law enforcement technology that made it easier to catch felons, and the end of the
crack epidemic
The crack epidemic was a surge of crack cocaine use in major cities across the United States throughout the entirety of the 1980s and the early 1990s. This resulted in a number of social consequences, such as increasing crime and violence in Amer ...
. But later statistical assessments ruled out most of these explanations, and tended to find that factors such as greater prosperity, lower alcohol consumption, generation-specific cultural effects, improved security technology, and decreases in
leaded petrol
Tetraethyllead (commonly styled tetraethyl lead), abbreviated TEL, is an organolead compound with the formula Pb( C2H5)4. It is a fuel additive, first being mixed with gasoline beginning in the 1920s as a patented octane rating booster that al ...
had probably caused most of the decline, while
public policy conversation began to regret the incarcerative policies of the preceding decades.
In the 1990s and 2000s (decade), a number of highly publicized assaults against lesbian, gay,
bisexual, and
transgender
A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through ...
people occurred in the United States. The most well known of these was the murder of
Matthew Shepard in Wyoming after two young men kidnapped, tortured, and murdered him in 1998. In 2009, Congress passed the
Matthew Shepard Act, which extended the hate crime law to women, the disabled, and gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transsexuals.
A spate of
school shooting
A school shooting is an attack at an educational institution, such as a primary school, secondary school, high school or university, involving the use of firearms. Many school shootings are also categorized as mass shootings due to multiple c ...
s rocked the country in the late 1990s and the 2000s, the most notable being the 1999
Columbine High School massacre, that left 15 people dead, including both perpetrators
Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. The actions of Harris and Klebold would go on to
influence
Influence or influencer may refer to:
*Social influence, in social psychology, influence in interpersonal relationships
** Minority influence, when the minority affect the behavior or beliefs of the majority
*Influencer marketing, through individ ...
many future mass killers. Others include the
Westside Middle School massacre (1998), the
Red Lake shootings
The Red Lake shootings were a spree killing that occurred on March 21, 2005, in two places on the Red Lake Indian Reservation in Red Lake, Minnesota, United States. That afternoon, 16-year-old Jeff Weise killed his grandfather (an Ojibwe tribal ...
(2005), the
West Nickel Mines School shooting
On October 2, 2006, a shooting occurred at the West Nickel Mines School, an Amish one-room schoolhouse in the Old Order Amish community of Nickel Mines, a village in Bart Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Gunman Charles Carl Roberts IV ...
(2006), the
Virginia Tech shooting
The Virginia Tech shooting was a spree shooting that occurred on April 16, 2007, comprising two attacks on the campus of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States. Seung-Hui Cho, an u ...
(2007), and the
Northern Illinois University shooting (2008). Those shootings led to increased debate over
gun politics
Gun laws and policies, collectively referred to as firearms regulation or gun control, regulate the manufacture, sale, transfer, possession, modification, and use of small arms by civilians. Laws of some countries may afford civilians a right to ...
and
media violence, as well as an increased focus on mental health, school safety, and anti-bullying.
The
Capital Region
A capital region, also called a capital district or capital territory, is a region or district surrounding a capital city. It is not always the official term for the region, but may sometimes be used as an informal synonym. Capital regions can exis ...
was struck by the
Beltway sniper attacks
The D.C. sniper attacks (also known as the Beltway sniper attacks) were a series of coordinated shootings that occurred during three weeks in October 2002 throughout the Washington metropolitan area, consisting of the District of Columbia, M ...
, a series of sniper attacks on civilians and federal workers by two gunmen over a month-long period in October 2002. The attackers killed 10 people and injured three. Two men were arrested and convicted.
During the 2000s, a series of high-profile child abduction cases occurred, including
Danielle van Dam (2002),
Samantha Runnion (2002),
Elizabeth Smart
Elizabeth Ann Gilmour (née Smart; born November 3, 1987) is an American child safety activist and commentator for ABC News. She gained national attention at age 14 when she was abducted from her home in Salt Lake City by Brian David Mitchell. ...
(2002),
Carlie Brucia (2004), and
Jessica Lunsford (2005). These incidents led to a public outcry and demands for stricter laws against sex offenders, the most notable of which was
Jessica's Law
Jessica's Law is the informal name given to a 2005 Florida law, as well as laws in several other states, designed to protect potential victims and reduce a sexual offender's ability to re-offend. A version of Jessica's Law, known as the Jessica ...
.
In 1992,
riots occurred in Los Angeles after four police officers were acquitted in the beating of black motorist
Rodney King
Rodney Glen King (April 2, 1965June 17, 2012) was an African American man who was a victim of police brutality. On March 3, 1991, he was beaten by Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officers during his arrest after a pursuit for driving whi ...
. The riots occurred primarily in
South Central Los Angeles
South Los Angeles, also known as South Central Los Angeles or simply South Central, is a region in southwestern Los Angeles County, lying mostly within the city limits of Los Angeles, south of downtown.
It is "defined on Los Angeles city maps as a ...
, a predominantly black and Hispanic area. Fifty-five people were killed and more than 2000 were injured. 3,600 fires were set, destroying over 1,000 buildings and widespread looting occurred, especially of businesses owned by
Korean American
Korean Americans are Americans of Korean ancestry (mostly from South Korea). In 2015, the Korean-American community constituted about 0.56% of the United States population, or about 1.82 million people, and was the fifth-largest Asian American ...
s. In all, nearly $1 billion in damage was caused.
Disasters
Natural disasters
On August 24, 1992, the category-five
Hurricane Andrew made landfall in
South Florida, devastating the southern suburbs of Miami, including
Homestead
Homestead may refer to:
*Homestead (buildings), a farmhouse and its adjacent outbuildings; by extension, it can mean any small cluster of houses
* Homestead (unit), a unit of measurement equal to 160 acres
*Homestead principle, a legal concept t ...
