The Culture Wars and War on Terror - Bush 43 to Biden

1. The Culture Wars
and the War on Terror,
2000-Today

2. 2000 Election: Bush v. Gore
Gore won the pop. vote by 500,000, but controversy in Florida 
Bush v. Gore,
Supreme Court ruled for Bush in 5-4 = increased politicization

3. 2000 Election: Bush v. Gore

4. Al Gore
45th Vice-POTUS
(1993-2001), Democratic
• won the 2000 popular vote but lost
the election in Bush v. Gore
• authored An Inconvenient Truth
(2006) on climate change

5. 2004 Election:
Red State, Blue State, or Purple America?

6. 2004 Election:
Red State, Blue State, or
Purple America?

8. George W. Bush
43nd POTUS
2001-2009
“They misunderestimated me.”

9. Bush Tax Cut:
• $1.35 trillion tax cut/10 yrs
• reduced income tax for people
making over $400,000/yr
• led to massive budget deficits,
larger national debt, and
wider income inequality gap

10. Bush Tax Cut:

11. No Child Left Behind (2003)
"Rarely is the question asked: Is our children learning?”
--Florence, South Carolina, Jan. 11, 2000
“As yesterday's positive report card shows, childrens do learn when
standards are high and results are measured."
- on NCLB, Washington, D.C., Sept. 26, 2007
• expanded federal role in
public education
• required annual high-stakes
standards-based testing to
measure academic progress

12. Hurricane Katrina
• 2005 Category 5 storm that flooded 80% of New Orleans, killed at
least 1,836 people and caused $125 billion in damages

13. Hurricane Katrina
• the Bush Administration was criticized for its slow response
refugees sheltered at the Astrodome

14. September 11, 2001: Attacks in NYC and DC
• four suicide attacks by 19 al-Qaeda terrorists
• planes flown into the World Trade Center, NYC and the Pentagon,
Arlington, VA
• 2, 996 killed, 25,000 injured, $10 billion in damages

15. September 11, 2001: Attacks in NYC and DC
• UA Flight 98 crashed in PA; was headed towards either the White
House or the U.S. Capitol

16. President Bush addresses rescue
workers at Ground Zero, the wreckage
of the World Trade Center towers

17. The War on Terror

18. The War on Terror

20. • 2001 law passed after 9/11
• authorized indefinite detentions
of non-citizens
• permitted law enforcement to
conduct searches without a
subject's consent or knowledge
• allowed the FBI to search
telephone, e-mail, and financial
records without court orders
• criticized by civil liberties
groups
USA Patriot Act

21. • U.S. military prison in Cuba created
for War on Terror detainees
• inmates have been held indefinitely
without trial and tortured in violation
of basic human rights
Guantanamo Bay

22. War in Afghanistan, 2001-2021
The Taliban, an Islamic fundamentalist party harbored
Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda terrorists responsible for 9/11

23. • US and Britain invaded
in October 2001 to
remove the Taliban from
power and destroy al-
Qaeda
War in Afghanistan, 2001-2021

24. Obama and his national security team in the White House Situation Room
during the 2011 killing of bin Laden by Seal Team Six

25. • Bush described states that
sponsored terrorism or
sought weapons of mass
destruction, including Iran,
Iraq, and North Korea, as
an Axis of Evil during the
2002 State of the Union
Axis of Evil

26. • North Korea withdrew from UN Nuclear
Non-proliferation Treaty in 2003
• currently estimated to have 30-60
nuclear weapons
North Korean
nuclear
proliferation

27. War in Iraq, 2003-2011
• NO CONNECTION TO 9/11!
• US-led coalition invasion to topple Saddam Hussein based on false
intelligence that he had WMDs
• al-Qaeda insurgents entered northern Iraq and civil war erupted
between Shi'a and Sunni Muslim factions

28. Despite George W. Bush’s ill-conceived photo op under a Mission Accomplished
banner in May 2003, combat operations in Iraq continued for years.

