Deck 27: From Triumph to Tragedy, 1989-2004

Question 1

Bill Clinton
I have spent an enormous amount of time in the last 12 years in the factories and businesses of this country talking to employers and employees, watching the way people work, often working with them. And I know that men and women are more productive when they are sure they won't lose their jobs because they're trying to be good parents, good children. Our businesses should not lose the services of these dedicated Americans. And over the long run, the lessons of the most productive companies in the world, here at home and around the world, are that those who put their people first are those who will triumph in the global economy. The business leaders who have already instituted family and medical leave understand this. . . .
Family and medical leave is a matter of pure common sense and a matter of common decency. It will provide Americans what they need most: peace of mind. Never again will parents have to fear losing their jobs because of their families.
The ideas expressed Bill Clinton in his remarks best illustrate the

A) growing conservative movement of the late twentieth century.
B) influence of Cold War pressures on the United States to "look good" to the rest of the world.
C) legacy of the Great Society.
D) decline of the impact of the Democratic Party.

Answer 1

legacy of the Great Society.

Question 2

The third-party candidate Ross Perot:

A) received few votes in the 1992 presidential election.
B) criticized only President Bush's foreign policy.
C) ran as a Progressive Party candidate.
D) received the most votes for a third-party candidate since Theodore Roosevelt.

Answer 2

received the most votes for a third-party candidate since Theodore Roosevelt.

Question 3

President George H. W. Bush's first major foreign policy action was:

A) a call for the continuation of the Cold War with the Soviets.
B) the overthrow of Panamanian leader General Manuel Noriega.
C) the invasion of Kuwait.
D) attendance at an economic summit in Geneva, Switzerland.

Answer 3

attendance at an economic summit in Geneva, Switzerland.

Question 4

NAFTA:

A) created a free-trade zone for the United States, Mexico, and Canada.
B) created a free-trade zone for the United States, Great Britain, and Canada.
C) was hailed by organized labor and environmental groups.
D) raised tariffs significantly against imports from South America.

Question 5

Who in George H. W. Bush's administration disagreed strongly with Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney about the future of national security after the Cold War?

A) Vice President Donald Rumsfeld.
B) George W. Bush, the president's son.
C) Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Colin Powell.
D) A young senator from Illinois, Barack Obama.

Question 6

How did President Clinton respond to the Republican victory in the 1994 congressional elections?

A) He grew increasingly radical in his opposition to Republicans.
B) He brought Republicans into his cabinet in order to build a more bipartisan government.
C) He campaigned against radical Republicans and moved toward the center.
D) He increasingly embraced the position of the Democratic left.

Question 7

What was the Contract with America?

A) A press term for the Clinton reelection strategy.
B) Clinton's 256-page proposal to overhaul the nation's welfare system.
C) A 1994 Republican plan to steeply cut federal education, medical, and environmental programs.
D) A speech delivered by Clinton that promised to continue to work on health care reform.

Question 8

What were the student protesters who occupied Tiananmen Square in Beijing in June 1989 demanding?

A) Fair wages and better working conditions.
B) Suspension of martial law imposed earlier that year.
C) An end to communism in China.
D) Greater democracy.

Question 9

In 1992, Bill Clinton secured the Democratic nomination for president because he:

A) promised to expand welfare.
B) pledged to continue the policies of President Bush in the Middle East.
C) combined social liberalism with elements of conservatism.
D) promised to restrict access to abortion.

Question 10

Health care reform during Clinton's first term:

A) was not a major issue for the president.
B) was opposed by drug companies, insurance companies, and doctors.
C) was championed by First Lady Hillary Clinton, who succeeded in getting Congress to back her universal coverage plan.
D) became a policy priority for congressional Republicans who opposed the Clinton plan.

