SSUSH25:
The student will describe changes in national politics since 1968.
From presidential scandals to Supreme Court decisions, and from international peace efforts to the outset of the war against terrorism, national politics have changed since 1968 in ways undreamt of in the early 1960s. This standard will measure your knowledge of the events in the most recent period in U.S. history.
A. Describe President Richard M. Nixon’s opening of China, his resignation due to the Watergate scandal, changing attitudes toward government, and the Presidency of Gerald Ford.
NIXON AND FORD ADMINISTRATIONS
D. Describe domestic and international events of Ronald Reagan’s presidency; include Reaganomics, the Iran-contra scandal, and the collapse of the Soviet Union.
REAGAN ADMINISTRATIONRonald Reagan was president for much of the 1980s. During that time, many important events helped shape American politics to this day. As a conservative, Reagan wanted to decrease the size and role of the federal government.
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collapse of the Soviet Union
• The collapse of the Soviet Union was Reagan’s biggest success in international policy. The Soviet Union’s last leader set up policies allowing freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and other reforms, putting the U.S.S.R. on a path to democratic government. But these reforms got out of the leader’s control and eventually led to the breakup of the 15 states that were the Soviet Union. Five of those states now comprise Russia, and the other ten are independent countries.
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E. Explain the relationship between Congress and President Bill Clinton; include the North American Free Trade Agreement and his impeachment and acquittal.
CLINTON ADMINISTRATION
Bill Clinton’s presidency included ratification of the North American Free Trade Agreement. NAFTA brought Mexico into a free-trade (tariff-free) zone already existing between the United States and Canada. Opponents believed NAFTA would send U.S. jobs to Mexico and harm the environment, while supporters believed it would open up the growing Mexican market to U.S. companies; these pros and cons are still argued today.
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Clinton also became the second president in U.S. history to suffer impeachment. The House of Representatives charged him with perjury and obstruction of justice. The charges were based on accusations of improper use of money from a real estate deal and allegations he had lied under oath about an improper relationship with a White House intern. Clinton denied the charges and the Senate acquitted him, allowing Clinton to remain in office and finish his second term.
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F. Analyze the 2000 presidential election and its outcome, emphasizing the role of the electoral college.2000 Presidential Election
The presidential election of 2000 saw Clinton’s vice president, Al Gore, facing the Republican governor of Texas, George W. Bush, as well as consumer advocate Ralph Nader, who ran as a third-party candidate. Polls showed the race would be close, and it turned out to be one of the closest elections in American history. Gore won the national popular vote by over 500,000 of the 105 million votes cast, but when American voters cast ballots for president, the national popular vote has no legal significance. Rather, Americans are voting for members of the Electoral College representing each candidate. Each state is assigned “electors” in equal number to its total number of U.S. representatives and senators. (For example, Georgia had thirteen electors in 2000: eleven representatives and two senators.) In the 2000 election, Bush won by receiving 271 votes in the Electoral College to Gore’s 266.
G. ANALYZE THE RESPONSE OF PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH TO THE ATTACKS OF SEPTEMBER 11, 2001, ON THE UNITED STATES, THE WAR AGAINST TERRORISM, AND THE SUBSEQUENT AMERICAN INTERVENTIONS IN AFGHANISTAN AND IRAQ.
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