,
Kendall, and
Cutler Ridge. Two days later, the storm made landfall again in a sparsely populated part of
Louisiana
Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...
, with relatively less damage than in Florida. The storm killed 26 people directly, 39 indirectly. With $26 billion in damage, it became the costliest storm in history at that time. The storm was known for many controversies including the sluggish federal response, which may have impacted President George H.W. Bush's image on domestic issues, as well as poor housing construction which may have led to such high levels of destruction.
![Storm of the century satellite](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9c/Storm_of_the_century_satellite.gif)
In March 1993, a massive storm, known as the "
Storm of the Century" or "Superstorm" struck the
Eastern Seaboard of the United States. The storm set low pressure records; produced hurricane-force winds, storm surge, and killer tornadoes in Florida; and produced snowfall up to across many portions of the Eastern United States. The storm was particularly crippling to the Southern United States, where places like
Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...
received one-and-a-half feet of snow and record low temperatures, highly unusual for the region. In all, 300 deaths were attributed to the storm and $6 billion in damage was caused.
The
Great Flood of 1993
The Great Flood of 1993 (or Great Mississippi and Missouri Rivers Flood of 1993) was a flood that occurred in the Midwestern United States, along the Mississippi and Missouri rivers and their tributaries, from April to October 1993. The flood wa ...
affected the
Midwestern United States
The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of the United States. I ...
in the spring and summer of that year, devastating large portions of the
Mississippi
Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...
and
Missouri River Valleys and their tributaries. Many small towns were devastated and agricultural losses were significant. 10,000 homes were destroyed and of agricultural lands were inundated. 50 people perished in the floods and $15 billion in damage was done.
In the early morning hours of January 17, 1994, the
San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles was hit by a 6.7 magnitude earthquake, known as the "
Northridge earthquake". The quake killed more than 70 people and injured 9,000. Most of the fatalities were attributed to collapsed buildings, parking structures, or freeways. Striking an urban area, it was very destructive, causing $20 billion in damage.
In July 1995, the city of Chicago was hit by
a heat wave that had severe repercussions. During a five-day spell from July 12 to 16, the high temperature hovered from the mid 90s to the mid 100s. The heat index pushed 120 degrees on many days. The heat wave resulted in the deaths of over 700 people, many of whom were black, elderly, or poor. The event brought increased attention to these segments of the population and the importance of reaching out to them during heat waves, as well as the concept of the
urban heat island
An urban heat island (UHI) is an urban or metropolitan area that is significantly warmer than its surrounding rural areas due to human activities. The temperature difference is usually larger at night than during the day, and is most apparen ...
effect, in which urban environments exacerbate heat and humidity levels. Additionally, power failures and lack of adequate warning and general preparedness aggravated the situation and may have contributed to such high fatalities.
In January 1996, the
Blizzard of 1996 affected the
Northeastern and
Mid-Atlantic United States, dumping up to of snow on many areas, crippling major American cities like Washington, D.C.,
Baltimore
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
,
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...
, New York City, and Boston. The storm killed 150 people and caused $3 billion in damages.
On May 3, 1999,
a violent tornado outbreak struck the Southern
Great Plains, predominantly
Oklahoma. The most destructive tornado was an F5 tornado that struck Oklahoma City and the suburb of
Moore. The tornado is one of the most prominent examples of a tornado striking a major urban area and became the first tornado to incur over $1 billion in damages. In all, the outbreak resulted in 50 deaths and over 600 injuries.
In 2004, four hurricanes--
Charley,
Frances
Frances is a French and English given name of Latin origin. In Latin the meaning of the name Frances is 'from France' or 'free one.' The male version of the name in English is Francis. The original Franciscus, meaning "Frenchman", comes from the F ...
,
Ivan
Ivan () is a Slavic male given name, connected with the variant of the Greek name (English: John) from Hebrew meaning 'God is gracious'. It is associated worldwide with Slavic countries. The earliest person known to bear the name was Bulgari ...
, and
Jeanne—struck the state of Florida in a one-month timespan, resulting in over 100 U.S. deaths and nearly $50 billion in damage combined. Out of the four hurricanes, Ivan was the deadliest in the U.S., while Charley was the most destructive.
![Hurricane Katrina Flooding](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/50/Hurricane_Katrina_Flooding.jpg)
2005 brought
the most active Atlantic hurricane season in recorded history. In August 2005, the powerful
Hurricane Katrina struck the
Gulf Coast
The Gulf Coast of the United States, also known as the Gulf South, is the coast, coastline along the Southern United States where they meet the Gulf of Mexico. The list of U.S. states and territories by coastline, coastal states that have a shor ...
region. Katrina broke the
levees
A levee (), dike (American English), dyke (Commonwealth English), embankment, floodbank, or stop bank is a structure that is usually earthen and that often runs parallel to the course of a river in its floodplain or along low-lying coastli ...
of
and flooded 80% of the low-lying city. Extensive devastation and flooding also occurred from
Mobile, Alabama west to
Beaumont, Texas, with the
Mississippi
Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...