Question 11

Speech on Signing of NAFTA (1993)
Bill Clinton
For the last 20 years, in all the wealthy countries of the world-because of changes in the global environment, because of the growth of technology, because of increasing competition-the middle class that was created and enlarged by the wise policies of expanding trade at the end of World War II has been under severe stress. Most Americans are working harder for less. They are vulnerable to the fear tactics and the averseness to change that are behind much of the opposition to NAFTA. But I want to say to my fellow Americans, when you live in a time of change the only way to recover your security and to broaden your horizons is to adapt to the change-to embrace it, to move forward. . . . The only way we can recover the fortunes of the middle class in this country so that people who work harder and smarter can at least prosper more, the only way we can pass on the American dream of the last 40 years to our children and their children for the next 40, is to adapt to the changes which are occurring.
In a fundamental sense, this debate about NAFTA is a debate about whether we will embrace these changes and create the jobs of tomorrow, or try to resist these changes, hoping we can preserve the economic structures of yesterday. . . . I believe that NAFTA will create 1 million jobs in the first 5 years of its impact. . . . NAFTA will generate these jobs by fostering an export boom to Mexico by tearing down tariff walls. . . . There will be no job loss.
The movement toward free trade agreements like the one described by Clinton was inspired by the

A) rising power of labor unions.
B) increasing integration of the United States into the world economy.
C) war on terrorism.
D) anticommunist policies of President Reagan.

Question 12

Speech on Signing of NAFTA (1993)
Bill Clinton
For the last 20 years, in all the wealthy countries of the world-because of changes in the global environment, because of the growth of technology, because of increasing competition-the middle class that was created and enlarged by the wise policies of expanding trade at the end of World War II has been under severe stress. Most Americans are working harder for less. They are vulnerable to the fear tactics and the averseness to change that are behind much of the opposition to NAFTA. But I want to say to my fellow Americans, when you live in a time of change the only way to recover your security and to broaden your horizons is to adapt to the change-to embrace it, to move forward. . . . The only way we can recover the fortunes of the middle class in this country so that people who work harder and smarter can at least prosper more, the only way we can pass on the American dream of the last 40 years to our children and their children for the next 40, is to adapt to the changes which are occurring.
In a fundamental sense, this debate about NAFTA is a debate about whether we will embrace these changes and create the jobs of tomorrow, or try to resist these changes, hoping we can preserve the economic structures of yesterday. . . . I believe that NAFTA will create 1 million jobs in the first 5 years of its impact. . . . NAFTA will generate these jobs by fostering an export boom to Mexico by tearing down tariff walls. . . . There will be no job loss.
The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) represents the beginning of a reversal of economic policy based on protective tariffs that had been in place since the

A) 1790s.
B) Age of Jackson.
C) Gilded Age.
D) New Deal.

Question 13

Bill Clinton
I have spent an enormous amount of time in the last 12 years in the factories and businesses of this country talking to employers and employees, watching the way people work, often working with them. And I know that men and women are more productive when they are sure they won't lose their jobs because they're trying to be good parents, good children. Our businesses should not lose the services of these dedicated Americans. And over the long run, the lessons of the most productive companies in the world, here at home and around the world, are that those who put their people first are those who will triumph in the global economy. The business leaders who have already instituted family and medical leave understand this. . . .
Family and medical leave is a matter of pure common sense and a matter of common decency. It will provide Americans what they need most: peace of mind. Never again will parents have to fear losing their jobs because of their families.
Those most likely to have supported Clinton's signing of the FMLA were

A) business owners.
B) working women.
C) immigrants.
D) the unemployed.

Question 14

By the end of 1991, Soviet attempts at economic reform had created chaos, and the:

A) Soviet military staged a successful coup.
B) Soviet Union dissolved, ending the Cold War.
C) United States had to intervene with financial aid.
D) Soviets sought U.S. assistance.

Question 15

Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) (1993)
Bill Clinton
I have spent an enormous amount of time in the last 12 years in the factories and businesses of this country talking to employers and employees, watching the way people work, often working with them. And I know that men and women are more productive when they are sure they won't lose their jobs because they're trying to be good parents, good children. Our businesses should not lose the services of these dedicated Americans. And over the long run, the lessons of the most productive companies in the world, here at home and around the world, are that those who put their people first are those who will triumph in the global economy. The business leaders who have already instituted family and medical leave understand this. . . .
Family and medical leave is a matter of pure common sense and a matter of common decency. It will provide Americans what they need most: peace of mind. Never again will parents have to fear losing their jobs because of their families.
FMLA reflects which of the following trends that occurred toward the end of the twentieth century?

A) rising real wages for middle and low wage workers
B) increasing numbers of service-sector jobs
C) the rise of new conservative movement in politics
D) increasing political consensus on social issues such as gender roles

Question 16

The "Freedom Revolution" was:

A) the collapse of communism in eastern Europe.
B) the Republican victory at the 1994 congressional elections.
C) the end of apartheid in South Africa.
D) the mass organization of middle-class African-American men in Washington, D.C.

