Timeline: Global Capitalism and the End of the American Century, 1980 to the Present

Question

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AMERICA IN THE WORLD POLITICS AND POWER IDEAS, BELIEFS, AND CULTURE PEOPLING WORK, EXCHANGE, AND TECHNOLOGY
1980

  • Ronald Reagan begins arms buildup

  • United States arms Contras in Nicaragua

  • Berlin Wall comes down (1989)

  • New Right helps elect Ronald Reagan president

  • Iran-Contra scandal (1985–1987)

  • George H. W. Bush elected president (1988)

  • HIV/AIDS crisis prompts national conversation about homosexuality

  • Renewed emphasis on material success and the “rich and famous”

  • Webster v. Reproductive Health Services (1989)

  • Rise in Latino and Asian immigration

  • Californians vote to establish English as official language (1986)

  • Recession (1981–1982) followed by strong growth (1982–1987)

  • Reagan tax cut (1981)

  • Apple personal computer introduced (1983)

  • National debt triples (1981–1989)
1990

  • Persian Gulf War (1990–1991)

  • USSR breaks apart; end of Cold War

  • Al Qaeda bombs World Trade Center (1993)

  • UN peacekeeping forces in Bosnia (1992–1995)

  • Bill Clinton elected president (1992)

  • Republican resurgence (1994)

  • Welfare reform (1996)

  • Clinton impeached and acquitted (1998–1999)

  • Pat Buchanan declares “culture war” (1992)

  • Proposition 209 ends affirmative action in California universities

  • Defense of Marriage Act (1998)

  • WTO protests in Seattle (1999)

  • Backlash against “multiculturalism”

  • California bans bilingual education in public schools (1998)

  • Internet gains in popularity

  • Recession (1990–1991)

  • NAFTA ratified (1993)

  • Debt reduction under Bill Clinton
2000

  • Al Qaeda attacks World Trade Center and Pentagon (2001)

  • United States and allies invade Afghanistan (2002)

  • United States invades Iraq (2004)

  • George W. Bush wins presidency in contested election (2000)

  • USA PATRIOT Act (2002)

  • Barack Obama elected first African American president (2008)

  • Lawrence v. Texas (2003)

  • Massachusetts becomes first state to legalize same-sex marriage (2004); nine states follow by 2012

  • “War on terror” becomes fixture in American discourse

  • New scrutiny of airport passengers after 9/11

  • California, Texas, Hawaii, and New Mexico become “majority-minority” states (where the majority of the population is composed of minorities)

  • Crisis in newspaper industry

  • Great Recession (2007–2010)

  • President Bush asks for and receives bank bailout from Congress (2008)

  • Unemployment hits 10 percent
2010

  • Arab Spring (2010–2012)

  • Osama bin Laden killed (2011)

  • Last combat troops withdrawn from Iraq (2011)

  • Health-care reform (2010)

  • Tea Party helps Republicans regain control of House of Representatives

  • Barack Obama reelected president (2012)

  • Congress and President Obama end “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy in U.S. military (2011)

  • Obama’s 2012 electoral coalition heavily African American, Hispanic, Asian American, female, and young

  • Financial industry accounts for largest share of GDP among all industry sectors