coastline especially hard hit. At least 1,800 people died in the worst domestic calamity since the
1928 Okeechobee hurricane. Port facilities, oil rigs and refineries in the Gulf region were damaged, further increasing already high U.S. fuel prices. Residents of New Orleans, many of whom were impoverished and unable (or unwilling) to evacuate before the storm, were trapped for days by the flood waters. Tens of thousands had to be rescued by the U.S. military from their rooftops or from unsanitary and dangerous shelters in public buildings. State and local authorities were overwhelmed by the scale of the events. Their response to the disaster, as well the federal government's, were harshly criticized by legislators and citizens who saw in the confusion a dangerous lack of readiness and inability to preserve public safety. President Bush promised that the federal government would underwrite the rebuilding of New Orleans and other storm-damaged areas, the cost of which was estimated to run as high as $200 billion. Only weeks after Katrina,
Hurricane Rita struck the Texas/Louisiana border in September. Rita caused the largest evacuation in U.S. history, as millions of people fled the Houston area, as well as portions of Louisiana. Rita resulted in over 100 fatalities, the vast majority of which were indirect, occurring during the evacuation or in the aftermath of the storm. Additionally, $10 billion in damage was attributed to Rita. Later in the season,
Hurricane Wilma
Hurricane Wilma was an extremely intense and destructive Atlantic hurricane which was the most intense storm of its kind and the second-most intense tropical cyclone recorded in the Western Hemisphere, after Hurricane Patricia in 2015. Part o ...
struck the state of Florida in October 2005, killing 35 people and doing $20 billion worth of damage. The storm yielded the lowest pressure value ever recorded in history before making landfall in Florida, making it the most intense storm on record.
On
Super Tuesday
Super Tuesday is the United States presidential primary election day in February or March when the greatest number of U.S. states hold primary elections and caucuses. Approximately one-third of all delegates to the presidential nominating co ...
in February 2008, in the midst of heated primary elections in multiple states,
a destructive tornado outbreak hit the
Mid-South region, spawning dangerous nighttime twisters across the region. A total of 87 tornadoes were reported. Over 60 people were killed across
Tennessee
Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...
,
Kentucky
Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...
,
Arkansas
Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the O ...
, and Alabama and hundreds were injured. Losses exceeded $1 billion. The outbreak was the deadliest outbreak in the US in 23 years, and brought renewed attention to the dangers of nighttime tornadoes, winter tornadoes, and the vulnerability of populations in the Southern United States.
In September 2008, after two straight years of not being affected by a serious hurricane,
Hurricane Gustav
Hurricane Gustav () was the second most destructive hurricane of the 2008 Atlantic hurricane season. The seventh tropical cyclone, third hurricane, and second major hurricane of the season, Gustav caused serious damage and casualties in Haiti, ...
caused $18 billion in damage in Louisiana, and a few weeks later, the
Galveston, Texas
Galveston ( ) is a coastal resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of , with a population of 47,743 in 2010, is the county seat of surrounding Galvesto ...
and
Houston, Texas
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
areas were devastated by
Hurricane Ike
Hurricane Ike () was a powerful tropical cyclone that swept through portions of the Greater Antilles and Northern America in September 2008, wreaking havoc on infrastructure and agriculture, particularly in Cuba and Texas. Ike took a sim ...
with over $31 billion in damage, making Ike the third most destructive hurricane ever to hit the United States behind Hurricanes Andrew and Katrina. Over 100 people were killed. The hurricanes also caused gas prices to spike to around $4 per gallon.
Other disasters
Notable aviation disasters in the 1990s included
TWA Flight 800
Trans World Airlines Flight 800 (TWA800) was a Boeing 747-100 that exploded and crashed into the Atlantic Ocean near East Moriches, New York, on July 17, 1996, at about 8:31pm. Eastern Daylight Time, EDT, 12 minutes after takeoff from John F. K ...
crashing off the coast of
Long Island
Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...
, en route to Paris, France, on July 17, 1996, due to an explosion of the fuel tank, killing 230 and
EgyptAir Flight 990
EgyptAir Flight 990 (MS990/MSR990) was a regularly scheduled flight from Los Angeles International Airport to Cairo International Airport, with a stop at John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York City. On October 31, 1999, the Boeing 767-3 ...
crashing south of
Nantucket, Massachusetts
Nantucket () is an island about south from Cape Cod. Together with the small islands of Tuckernuck and Muskeget, it constitutes the Town and County of Nantucket, a combined county/town government that is part of the U.S. state of Massachuse ...
, en route to
Cairo, Egypt
Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...
, on October 31, 1999, due to deliberate crashing by the first officer, killing 217. Shortly after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the second-deadliest U.S. aviation incident occurred when
American Airlines Flight 587
American Airlines Flight 587 was a regularly scheduled international passenger flight from John F. Kennedy International Airport to Las Américas International Airport in Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic. On November 12, 200 ...
crashed in
Queens
Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...
, New York, en route to the Dominican Republic, on November 12, 2001, due to overuse of rudder controls by the pilot to counteract turbulence, killing 265 (including 5 on the ground).
On February 1, 2003, the
Space Shuttle ''Columbia'' disintegrated upon re-entry to the Earth over parts of Texas and Louisiana during
STS-107
STS-107 was the 113th flight of the Space Shuttle program, and the 28th and final flight of Space Shuttle ''Columbia''. The mission launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on January 16, 2003, and during its 15 days, 22 hours, 20 minutes ...
, resulting in the deaths of all seven astronauts. The incident resulted from a piece of foam insulation that fell off during launch, which struck the shuttle, creating a hole that allowed hot gases to penetrate the shuttle during re-entry. In the aftermath of the disaster, the
Space Shuttle program
The Space Shuttle program was the fourth human spaceflight program carried out by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), which accomplished routine transportation for Earth-to-orbit crew and cargo from 1981 to 2011. Its ...
was suspended for 29 months as
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research.
NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...
investigated the incident and made plans to prevent future tragedies.