29. • 2004: media reported on an
Iraqi prison where U.S. Army and
CIA personnel photographed
themselves physically and
sexually abusing, torturing,
raping, sodomizing, and
murdering detainees
Abu Ghraib

30. • Sunni Muslim terrorist
organization that controlled
parts of Iraq and Syria from
2014 to 2019
• developed from al-Qaeda in
Iraq and expanded during
the Syrian Civil War
• claimed authority over all
Muslims worldwide
• conducted genocidal killings
and destroyed cultural
heritage sites
ISIS

31. Great Recession
• severe economic downturn in
2008 due to collapse of a real
estate housing bubble and toxic
mortgage crisis
• 10% unemployment
• worst financial crisis since the
Great Depression

33. Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP)
• $700 billion
federal loans to
financial institutions
at high risk of
failure

34. 2008 Election

35. “If there is anyone out there who
still doubts that America is a place
where all things are possible; who
still wonders if the dream of our
founders is alive in our time; who
still questions the power of our
democracy, tonight is your
answer.”
- Barack Obama on Election
night, November 4, 2008

36. Barack Obama
44th POTUS
2009-2017,
Democratic

37. In 2008, Barack Obama became the first African American elected to the
presidency. In this official White House photo from May 2009, 5-year-old
Jacob Philadelphia said, “I want to know if my hair is just like yours.”

38. • 2009 law providing a $831
billion financial stimulus to save
and create jobs through
temporary relief programs and
investment in infrastructure,
education, health, and
renewable energy
• saved U.S. auto industry
American
Recovery and
Reinvestment Act

39. 2010 law overhauling financial
regulation and consumer protections
in the aftermath of the 2007-2008
financial crisis
Dodd-Frank Wall
Street Reform

40. • 2010 law overhauling the American
healthcare system
• number of uninsured Americans fell by
17.5 million from 2010 to 2021
Affordable Care Act,
aka Obamacare

41. right-wing conservative political
movement seeking a reduction
in the size and power of the
federal government through
lower taxes and decreased
federal spending
Tea Party

43. left-wing political movement protesting social and economic inequality,
financial corruption, and the political influence of large corporations
Occupy Wall Street

44. 2010 offshore drilling platform
accident that caused a massive oil
spill and long-term environmental
damage in the Gulf of Mexico
Deepwater Horizon

45. 2012 murder of
28 people,
including 20
children ages 6-7
Sandy Hook
Elementary
shooting
"That was not only the saddest day of my
presidency. But when Congress failed to do
anything in the aftermath of Sandy Hook,
that was the angriest I ever was in my
presidency. I was disgusted and appalled
by the inaction.“
- Obama

46. 2012 immigration policy
allowing some individuals
brought to the U.S. illegally as
children to receive a renewable
two-year protection from
deportation
Deferred Action
for Childhood
Arrivals (DACA)

47. President Obama and
Mitt Romney Groove in
Auto-Tuned Presidential
Debate
2012 Election
Obama/Biden (D) vs.
Mitt Romney/Paul Ryan (R)

49. 2012 shooting of 17-year old
African American by
neighborhood watch member
George Zimmerman
Trayvon Martin
shooting
“If I had a son, he’d look like Trayvon.
When I think about this boy, I think about
my own kids.”
- Obama

50. 2014 social unrest following the
fatal police shooting of Michael
Brown; sparked nationwide
debate over race relations and
the militarization of police
Ferguson, MO
protests

51. social movement protesting police
brutality and killings, systemic
racism, racial profiling, and racial
inequality in the criminal justice
system against African Americans
Black Lives Matter
Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington, D.C., as seen from space on June 8, 2020

52. Matthew Shepard
and James Byrd Jr.
Hate Crimes
Prevention Act
2009 designation of anti-LGBTQ acts
as federal hate crimes
Don’t Ask, Don’t
Tell Repeal
2010 end to policy that prevented
LGBTQ people from serving openly in
U.S. Armed Forces

53. 2015 Supreme Court decision
that the right to marry is
guaranteed to same-sex couples
by the Due Process and Equal
Protection Clauses of the
Fourteenth Amendment
Obergefell v.
Hodges

54. 2015 United Nations
agreement to combat
climate change by
reducing carbon emissions;
signed by 196 states
Paris
Agreement

55. • independent populist, socialist
senator Bernie Sanders
narrowly lost the Democratic
primary campaign to former
first lady Hillary Clinton
2016 Election

56. • TV game show host Donald Trump won the Republican primary but
faced criticism for running a divisive nativist campaign with overtones
of racism, sexism, and violence
2016 Election

58. • TV game show host Donald Trump won the Republican primary but
faced criticism for running a divisive nativist campaign with overtones
of racism, sexism, and violence
2016 Election
“Knock the crap out of him, would you? I
promise you, I will pay your legal fees.”
“I’d like to punch him in the face.”
“Maybe he should have been roughed
up.”
“Part of the problem is no one want to
hurt each other anymore.”
“I’ll beat the crap out of you.”

