| Revision as of 20:49, 26 August 2009 editEscape Orbit (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users, Pending changes reviewers, Rollbackers74,464 edits →September 2001 terrorist attacks: removed POVs← Previous edit | Revision as of 18:50, 18 October 2009 edit undoMrwojo (talk | contribs)Autopatrolled, Extended confirmed users, Pending changes reviewers, Rollbackers15,712 edits This was an undiscussed split that wasn't entirely reverted. (Duplicates most of the History of the United States (1991–present) article.)Next edit → | ||
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| ⚫ | #REDIRECT ] | ||
| {{USHBS}} | |||
| The '''2000s in the United States''' began with the ] and the ]. | |||
| ==Dot Com Bubble== | |||
| {{main|Dot Com Bubble}} | |||
| Early 2000 to 2001 saw the dramatic bursting of the ]. Excitement over the prospects of internet stocks had led to huge increases in the major indexes. On March 10, 2000 the ] peaked at 5,048.62 (intra-day peak 5,132.52), more than double its value just a year before.<ref></ref> | |||
| The massive initial batch of sell orders processed on Monday, ] triggered a chain reaction of selling that ] on itself as investors, funds, and institutions liquidated positions. In just six days, the NASDAQ had lost nearly nine percent, falling from roughly 5,050 on ] to 4,580 on ]. | |||
| The poor results of Internet retailers following the 1999 Christmas season may have been first unequivocal and public evidence that the "Get Rich Quick" Internet strategy was flawed for most companies. These retailers' results were made public in March when annual and quarterly reports of public firms were released. | |||
| By 2001, the bubble was deflating at full speed. A majority of the dot-coms ceased trading after burning through their ], many having never made a net ]. Investors often jokingly referred to these failed dot-coms as either "dot-bombs" or "dot-compost". | |||
| ==September 2001 terrorist attacks== | |||
| {{main|September 11 attacks}} | |||
| ] in ], September 14, 2001: "I can hear you. The rest of the world hears you. And the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon."]] | |||
| On the morning of September 11, 2001, four ]s were hijacked; two of them were flown into the ] towers in ] and another into the ] in ], ], destroying both towers and taking just under 3,000 lives. The fourth plane crashed in southern ] after some passengers fought back and are believed to have caused the piloting hijackers to crash. The shock, grief and anger brought on by the attacks profoundly altered the national mood; it was found that ] and his ] terrorist network sponsored the attacks and President Bush announced a "]." | |||
| Congress approved several measures to protect against future attacks, including creating the ] and passing the ], which was criticized by groups such as the ]. The administration's military response was to ] on October 7, 2001, targeting al Qaeda and the ] government that supported and sheltered them. The U.S. was joined by a coalition which included forces from more than a dozen countries, and was successful in removing the Taliban from power, although fighting continues between the coalition and Afghans of various factions. | |||
| In 2002, the ] growth rate rose to 2.8%. A major short-term problem in the first half of 2002 was a sharp decline in the ], fueled in part by the exposure of ]. Another was unemployment, which experienced the longest period of monthly increase since the Great Depression. The robustness of the market, combined with the unemployment rate, led some economists and politicians to refer to the situation as a "]." Nevertheless, the United States between 2003-2005 made a significant economic recovery from the post 9/11 recession. | |||
| ==Second Iraq War== | |||
| {{main|Iraq War}} | |||
| ] | |||
| In his ] ] in January 2002, President ] called ], ], and ] an "]," accusing them of supporting terrorism and seeking to acquire ]. The Bush administration began making a public case for an invasion of Iraq, on the grounds that ] supported terrorism, had violated the 1991 U.N.-imposed ], and possessed biological, chemical, and nuclear weapons, among other charges.<ref></ref> | |||
| Some important allies of the U.S., including ], ], ], ], ], ], and ], 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 ] did not approve of the invasion, and the U.S. therefore provided most of the forces in the ]. With the support of a coalition whose major partners included the ], ], ], ], and ], Iraq was invaded on March 20, 2003. | |||
| After six weeks of combat between the coalition and the Iraqi army, the invading forces had secured control of many key regions; Saddam had fled his palace, his regime clearly over; on May 1, Bush declared, under a sign reading "mission accomplished," that major ground operations were at an end. Saddam Hussein's sons ] and ] were killed by U.S. forces; Saddam himself was captured in December 2003 and taken into custody. Nevertheless, fighting with the ] continued and escalated through the ] and beyond. | |||
| With ] 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. Recent polls suggest that international displeasure with the United States is at an all-time high, with a majority of people in Europe believing that the country is too powerful and acts mainly in self-interest, and a vast majority in predominantly Muslim nations believing that the United States is arrogant, belligerent, or hateful to Islam.<ref></ref> | |||