On February 17, 2003,
a stampede occurred at the E2 nightclub in Chicago, after an incident involving pepper spray, resulting in the deaths of 21 people. Three days later, on February 20, 100 people perished and over 200 were injured in
The Station nightclub fire
The Station nightclub fire occurred on the evening of February 20, 2003, in West Warwick, Rhode Island, United States, killing 100 people and injuring 230. The fire was caused by pyrotechnics set off by the tour manager of the evening's headlini ...
in
West Warwick, Rhode Island
West Warwick is a town in Kent County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 31,012 at the 2020 census.
West Warwick was incorporated in 1913, making it the youngest town in the state. Prior to 1913, the town, situated on the wester ...
, when pyrotechnics ignited flammable sound-proofing during a performance by the band
Great White. Both incidents brought attention to the need to crack down on building, fire, and safety code violations to prevent future tragedies.
A porch collapse that killed 13 and seriously injured 57 in June 2003 in Chicago further emphasized the problems with building code violations in the United States.
On August 1, 2007, the
I-35W Mississippi River bridge
The I-35W Mississippi River bridge (officially known as Bridge 9340) was an eight-lane, steel truss arch bridge that carried Interstate 35W across the Mississippi River one-half mile (875 m) downstream from the Saint Anthony Falls in Minneap ...
in
Minneapolis
Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...
collapsed into the Mississippi River, killing 13 people and injuring over 50. The bridge was under construction at the time. The incident brought to attention the need to inspect and rehabilitate the aging infrastructure system in the United States.
Energy issues
![Energy-usa-1980+](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c6/Energy-usa-1980%2B.jpg)
After 1970 the U.S. began importing oil, as consumption kept rising and the nation's oil fields became less productive. Throughout the 1990s the world price of crude oil ranged between $10 and $40, and the average price at the pump did not exceed $1.40. Oil prices tripled after 2002, peaking at $147 in July 2008, about $4 a gallon; the price has continued to fluctuate widely. The theme of "
energy independence
Energy independence is independence or autarky regarding energy resources, energy supply and/or energy generation by the energy industry.
Energy dependence, in general, refers to mankind's general dependence on either primary or secondary ene ...
" led to legislation mandating more fuel efficient autos—even electric vehicles—and more efficient use of energy, ranging from insulation to new light bulbs. Even worse than the high price, was the fear of shortages. Many proposals and pilot projects for replacement energy sources, from
ethanol
Ethanol (abbr. EtOH; also called ethyl alcohol, grain alcohol, drinking alcohol, or simply alcohol) is an organic compound. It is an Alcohol (chemistry), alcohol with the chemical formula . Its formula can be also written as or (an ethyl ...
to
wind power
Wind power or wind energy is mostly the use of wind turbines to electricity generation, generate electricity. Wind power is a popular, sustainable energy, sustainable, renewable energy source that has a much smaller Environmental impact of wi ...
and
solar power
Solar power is the conversion of energy from sunlight into electricity, either directly using photovoltaics (PV) or indirectly using concentrated solar power. Photovoltaic cells convert light into an electric current using the photovoltaic e ...
were discussed and, indeed, funded by Congress after 2000. In the
economic stimulus package signed by President Obama in early 2009, billions of dollars were allocated for
research and development of new energy sources.
While public attention focused on supplies from the Middle East, the main source was Canada. After 2007, new methods of extraction opened up vast new deposits of oil in the
Bakken Formation
The Bakken Formation () is a rock unit from the Late Devonian to Early Mississippian age occupying about of the subsurface of the Williston Basin, underlying parts of Montana, North Dakota, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. The formation was initi ...
in North Dakota and Montana. As much as two trillion dollars worth of natural gas is potentially available in the
Marcellus Formation
The Marcellus Formation or the Marcellus Shale is a Middle Devonian age unit of sedimentary rock found in eastern North America. Named for a distinctive outcrop near the village of Marcellus, New York, in the United States,
it extends throughou ...
deposits located in the historic 19th-century oil fields in
Appalachia
Appalachia () is a cultural region in the Eastern United States that stretches from the Southern Tier of New York State to northern Alabama and Georgia. While the Appalachian Mountains stretch from Belle Isle in Newfoundland and Labrador, Ca ...
, stretching from West Virginia through Pennsylvania into western New York. However, there is sharp debate underway regarding the environmental impact on the region's fresh water supply. The question of drilling in the
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR or Arctic Refuge) is a national wildlife refuge in northeastern Alaska, United States on traditional Gwich'in lands. It consists of in the Alaska North Slope region. It is the largest national wildli ...
(ANWR) was highly controversial, as Republican proposals were blocked by the Democrats in Congress. Republicans in 2008 were campaigning for more offshore drilling, with the slogan "
drill, baby, drill
"Drill, baby, drill!" was a 2008 Republican campaign slogan first used at the 2008 Republican National Convention by former Maryland Lieutenant Governor Michael Steele, who was later elected Chairman of the Republican National Committee. The sloga ...
", but the 2010 Gulf oil spill put all new drilling on hold.
Politics
The Clinton administration
![Clinton Administration](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/85/Clinton_Administration.jpg)
Following the success of the
First Gulf War
The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...
,
George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; pr ...
enjoyed very high approval ratings as president. However, economic recession and a
reneged campaign pledge dogged Bush, sinking his formerly high approval ratings from the high 80s to the lower 40s and upper 30s. In the wake of Bush's political problems,
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...
won the
1992 contest with 43% of the vote in a three-way race against Bush's 38%. Independent candidate
Ross Perot
Henry Ross Perot (; June 27, 1930 – July 9, 2019) was an American business magnate, billionaire, politician and philanthropist. He was the founder and chief executive officer of Electronic Data Systems and Perot Systems. He ran an inde ...
tapped the discontent of the electorate with both parties, drawing roughly evenly from both candidates to receive a record 19% of the popular vote, but no electoral votes. Perot's result qualified his
Reform Party to receive
Federal Election Commission
The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is an independent regulatory agency of the United States whose purpose is to enforce campaign finance law in United States federal elections. Created in 1974 through amendments to the Federal Election Cam ...
matching funds for campaign contributions in the 1996 election, thus laying the groundwork for another three-way race during the
1996 presidential election.