59. • TV game show host Donald Trump won the Republican primary but
faced criticism for running a divisive nativist campaign with overtones
of racism, sexism, and violence
2016 Election
“I did try and f**k her. She was married. … I moved
on her like a b***h. … Then all of a sudden I see
her, she’s now got the big phony t**s and
everything. ... I better use some Tic Tacs just in case
I start kissing her. You know, I’m automatically
attracted to beautiful — I just start kissing them. It’s
like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait. And when
you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything.
… Grab ’em by the p***y. You can do anything.”
- Donald J. Trump, 2005 Access Hollywood
recording released to the public one month
before the general election

60. • Clinton won the popular vote in the general election but lost the
electoral college vote to Trump
• Russia interfered online to manipulate American public opinions
2016 Election

61. • Clinton won the popular vote in the general election but lost the
electoral college vote to TV game show host Donald Trump
• Russia interfered online to manipulate American public opinions
2016 Election

62. Donald J. Trump
45th POTUS,
2017-2021,
Republican

63. 30,573 documented lies over four years
This was the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration — period — both in
person and around the globe.”
– White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer during his first press conference
“You’re saying it’s a falsehood. [O]ur press secretary gave alternative facts.”
- White House counselor Kellyanne Conway

64. Women’s March
• largest single-day protest in
U.S. history to advocate
legislation and policies for
human rights, women's rights,
immigration reform,
healthcare reform, disability
justice, reproductive rights,
the environment, LGBTQ
rights, racial equality,
workers' rights, and
tolerance
• 3.2-5.2 estimated
participants; 1.0-1.6% of
U.S. pop.

65. Environmental
Rollbacks

66. Child Separation
almost 2,000 children were
separated from their parents as
they crossed the U.S.-Mexico border
and held in detention facilities

67. “Muslim Ban”
denied entry into the
U.S. for people from
Iran, Iraq, Libya,
Somalia, Sudan,
Syria, and Yemen

68. Trump tax cut
• 2017 massive overhaul
of the tax code
• $1.5 trillion tax cut
• Reduced top corporate
tax rate from 35% to
21%
• Business tax cuts are
permanent; individual
tax cuts expire in 2025

69. Trump tax cut
• 2017 massive overhaul
of the tax code
• $1.5 trillion tax cut
• Reduced top corporate
tax rate from 35% to
21%
• Business tax cuts are
permanent; individual
tax cuts expire in 2025

70. • 2017 neo-Nazi and KKK
rally against removal of
a Robert E. Lee statue in
Charlottesville, VA
• a white supremacist
killed one counter-
protester and injured
dozens
• Trump stated that there
were "very fine people
on both sides"
Unite the Right
Rally

71. March for
Our Lives
2018 march for gun control
legislation organized by
students from Marjory
Stoneman Douglas High
School in Parkland, Florida

72. • San Francisco '49ers
quarterback knelt during the
national anthem at NFL games
to protest racial injustice
• Trump called on NFL owners to
fire protesting players
Colin Kaepernick

73. • US counterintelligence
criminal investigation of
Russian government links to
the Trump campaign in the
2016 presidential election
Russiagate

74. • Department of Justice Special
Counsel Robert Mueller
concluded Russia interfered in
the 2016 presidential
election but did not find
direct organized coordination
with the Trump campaign
• Trump may have committed
high crimes of obstruction of
justice during the two-year
investigation but determined
that only Congress can act
against a sitting president
• 34 individuals indicted
Russiagate

75. 35 day federal government
shutdown over Congress's rejection
of Trump's $5.7 billion demand for
funding to build a U.S.-Mexico
border wall
2018-2019
Federal Shutdown