Question 17

Which of the following best explains George H. W. Bush's loss in the 1992 presidential election?

A) Bush seemed out of touch with wealthy Republican campaign donors.
B) America was in a recession in 1992.
C) Third-party candidate Ross Perot became a viable option for some voters.
D) B and C

Question 18

Speech on Signing of NAFTA (1993)
Bill Clinton
For the last 20 years, in all the wealthy countries of the world-because of changes in the global environment, because of the growth of technology, because of increasing competition-the middle class that was created and enlarged by the wise policies of expanding trade at the end of World War II has been under severe stress. Most Americans are working harder for less. They are vulnerable to the fear tactics and the averseness to change that are behind much of the opposition to NAFTA. But I want to say to my fellow Americans, when you live in a time of change the only way to recover your security and to broaden your horizons is to adapt to the change-to embrace it, to move forward. . . . The only way we can recover the fortunes of the middle class in this country so that people who work harder and smarter can at least prosper more, the only way we can pass on the American dream of the last 40 years to our children and their children for the next 40, is to adapt to the changes which are occurring.
In a fundamental sense, this debate about NAFTA is a debate about whether we will embrace these changes and create the jobs of tomorrow, or try to resist these changes, hoping we can preserve the economic structures of yesterday. . . . I believe that NAFTA will create 1 million jobs in the first 5 years of its impact. . . . NAFTA will generate these jobs by fostering an export boom to Mexico by tearing down tariff walls. . . . There will be no job loss.
The reduction of tariffs was consistent with which other objective of the Clinton presidency?

A) immigration reform
B) advancing traditional moral views and ideals
C) the invention of the Internet
D) reducing the size of the federal government

Question 19

President Bill Clinton:

A) abolished child poverty.
B) terminated the food stamp program.
C) ended public housing programs.
D) replaced welfare with state grants.

Question 20

Operation Desert Storm:

A) quickly drove the Iraqi army out of Kuwait.
B) ousted Saddam Hussein from power.
C) lacked a clear strategic political goal.
D) was criticized by the United Nations.

Question 21

Increasingly visible during the 1990s, Asian-Americans:

A) were hailed by white Americans as a "model minority."
B) all earned high incomes.
C) tended to send their children to work rather than to school.
D) began returning to their countries of origin.

Question 22

What, according to author Eric Foner, would be the best possible outcome of the Rwandan genocide and the ethnic cleansing during the Balkan wars in the mid-1990s?

A) A United Nations with a stronger military arm.
B) An expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
C) A European Union with a more interventionist mind-set.
D) A more effective international system for the protection of human rights.

Question 23

Bill Clinton was easily reelected in 1996 because he:

A) embraced popular Republican policies.
B) pledged to increase the Aid to Families with Dependent Children.
C) vowed to get a national health insurance bill through Congress.
D) supported abolishing affirmative action.

Question 24

Globalization:

A) had little to do with the collapse of communism.
B) was symbolized by corporations such as Microsoft and organizations like the WTO.
C) is closely associated with the 1990s, although it was not a new phenomenon.
D) B and C

Question 25

Which of the following is NOT true of Wal-Mart?

A) By 2010, it was the largest employer in Mexico.
B) By the early twenty-first century, it was the second-largest corporate employer in America (after Apple).
C) It paid most of its 1.6 million nonunionized workers slightly less than minimum wage.
D) It was a global giant discount retail chain.

Question 26

How could many of the security frauds of the late 1990s and early 2000s have been prevented?

A) With a less litigious Security and Exchange Commission.
B) With a return to the gold standard.
C) With the extension of the Glass-Steagall Act.
D) With an emphasis on bonds rather than stock markets.

Question 27

What did Islamic fundamentalism in the Middle East and evangelical Christianity in the United States have in common at the beginning of the twenty-first century?

A) Both religious movements overwhelmingly attracted white men.
B) Both religious trends were only possible because of the Internet.
C) Both aided in the radical redistribution of wealth from top to bottom.
D) Both attracted followers partly because of the global spread of mass entertainment.

Question 28

Because of the 1965 changes in immigration laws, thirty-five years later the immigrant population in the United States:

A) had declined significantly.
B) increasingly came from Asia and Latin America.
C) increasingly came from eastern Europe.
D) had stayed about the same.

Question 29

What was the fate of the chief officers of Enron?