Aged 46 when he took office in January 1993, Clinton was one of the youngest presidents in US history and the first born after WWII. Historians and political analysts immediately referred to him as marking a "generational shift" in American politics similar to when John F. Kennedy had become the first president born in the 20th century. His promising to focus on and resolve some of the United States' many domestic issues, he entered office with high expectations. Immediately, however, he was hurt when he had to withdraw major nominees (over nonpayment of taxes). Clinton's
surgeon general,
Jocelyn Elders, attracted controversy over public remarks that "it would be good for parents to teach their children about masturbation". Much of his planned activity was overwhelmed by the intense debate over his proposal to permit gays to serve in the military. In addition, the president had a difficult time gaining the respect of the US military establishment due to having been painted as a Vietnam War draft dodger. The outcome was a new "
don't ask, don't tell
"Don't ask, don't tell" (DADT) was the official United States policy on military service of non-heterosexual people, instituted during the Clinton administration. The policy was issued under Department of Defense Directive 1304.26 on December ...
" compromise policy and loss of initiative in other areas.
One early domestic victory of the
Clinton administration
Bill Clinton's tenure as the 42nd president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1993, and ended on January 20, 2001. Clinton, a Democrat from Arkansas, took office following a decisive election victory over Re ...
was the enactment of the
1994 Assault Weapons Ban. The ban was widely decried by the Republicans, who allowed it to lapse in 2004 while they controlled both Congress and the presidency. Bill Clinton's
proposal of a national health care system, championed by his wife
Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...
,
ignited a political firestorm on the right, which vigorously opposed it on the general principle that government size should be reduced, not expanded. The proposed system did not survive the debate.
However Hillary Clinton did succeed, along with a bipartisan coalition of members of congress, in establishing the
Children's Health Insurance Program
The Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) – formerly known as the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) – is a program administered by the United States Department of Health and Human Services that provides matching funds to ...
.
The Republican Congress
![NewtGingrich](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d2/NewtGingrich.jpg)
The
New Deal
The New Deal was a series of programs, public work projects, financial reforms, and regulations enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1939. Major federal programs agencies included the Civilian Cons ...
, the
Great Society
The Great Society was a set of domestic programs in the United States launched by Democratic President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964–65. The term was first coined during a 1964 commencement address by President Lyndon B. Johnson at the University ...
, and
Watergate
The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the administration of President Richard Nixon from 1972 to 1974 that led to Nixon's resignation. The scandal stemmed from the Nixon administration's continual ...
helped solidify Democratic control of Congress, but the 1980s and early 1990s were a period of fragmentation of their coalition, when the popularity of Democratic incumbents as constituent servants masked growing disenchantment with Congress' governing capacities. The strongly liberal policies of Clinton's first two years in office were also a cause of controversy, and the Democrats suddenly lost control of the House and the Senate for the first time in four decades in the
1994 midterm elections. Once in power, House Republicans, led by
Newt Gingrich
Newton Leroy Gingrich (; né McPherson; born June 17, 1943) is an American politician and author who served as the 50th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1995 to 1999. A member of the Republican Party, he was the U ...
, faced the difficulty of learning to govern after 40 years as the minority party while simultaneously pursuing their "
Contract with America
The Contract with America was a legislative agenda advocated for by the Republican Party during the 1994 congressional election campaign. Written by Newt Gingrich and Dick Armey, and in part using text from former President Ronald Reagan's 19 ...
", which they unveiled on the steps of Congress on September 27, 1994.
Along with strong backing from traditional Democrats and liberals, Clinton was able to garner the support of moderates who appreciated his centrist "
New Democrat
New Democrats, also known as centrist Democrats, Clinton Democrats, or moderate Democrats, are a centrist ideological faction within the Democratic Party in the United States. As the Third Way faction of the party, they are seen as cultural ...
" policies, which steered away from the expansion of government services of the New Deal and Great Society and allowed him to "
triangulate
In trigonometry and geometry, triangulation is the process of determining the location of a point by forming triangles to the point from known points.
Applications
In surveying
Specifically in surveying, triangulation involves only angle me ...
", taking away many of the Republicans' top issues. One example of such compromises was
welfare reform legislation signed into law in 1996. The new law required welfare recipients to work as a condition of benefits and imposed limits on how long individuals may receive payments, but did allow states to exempt 20% of their caseloads from the time limits. Clinton also pursued tough federal anti-crime measures, steering more federal dollars toward the
war on drugs
The war on drugs is a Globalization, global campaign, led by the United States federal government, of prohibition of drugs, drug prohibition, military aid, and military intervention, with the aim of reducing the illegal drug trade in the Unite ...
, and calling for the hiring of 100,000 new police officers. Compromise came with difficulty, though, as the parties failed to agree on a budget, causing the
federal government to shut down in late 1995 into early 1996. By the end of his administration, the federal government had experienced the country's longest economic expansion and produced a budget surplus. The first year of the budget surplus was also the first year since 1969 in which the federal government did not borrow from the
Social Security Trust Fund
The Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund and Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund (collectively, the Social Security Trust Fund or Trust Funds) are trust funds that provide for payment of Social Security (Old-Age, Survivors, and D ...
.