76. • Trump withheld military aid to
Ukraine in exchange for
announcement of a Ukrainian
corruption investigation into Hunter
Biden, son of Joe Biden
• House of Representatives charged
Trump with abuse of power and
obstruction of Congress in 2019
• Acquitted by U.S. Senate in 2020
after Republicans rejected admission
of evidence and witnesses testimony
during Trump's trial
First Trump
Impeachment

77. • 2018: U.S. National Security
Council pandemic office closed
• early 2020: COVID-19
pandemic swept the global
• 6.28 million deaths worldwide
by May 2022, including
1million in the U.S.
• led to lockdowns, social
distancing, and global
economic recession
COVID-19
above: mobile morgues in New York City

78. COVID-19
March 11, 2020: 30-day
travel ban on Europeans
entering the U.S. as
Americans entered lockdown
March 27: $2-trillion
Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and
Economic Security (CARES)
Act funded individuals,
corporations and small
businesses, and state and
local governments.
April 16: Unemployment hit
22 million

79. • widespread civil unrest
against systemic racism and
police brutality in summer
2020
• met with aggressive,
militarized response by
Trump administration
George Floyd
protests

81. • police used tear gas and
stun grenades to clear
protesters near the
White House for Trump
to walk to St. John's
Church in Lafayette
Square for a photo op.
George Floyd
protests

82. Supreme Court
2016: U.S. Senate denied Obama the chance to
fill the seat vacated when Antonin Scalia died
2017: Trump appointed Neil Gorsuch to seat left
open
2018: Three women accused Brett Kavanaugh of
sexual misconduct fueling the #MeToo movement
2020: Amy Coney Barret confirmed 8 days before
the presidential election

83. Supreme Court

84. • Democratic candidate former vice-president
Joe Biden defeated Trump
• Biden was elected on campaign promises of
reversing Trump policies and restoring
bipartisan unity
2020 Election

85. • Trump embraced the “Big Lie”
false narrative alleging that
the election was stolen through
widespread electoral fraud
2020 Election

86. Voter Fraud
11/04/20: Trump declared victory and claimed remaining ballots
should be cast out due to fraud
12/02/20: U.S. Attorney General William Barr announced that the
Justice Department found no widespread voter fraud
12/13/20: The Supreme Court rejected case brought by 18 states that
alleged widespread voter fraud
12/16/20: The Electoral College officially voted Joe Biden as the 46th
POTUS ending the legal battle initiated by Trump
01/02/21: Phone call leaked in which Trump pressured Georgia
Secretary of State to "find" 11,000 votes

87. • January 6, 2021
storming of the U.S.
Capitol by right-wing
extremists in a failed
attempt to overturn
the results of 2020
election
• incited by Trump's
false claims of
electoral fraud
Capitol Insurrection
House Impeachment Managers'
Video Compilation of January 6
Attack on the U.S. Capitol

88. House of Representatives
voted 232-197 (with support
from 10 Republicans) to
impeach Donald Trump for
incitement of the U.S. Capitol
Insurrection; only federal
official to be impeached twice
Second Trump
Impeachment

89. Joe Biden
46th POTUS
2021-present,
Democratic

90. January 20, 2021: Trump was the
first president since 1869 to skip his
successor's inauguration
Biden Inauguration

91. • U.S. rejoined the
Paris Climate
Agreement and
revoked Trump
environmental
policies
• halted funding of
U.S.-Mexico
border wall
• repealed travel
ban from Muslim-
majority countries
Executive Orders

92. Pete Buttigieg confirmed as Secretary
of Transportation, the first openly
LGBTQ cabinet official
Appointments

93. appointment of Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court
Appointments

94. American Rescue Plan:
$1.9 trillion stimulus
bill that expanded
unemployment insurance
and sent $1,400 stimulus
checks to most
Americans
Infrastructure Investment
and Jobs Act: 10-year
plan to invest in
American roads,
bridges, public transit,
ports and broadband
access
Legislation

95. • completed withdrawal of
U.S. forces from Afghanistan
• imposed sanctions in
response to the Russian
invasion of Ukraine
Foreign Policy