A) They were never tried before a court of law.
B) They left the country for a Caribbean island.
C) They were ordered to pay billions of dollars to compensate investors.
D) They were convicted of multiple counts of fraud.

Question 30

What did demonstrators demand in the "Battle of Seattle"?

A) International standards for working conditions.
B) An end to sanctions against Cuba.
C) An end to global trade and capital flows.
D) The resignation of Bill Clinton.

Question 31

Bill Clinton's foreign policy centered on:

A) elevating human rights to a central place in international relations.
B) defeating the few pockets of communism left in the world.
C) taking a hard line against economic competitors like Mexico and Canada.
D) building what he called a New World Order.

Question 32

Which of the following factors did NOT drive increasing immigration from Mexico in the 1990s?

A) Poverty in Mexico.
B) Superior public services in the United States.
C) Proximity to the United States.
D) High birthrates in Mexico.

Question 33

"Dot coms":

A) were high-tech companies that attracted many investors in the 1990s.
B) were companies against which economic journalists repeatedly warned investors.
C) were never warmly embraced by stockbrokers in the 1990s.
D) helped stabilize the fluctuating 1990s stock market.

Question 34

School segregation:

A) increased in the 1990s, due to new racial mandates overseen by local school districts.
B) declined significantly in the 1990s, thanks to changing racial attitudes.
C) increased in the 1990s, as a result of housing patterns.
D) declined because of two key Supreme Court rulings.

Question 35

Countless corporate scandals and stock frauds stemmed directly from the 1999 repeal of which New Deal measure?

A) The Glass-Steagall Act.
B) The Federal Communications Act.
C) The Securities and Exchange Act.
D) The Reconstruction Finance Corporation.

Question 36

During the last two decades of the twentieth century:

A) the poor and the middle-class became worse off, while the rich became significantly richer.
B) there was a significant rise in real income among working-class Americans.
C) Americans saved more and invested less.
D) America entered a profound recession, the likes of which had not been seen since the 1930s.

Question 37

Which of the following statements about the Internet is FALSE?

A) The Internet expanded the flow of information more radically than any invention since the printing press.
B) The Internet began as a high-speed military communications network.
C) The Internet was always intended to be owned and operated by private telecommunications companies.
D) The Internet was available to those with personal computers.

Question 38

Which of the following technologies had the LEAST influential effect on American life?

A) Computer games.
B) Cell phones.
C) Computers.
D) Video cassettes.

Question 39

During the Balkan crisis, President Clinton:

A) refused to commit U.S. troops.
B) blocked UN attempts to assist in the region.
C) provided minimal economic aid but refused to send troops.
D) supported NATO's efforts by deploying American planes and ground troops.

Question 40

Which of the following was NOT a common destination for immigrants at the turn of the twenty-first century?

A) Wichita.
B) Chicago.
C) Miami.
D) New York City.

Question 41

Why was the bitter political partisanship in Washington, D.C., in the 1990s so unexpected?

A) Republicans had denounced Reagan's new conservatism and returned to the more moderate brand of Gerald Ford and Nelson Rockefeller.
B) The tensions in foreign affairs had reinforced a sense of national solidarity in both major parties.
C) The economic crisis of the decade had convinced Republicans and Democrats that they needed to join forces for an effective political response.
D) The new president, Bill Clinton, was moving clearly toward the political center.

Question 42

During the 1990s, twenty-three states passed laws:

A) legalizing gay marriage.
B) limiting the rights of gay, lesbian, and bisexual Americans.
C) banning all abortions except for medical emergencies.
D) making English the official language.

Question 43

In 1998, Congress brought impeachment charges against President Clinton because he:

A) had an extramarital affair with a White House staff member.
B) authorized a break-in at the Republican national headquarters.
C) lied about his extramarital affair before the grand jury.
D) ordered troops into Somalia without congressional approval.

Question 44

What made the U.S. Supreme Court case of Bush v. Gore in 2000 so unusual?

A) It was decided in a 5-4 vote.
B) The case had far-reaching implications.
C) The public interpreted the justices' disagreements as political in nature.
D) This case was not meant to be a precedent.

Question 45

Rodney King's:

A) beating by white police officers was caught on videotape.
B) handgun was taken from the glove compartment of his car.
C) four assailants were acquitted, setting off riots in the city of Los Angeles.
D) A and C

Question 46

What general political trend coincided with a significant increase in private and corporate spending in political campaigns at the turn of the twenty-first century?