The
1996 Democratic National Convention in late August that nominated Clinton sparked protests, such as the one whereby
Civil Rights Movement
The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional Racial segregation in the United States, racial segregation, Racial discrimination ...
historian
Randy Kryn
Randy is a given name, popular in the United States and Canada. It is primarily a masculine name. It was originally derived from the names Randall, Randolf, Randolph, as well as Bertrand and Andrew, and may be a short form (hypocorism) of them ...
and 10 others were arrested by the
Federal Protective Service; later on, in November's
1996 presidential election, Clinton faced
Bob Dole
Robert Joseph Dole (July 22, 1923 – December 5, 2021) was an American politician and attorney who represented Kansas in the United States Senate from 1969 to 1996. He was the Republican Leader of the Senate during the final 11 years of his te ...
, Republican Senator from Kansas. An uninspired insider, Dole failed to attract the support of the GOP base and the incumbent president pulled to victory in the November election. Ross Perot ran for a second time, but was not allowed at the debate between Clinton and Dole and failed to attract as much support as he had in 1992. As a sign of the general cynicism and voter apathy during this period, turnout for the election was only 49%.
Many voters in 1992 and 1996 had been willing to overlook long-standing rumors of extramarital affairs by Clinton, deeming them irrelevant. These matters came to a head, however, in February 1998 when reports surfaced of ongoing sexual relations between Clinton and a White House intern,
Monica Lewinsky
Monica Samille Lewinsky (born July 23, 1973) is an American activist and writer. President Bill Clinton admitted to having an affair with Lewinsky while she worked at the White House as an intern in 1995 and 1996. The affair, and its repercus ...
. Clinton initially and vigorously denied the relationship; "I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky." His wife Hillary described the allegations as fraudulent smears dredged up by a "
vast right-wing conspiracy
"Vast right-wing conspiracy" is a phrase popularized by a 1995 memo by political opposition researcher Chris Lehane and then referenced in 1998 by the then First Lady of the United States Hillary Rodham Clinton, in defense of her husband, Presiden ...
." Clinton was forced to retract his assertions in August 1998 after the Lewinsky matter came under investigation by
independent counsel
The Office of Special Counsel was an office of the United States Department of Justice established by provisions in the Ethics in Government Act that expired in 1999. The provisions were replaced by Department of Justice regulation 28 CFR Part ...
Kenneth Starr
Kenneth Winston Starr (July 21, 1946 – September 13, 2022) was an American lawyer and judge who authored the Starr Report, which led to the impeachment of Bill Clinton. He headed an investigation of members of the Clinton administration, kno ...
. Clinton was impeached in the United States House of Representatives, but acquitted at his trial by the
U.S. Senate
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and powe ...
. A public backlash forced Speaker Gingrich to resign after a poor showing in the
1998 midterm elections. In 1999, Republican
Dennis Hastert
John Dennis Hastert (; born January 2, 1942) is an American former politician and convicted felon who represented from 1987 to 2007 and served as the 51st speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1999 to 2007. The longest-se ...
of Illinois became Speaker of the House, a position he would hold until 2007, making him the longest-serving Republican Speaker of the House.
The George W. Bush administration
![Bush 43 10-19-04 Stpete](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1b/Bush_43_10-19-04_Stpete.jpg)
Though his
2000 election had been the focus of intense controversy which led eventually to a
U.S. Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
ruling in ''
Bush v. Gore
''Bush v. Gore'', 531 U.S. 98 (2000), was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court on December 12, 2000, that settled a recount dispute in Florida's 2000 presidential election between George W. Bush and Al Gore. On December 8, th ...
'' where the court ruled 5–4 in the former's favor by siding with the State of Florida's official vote count, Governor George W. Bush was sworn in as president on January 20, 2001. This made the 2000 election the third presidential election in which the electoral vote winner did not receive at least a plurality of the popular vote. Early in his term, Bush signed a $1.3 trillion federal
tax cut
A tax cut represents a decrease in the amount of money taken from taxpayers to go towards government revenue. Tax cuts decrease the revenue of the government and increase the disposable income of taxpayers. Tax cuts usually refer to reductions i ...
aimed at revitalizing the economy, but the wars in the Middle East as well as assorted domestic spending packages passed by the Republican Congress led to ballooning Federal deficits. Other laws enacted in his first term included the
No Child Left Behind Act
The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) was a U.S. Act of Congress that reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act; it included Title I provisions applying to disadvantaged students. It supported standards-based education ...
education reform bill in 2002, the
in 2003 and the
Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act
The Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act, also called the Medicare Modernization Act or MMA, is a federal law of the United States, enacted in 2003. It produced the largest overhaul of Medicare in the public health progr ...
in 2004. The first eight months of his term in office were relatively uneventful; however, it had become clear by that time that the economic boom of the late 1990s was at an end. The year 2001 was plagued by a
nine-month recession, witnessing the end of the boom psychology and performance, with output increasing only 0.3% and unemployment and business failures rising.
On September 11, 2001, al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners and attacked the World Trade Center and
the Pentagon
The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense. It was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As a symbol of the U.S. military, the phrase ''The Pentagon'' is often used as a meton ...
in the
September 11 attacks
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...
, killing nearly 3,000 and injuring over 6,000 people. Osama bin Laden claimed responsibility for the attacks. President Bush ordered all flights grounded and U.S. airspace remained closed for the rest of the week. An emergency bailout package for the airline industry was passed, and stocks fell dramatically when markets re-opened the following week. In response to the attacks, the Bush administration and Congress passed the controversial
USA PATRIOT Act
The USA PATRIOT Act (commonly known as the Patriot Act) was a landmark Act of Congress, Act of the United States Congress, signed into law by President of the United States, President George W. Bush. The formal name of the statute is the Uniti ...