| As the situation in Iraq became increasingly difficult, policymakers began looking for new options. This led to the formation of the ], a nonpartisan commission chaired by ] and ]. This produced a variety of proposals; some of the more notable ones were to seek decreased US presence in Iraq, increased engagement with neighboring countries, and greater attention to resolving other local conflicts, such as the ]. The recommendations were generally ignored and the U.S. direct involvement in the Iraq war continues to this day (July 2009). | |||
| ==2005 & 2008 Gulf Coast hurricanes== | |||
| {{main|Hurricane Katrina|Hurricane Rita|Hurricane Gustav|Hurricane Ike}} | |||
| ]]] | |||
| In August and September 2005, two powerful ], ] and ], struck the ] region. Katrina broke the ] of ] and flooded 80% of the low-lying city. Extensive devastation and flooding also occurred from ], ] west to ], with the ] coastline especially hard hit. At least 1,800 lives were lost in the worst domestic calamity since the ]. 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. | |||
| In 2008, after 2 straight years of not being affected by a serious hurricane, ], caused 18 billion dollars in damage in ], and a few weeks later, the ] and ] areas were devastated by ] with over 31 billion dollars in damage, making Ike the third most destructive hurricane ever to hit the United States behind ] and Hurricane Katrina. Many were killed in the area and 202 are still missing. The Hurricanes also caused gas prices to spike to around 4 dollars a gallon. | |||
| ==George W. Bush administration== | |||
| {{Expand|date=January 2009}} | |||
| {{main|Presidency of George W. Bush}} | |||
| Though his 2000 ] had been the focus of intense controversy which led eventually to a ] ruling in '']'' where the court ruled 5-4 in the former's favor by siding with the State of Florida's official vote count, ] was sworn in as President on January 20, 2001. This made the ] the third presidential election in which the electoral vote winner did not receive at least a plurality of the popular vote. 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 ], witnessing the end of the boom psychology and performance, with output increasing only 0.3% and unemployment and business failures rising substantially. President Bush approved a large federal ] with the intent of revitalizing the economy. | |||
| George W. Bush was ] in November 2004, defeating Democratic contender ] in the ], and receiving 50.7% of the popular vote against John Kerry's 48.3%. Republicans also made gains in both houses of Congress, contrary to recent mid-term electoral trends. | |||
| Some major acts in the second Bush administration included the U.S.-led invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, a $1.3 trillion tax cut, the ], and the ]. | |||
| ==Democratic Congress== | |||
| {{Cleanup-section|date=December 2007}} | |||
| ], the first female Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, swears in the first Muslim member of Congress, Representative ] (D)]] | |||
| Democrats swept to victory in the 2006 elections, making ] ], the first female in that position, and electing record numbers of women and minorities. Upon winning the elections, the Democrats drew up a ] 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 ] recommendations; increasing the ] to $7.25 an hour; allowing the government to negotiate directly with pharmaceutical companies so as to secure lower drug prices for Medicare patients; and ending large tax subsidies for big oil companies to help foster energy independence. After the 100 hours, the 9/11 Commission recommendations were not implemented by Congress. | |||
| Many{{fix|link=Misplaced Pages:Contents|text=who?}} saw the Democratic victory as a referendum on the Iraq war.{{Fact|date=January 2008}} Nevertheless, the 110th Congress did little to change anything about the war except to pass a non-binding resolution against ]. In addition, the House passed a $124 billion emergency spending measure for war funding with the stipulation of a phased troop withdrawal. President Bush ] 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, Edward Kennedy and other senators co-sponsored Senate Bill 1348 and reform Bill 1639. The purpose of this bill called for immigration reform under the intent of bringing Amnesty and citizenship. On June 7 Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid removed this bill from debate. On June 14, 2007 President Bush initiated the supporters of this bill to return it to the Senate floor. On June 26 the Senate voted 64–35 for cloture and for additional debate. On June 27, 2007, 27 amendments were debated with only five considered into Senate Bill 1639. On June 28 a cloture vote considered ending debate was held. The outcome of 53–45 against cloture meant the end to the 2007 Immigration Bill. | |||
| The threat of filibusters by the minority Republicans in the Senate lead to a record 72 cloture votes in just the first year of the 110th Congress, breaking the old record of 68 over a typical two year Congressional term.<ref></ref> The inability to pass legislation due to obstructionism by the Senate minority gave the appearance of a do nothing Congress, causing the approval rating of Congress to drop significantly.{{Fact|date=September 2008}} In late 2007, some polls had Congress's approval rating as low as 18%. By January 2008, Congressional approval rating was in the low to mid twenties.<ref></ref> | |||