A) An increase in voter participation.
B) An increase in party membership.
C) An increase in newspaper subscriptions.
D) A withdrawal of people from the public sphere.

Question 47

The 2000 presidential race between George W. Bush and Al Gore was:

A) finally decided by the Supreme Court.
B) decided by the Florida attorney general.
C) in question because of voter fraud in Florida.
D) a landslide victory for Bush.

Question 48

How could the trend of mass imprisonment in the late twentieth century have been avoided?

A) Schools could have offered more civic lessons.
B) Hospitals should have kept a closer eye on the mentally ill.
C) State legislators could have refused to criminalize drug use.
D) Northeastern states should not have abolished the death penalty.

Question 49

Anita Hill:

A) worked for the Environmental Protection Agency.
B) charged Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas with sexual harassment in 1991.
C) testified against Clarence Thomas at Senate hearings, resulting in the denial of his confirmation to the Supreme Court.
D) retracted her sexual harassment charges upon Clarence Thomas's confirmation to the Supreme Court.

Question 50

At the end of the twentieth century, the Christian Coalition:

A) was a major force in Republican Party politics.
B) reversed its long-standing opposition to abortion.
C) declined in numbers but grew more vocal at the same time.
D) campaigned for the introduction of a national tax funding community churches.

Question 51

The term "pay gap" refers to the difference in:

A) pay differences between workers and CEOs.
B) pay rates for skilled and unskilled workers.
C) pay rates between men and women.
D) pay gaps between new hires and senior employees.

Question 52

Bush v. Gore ordered:

A) victory to be given to Bush.
B) the recount in Florida to finish within one week.
C) Florida to vote again in a separate election.
D) Florida to halt its recount.

Question 53

The Defense of Marriage Act:

A) redefined marriage as a state-sanctioned union of either same or opposite-sex couples.
B) was vetoed by Bill Clinton.
C) applied only to members of the military.
D) was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 2013.

Question 54

What is a visible sign of Native American quasi-sovereignty?

A) Casinos.
B) Reservations.
C) Citizenship.
D) Increase in professional jobs.

Question 55

Casey v. Planned Parenthood of Pennsylvania:

A) upheld the view that those who used violence against abortion clinics had to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
B) ruled that a woman had to inform her husband before getting an abortion.
C) overturned Roe v. Wade.
D) repudiated the centuries-old claim that a husband had a legal claim to control his wife's body.

Question 56

Militia groups arose in America during the 1990s:

A) to protest the increasing influence of the Christian Coalition.
B) and engaged in acts of domestic terrorism.
C) but were quickly eliminated by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
D) but posed no immediate threat to the nation.

Question 57

In the 1990s, the prison population:

A) declined because there was little new prison construction.
B) experienced shorter sentences and more rehabilitation programs than before.
C) increased because crime rates increased in the 1990s.
D) increased as state governments increased penalties for crimes and decreased parole.

Question 58

By the year 2000, the AIDS epidemic:

A) affected only homosexuals and transgender Americans.
B) affected only drug users and hemophiliacs.
C) was spreading less rapidly among gay Americans.
D) brought an end to the gay rights movement.

Question 59

The 1995 truck bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City was organized by:

A) militant African-American separatists.
B) a left-wing paramilitary group.
C) a far-right private militia group.
D) Islamic fundamentalists.

Question 60

Proposition 187, approved by California voters in 1994:

A) denied illegal immigrants and their children access to welfare and education.
B) expanded the "prison-industrial complex" with a tough three-strikes law.
C) reinstated the bracero program and solved many of its immigration problems.
D) banned bilingual education and abolished the segregation of immigrant schoolchildren.

Question 61

Evaluate the extent to which the end of the Cold War marked a turning point in U.S. foreign policy, analyzing what changed and what stayed the same before and after the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Question 62

Evaluate the extent to which the rise of the conservative movement resulted in maintaining continuity as well as fostering change in reducing the size and role of the federal government after 1980.

Question 63

In response to the September 11 attacks, the Bush administration:

A) banned all Muslims from further entry into the United States.
B) blamed the shadowy terrorist organization known as Al Qaeda.
C) declared a war on terror.
D) B and C

Question 64

Evaluate the extent to which Ronald Reagan's interventionist policies marked a turning point in foreign policy, analyzing what changed and what stayed the same from the period before Reagan's election to the presidency to the period after it.