, aimed at enhancing security, and established the
Department of Homeland Security
The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior or home ministries of other countries. Its stated missions involve anti-terr ...
, a mass consolidation of many federal agencies charged with investigation, intelligence, and emergency management. A new
Terrorist Finance Tracking Program
The Terrorist Finance Tracking Program (TFTP) is a United States government program to access financial transactions on the international SWIFT network that was revealed by ''The New York Times'', ''The Wall Street Journal'' and ''The Los Angeles T ...
monitored the movements of terrorists' financial resources but was discontinued after being revealed by ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
''. Telecommunication usage by known and suspected terrorists was studied through the
NSA electronic surveillance program
The Terrorist Surveillance Program was an electronic surveillance program implemented by the National Security Agency (NSA) of the United States in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks. It was part of the President's Surveillance Program, w ...
. On October 7, 2001, the United States invaded Afghanistan as part of a global
War on Terrorism
The war on terror, officially the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT), is an ongoing international counterterrorism military campaign initiated by the United States following the September 11 attacks. The main targets of the campaign are militant I ...
, aimed at rooting out al-Qaeda, the
Taliban
The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalist, militant Islamist, jihadist, and Pasht ...
, and other terrorist organizations.
In mid-2002, President Bush announced that Iraq possessed chemical and nuclear weapons and posed a "clear and present danger" to stability in the Middle East. Plans for a full-scale military invasion of the country began amid widespread controversy. Antiwar protests occurred around the US and numerous other countries, mostly carried out by left-wing organizations, but some on the right and various military and diplomatic figures also doubted the wisdom of this venture. Regardless, the invasion of Iraq commenced on March 20, 2003. The Iraqi Army disintegrated without much resistance and within three weeks, US troops entered Baghdad to an overjoyed mob of Iraqi civilians who proceeded to tear down the giant statue of Saddam Hussein in the middle of the city. Bush announced on May 1, 2003, from an aircraft carrier that major combat operations in Iraq were completed, with a "
Mission Accomplished" banner serving as a backdrop. Although the war was initially popular, a guerrilla insurgency quickly began mostly by Al Qaeda operatives who had entered the country. Led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a wave of bombings and beheadings of captives occurred, including the highly publicized killing of government contractor Nick Berg. Zarqawi was killed by US troops in 2005. Ineffective policing strategies led to a mounting death toll among soldiers, but eventually in 2007 a campaign known as "The Surge" began where the US Army launched a large-scale anti-terrorism offensive. Along with the help of Iraqi locals unhappy with the destruction caused by (largely foreigner) Al Qaeda agents, the surge resulted in the end of most major violence in the country. Late in 2003, Hussein was captured, and was subsequently put to trial before the Iraqi people and executed in 2006.
Meanwhile, the economy recovered from the early 2000s economic recession, with GDP growth rising to 7% in the middle of 2003, with continued growth through the mid-2000s. The unemployment rate peaked at 6% in 2003, before falling in 2004 and 2005, and dropping below 5% in 2006 and 2007.
President George W. Bush was
re-elected in November 2004, defeating Democratic contender Senator
John Kerry
John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician and diplomat who currently serves as the first United States special presidential envoy for climate. A member of the Forbes family and the Democratic Party (Unite ...
in the
electoral vote, and receiving 50.7% of the popular vote against John Kerry's 48.3%. Republicans also made gains in both houses of Congress. President Bush's reelection was assured by public support for the War On Terror, the dour Senator Kerry's lack of appeal to his voter base, and the excessive attacks made on the president by the left, which helped turn public opinion against them. In addition, it came out that Kerry, a Vietnam War veteran, had participated in antiwar protests after returning home in 1970, including throwing away his medals.
Some major acts in President Bush's second term included the
Energy Policy Act of 2005
The Energy Policy Act of 2005 () is a federal law signed by President George W. Bush on August 8, 2005, at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The act, described by proponents as an attempt to combat growing energy problems ...
, the
Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act, and the
Troubled Asset Relief Program
The Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) is a program of the United States government to purchase toxic assets and equity from financial institutions to strengthen its financial sector that was passed by Congress and signed into law by President G ...
. After seeing high approval ratings for much of his first term,
Bush's popularity plummeted to record lows in his second term, due to his handling of the prolonged Iraq War,
Hurricane Katrina, and the
financial crisis of 2007–2008
Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of fi ...
. President Bush was succeeded on January 20, 2009, by
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
, a Democratic senator from Illinois.
The Democratic Congress
Democrats swept to victory in the
2006 elections, making Representative
Nancy Pelosi
Nancy Patricia Pelosi (; ; born March 26, 1940) is an American politician who has served as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives since 2019 and previously from 2007 to 2011. She has represented in the United States House of ...
Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
The speaker of the United States House of Representatives, commonly known as the speaker of the House, is the presiding officer of the United States House of Representatives. The office was established in 1789 by Article I, Section 2 of the U. ...
, the first woman in that position, and electing record numbers of women and minorities. Upon winning the elections, the Democrats drew up a
100-Hour Plan of policy proposals upon assuming power in Congress. Major components of the plan included a pay-as-you-go plan for reducing the deficit; enacting the
9/11 Commission
The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, also known as the 9/11 Commission, was set up on November 27, 2002, "to prepare a full and complete account of the circumstances surrounding the September 11 attacks", includin ...
recommendations; increasing the
federal minimum wage
A minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that employers can legally pay their employees—the price floor below which employees may not sell their labor. Most countries had introduced minimum wage legislation by the end of the 20th century. Bec ...
to $7.25 an hour; allowing the government to negotiate directly with pharmaceutical companies to secure lower drug prices for
Medicare patients; and ending large tax subsidies for big oil companies to help foster energy independence.