| ==2008 Elections== | |||
| {{Unreferenced section|date=September 2008}} | |||
| {{recentism|date=January 2009}} | |||
| {{main|United States general elections, 2008}} | |||
| The nation went into the 2008 election cycle having a Republican president and Democratic Congress both with extremely low approval ratings. Initially, former New York City Mayor ], former Massachusetts Governor ], and Arizona Senator ] appeared to be front-runners for the Republican Party; New York Senator and former ] ], Illinois Senator ], and former North Carolina Senator ] were apparent front-runners for the Democratic Party. Other candidates popularly considered possible candidates that did not run included Secretary of State ], former Speaker of the House ], former Secretary of State and retired General ], media mogul and New York City Mayor ], and former vice president of the United States ]. | |||
| As 2007 wore on, longshot Republican candidate Representative ] of Texas began to gain unexpected grass-roots support, especially on the Internet, where his campaign received three "]s" courtesy of individual contributors, two of which broke one-day online political fundraising records. Congressman Paul stood out from his Republican colleagues in the race for his strong anti-war stance, and formed a small but loyal contingent of supporters ranging from anti-war Democrats to disenchanted Republicans to independent libertarians. In spite of this, his campaign was still often considered to be a "long shot" and received little media coverage. Meanwhile, scandals involving misuse of taxpayer money and the hiring of illegal immigrants began to appear among front-runners Giuliani and Romney, as Arkansas Governor ] began to rise in the polls. | |||
| When primary season entered the actual voting phase, Obama pulled an unexpected win out of ]. Clinton pulled off her own surprise wins in ] and ], also capturing the invalidated, virtually uncontested ]. On the Republican side, the field remained much more ambiguous. Huckabee won in ] with Romney following closely behind. McCain, former Tennessee Senator ] and Paul came in third, fourth, and fifth, respectively, but within extremely small margins of each other. McCain would go on to win ] and Romney would win ]. Giuliani and Thompson ended up in the back of the pack, with Paul pulling barely ahead. John McCain won a victory in ] over Huckabee, causing Thompson to drop out of the race. A week later, Obama ] over Clinton. | |||
| After Clinton and McCain won in ], Edwards and Giuliani ended both their candidacies. ] solidified McCain's standing and wrapped up the GOP nomination for the ] senator. Clinton and Obama came out of Super Tuesday almost tied. However, Obama proceeded to sweep the next series of primaries and caucuses. His string of victories ultimately gave him a nearly unbeatable lead in pledged delegates, though neither candidate will be able to claim the 2,025-delegate total needed to secure the nomination without the endorsement of ]s. Clinton regained some strength with wins in ] and ], which allowed her to claim a lead in the popular vote total by including votes from the invalidated ] and ] primaries and strengthen her petition for support from Democratic superdelegates. A couple weeks later, Obama bested Clinton by a mere seven votes in caucuses held on the U.S. ] island territory of ], with the result that they split the territory's eight pledged delegates, who each hold half a vote at the ]. Three days later, Obama won ] overwhelmingly, while a closer contest in ] ultimately resulted in a very narrow win for Clinton. | |||
| Clinton won landslides in the ] and the ] primaries, won ], and ] while Obama won the ] and ] primaries. In June, Clinton dropped out and endorsed him. | |||
| On August 23, Obama chose six-term ] ] of ] as his running mate. Biden was confirmed as the vice presidential nominee of his party on August 27, and Obama was officially given the presidential nomination on the same night, when Clinton interrupted the ] by moving that Obama be selected by ] at the ]. | |||
| On August 29, McCain chose first-term Governor ] of ] to be his running mate. Palin was nominated by acclamation on September 3 at the ], and McCain was given the nomination the following day. ]]]The selection of Sarah Palin initially led to a surge in the polls for McCain, but following the RNC her poll numbers declined, particularly after several ill-advised comments and an interview by CBS Evening News Anchor Katie Couric which proved disastrous for Palin. Palin recovered somewhat after a good performance in the Vice Presidential debate against Senator Biden. However, McCain fared worse in his debate performances, popular opinion being he tied with Obama in the first debate and lost the second and third. | |||
| On November 4, in the ], Democratic Party nominee Barack Obama defeated Republican John McCain to become the ], making history in becoming the first non-white and first ] to be elected to the highest executive office. | |||
| ==Barack Obama administration== | |||
| {{Expand|date=July 2009}} | |||
| {{main|Presidency of Barack Obama}} | |||
| Obama and his running mate Joe Biden were ] on ], ]. | |||
| ==References== | |||
| {{Reflist}} | |||
| ⚫ | ] | ||
Revision as of 18:50, 18 October 2009
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