The 110th Congress did little to influence the war in Iraq besides passing a non-binding resolution against the Bush administration's troop surge. In addition, the House of Representatives passed a $124 billion emergency spending measure for war funding with the stipulation of a phased troop withdrawal. President Bush vetoed the bill because of the proposal of scaling down forces, making this the second veto of his term.
During the months of May–June 2007, Senator
Ted Kennedy
Edward Moore Kennedy (February 22, 1932 – August 25, 2009) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States senator from Massachusetts for almost 47 years, from 1962 until his death in 2009. A member of the Democratic ...
and other senators co-sponsored the
Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007
The Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007 (full name: Secure Borders, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Reform Act of 2007 ()) was a bill discussed in the 110th United States Congress that would have provided legal status and a path to ...
. The purpose of this bill called for immigration reform under the intent of bringing amnesty and citizenship. On June 28 the Senate voted 53–45 for cloture, with 60 votes needed, spelling the end to the 2007 Immigration Bill.
Immigration Bill Fails to Survive Senate Vote
by ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', 2007/06/28
See also
* Presidency of George H. W. Bush
George H. W. Bush's tenure as the 41st president of the United States began with his inauguration on January 20, 1989, and ended on January 20, 1993. Bush was a Republican from Texas and the incumbent vice president for two terms under pre ...
* Timeline of United States history
A timeline is a display of a list of events in Chronology, chronological order. It is typically a graphic design showing a long bar labelled with calendar date, dates paralleling it, and usually contemporaneous events.
Timelines can use any ...
* Timeline of modern American conservatism
This timeline of modern American conservatism lists important events, developments and occurrences which have significantly affected conservatism in the United States. With the decline of the conservative wing of the Democratic Party after 1960, ...
* Timeline of United States history (1990–2009)
Notes
Further reading
* Abramson, Paul R., John H. Aldrich, and David W. Rohde. ''Change and Continuity in the 2004 and 2006 Elections'' (2007), 324pp
* Barone, Michael. ''The Almanac of American Politics'' (1992 and every 2 years to 2012), highly detailed coverage of electoral politics and Congress.
* Berman, William C. ''From the Center to the Edge: The Politics and Policies of the Clinton Presidency'' (2001) 160pp
* Edwards III, George C. and Desmond King, eds. ''The Polarized Presidency of George W. Bush'' (2007), 478pp; essays by scholars
* Hyland, William G. ''Clinton's World: Remaking American Foreign Policy'' (1999)
* Levy, Peter. ''Encyclopedia of the Clinton Presidency'' (2002), 400pp; 230 articles, focus on politics
* Congressional Quarterly. ''Congress and the Nation 1993–1997: A Review of Government and Politics: 103rd and 104th Congresses'' (1998); ''Congress and the Nation 1997–2001: A Review of Government and Politics: 105th and 106th Congresses'' (2002). ''Congress and the Nation 2001–2005: A Review of Government and Politics: 107th and 108th Congresses'' (2007); ''Congress and the National XII 2005–2008'' (2010). Highly detailed nonpartisan coverage (1200 pp each) of all national political issues, including domestic & foreign affairs
* Gillon, Steve. ''The pact: Bill Clinton, Newt Gingrich, and the rivalry that defined a generation'' (2008) 342 pages
* Johnson, Haynes. ''The best of times: America in the Clinton years'' (Houghton Mifflin, 2001) Detailed survey by prominent liberal journalist
* Patterson, James T. ''Restless Giant: The United States from Watergate to Bush vs. Gore'' (2005), Oxford History of the United States
* Skocpol, Theda, and Lawrence R. Jacobs
Lawrence R. Jacobs (born March 6, 1959) is an American political scientist and founder and director of the Center for the Study of Politics and Governance (CSPG) at the University of Minnesota. He was appointed the Walter F. and Joan Mondale Chai ...
. "Accomplished and Embattled: Understanding Obama's Presidency," ''Political Science Quarterly'' (Spring 2012) 127#1 pp. 1–2
online
* Stiglitz, Joseph E. ''The Roaring Nineties: A New History of the World's Most Prosperous Decade'' (2004) economic history
* Warshaw, Shirley Anne. ''The Clinton Years'' (Infobase Publishing, 2009) 524pp; detailed political encyclopedia by prominent scholar
* Zelizer, Julian E., ed. ''The Presidency of George W. Bush: A First Historical Assessment'' (Princeton University Press; 2010) 386 pages
Primary sources
* Bush, George W. ''Decision Points
''Decision Points'' is a memoir by former U.S. President George W. Bush. It was released on November 9, 2010, and the release was accompanied by national television appearances and a national tour. The book surpassed sales of two million copies ...
'' (2010)
* Clinton, Bill. ''My Life My Life may refer to:
Autobiographies
* ''Mein Leben'' (Wagner) (''My Life''), by Richard Wagner, 1870
* ''My Life'' (Clinton autobiography), by Bill Clinton, 2004
* ''My Life'' (Meir autobiography), by Golda Meir, 1973
* ''My Life'' (Mosley a ...
'' (2004).
* Greenspan, Alan. '' The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New World'' (2007), memoir by head of Federal Reserve
External links
U.S. Response to End of USSR
from th
Dean Peter Krogh Foreign Affairs Digital Archives
Challenges facing the US in the 90s
from th
Dean Peter Krogh Foreign Affairs Digital Archives
{{DEFAULTSORT:History Of The United States (1991 - 2008)
Articles containing video clips
1990s in the United States
2000s in the United States