Deck 29: Into the Global Millennium: America Since 1992

Question 1

The Republican "Contract with America" called for which of the following?

A) Decreased defense spending
B) Passage of a balanced-budget amendment to the Constitution
C) An increase in the capital gains tax
D) A law prohibiting discrimination in employment on the basis of sexual orientation

Answer 1

Passage of a balanced-budget amendment to the Constitution

Question 2

President Bill Clinton embraced ___________ ideology during his time in office.

A) liberal
B) ultra-progressive
C) centrist
D) conservative

Answer 2

centrist

Question 3

In December 1998, the House of Representatives voted to impeach President Clinton on two counts, including ___________________.

A) depriving Americans of their constitutional right of free speech
B) manipulation of the media for the purpose of defrauding the public
C) perjury in his testimony before a grand jury
D) abuse of power

Answer 3

perjury in his testimony before a grand jury

Question 4

Which of the following is true of the Family and Medical Leave Act?

A) It required employers to either grant workers paid family or medical leave or add an additional two weeks to the vacation time extended to employees.
B) It required employers to grant a three-day work week to workers with a documented family or medical emergency.
C) It required employers to grant workers up to fifty-two weeks of unpaid family or medical leave.
D) It required employers to grant workers time off to care for ailing relatives or newborn children.

Question 5

Which of the following was a reason for Clinton's victory in the 1996 presidential election?

A) He put forward a plan to overhaul the nation's health-care system.
B) He took a strong stand against gun-control legislation.
C) The proposals of his Republican opponent seemed reactionary to the electorate.
D) He successfully redefined the "family-values" issue, thus reclaiming it from conservatives.

Question 6

Which of the following best describes the plan accepted by President Clinton concerning gays in the military?

A) Discrimination against gays in the military was prohibited as long as their sexual orientation was not revealed.
B) Discrimination against gays in the military was prohibited.
C) Gays could serve in the military as long as they disclosed their sexual orientation at the time of their enlistment.
D) Discrimination against gays in the military was prohibited, but they were to be housed in separate barracks.

Question 7

Due in part to Proposition 13 in 1992, the state of California _________________.

A) provided state-funded health care to all California citizens
B) faced bankruptcy
C) repudiated its debt
D) requested federal funds to prevent bankruptcy

Question 8

As a result of the 1994 midterm elections, _____________________.

A) Democrats won a majority of the state governorships
B) most Republican incumbents failed to win reelection
C) Republicans gained majorities in both houses of Congress
D) Democrats retained control of the House but lost control of the Senate

Question 9

The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act of 1996 __________________________.

A) shifted responsibility for the management of all welfare programs from the states to the federal government
B) limited welfare benefits to a total of five years over an individual's lifetime
C) virtually eliminated all federal funding for the nation's welfare programs
D) guaranteed that the federal government would provide cash assistance to the nation's poor children and to immigrants

Question 10

After investigations following the Oklahoma City bombing, extremist groups were uncovered that ______________________.

A) supported the Brady Bill
B) were black supremacists
C) believed Queen Elizabeth and the Jews were secretly controlling the federal government
D) had caused voter fraud in the 1992 election

Question 11

During his first term, President Clinton suffered a major defeat over his ___________________.

A) proposal to ban the sale of all assault weapons
B) plan to reduce federal spending
C) health-care plan
D) welfare-reform proposals

Question 12

The "Contract With America" was developed by

A) Bill Clinton
B) Hillary Clinton
C) Timothy McVeigh
D) Newt Gingrich

Question 13

When, in late 1995, President Clinton refused to give in to the demands of the Republican-controlled 104th Congress concerning the federal budget, the Congress _______________________.

A) adjourned
B) brought impeachment charges against President Clinton
C) publicized incriminating evidence from the Whitewater investigation concerning Hillary Rodham Clinton
D) refused to pass a continuing budget resolution, thus forcing the government to suspend all nonessential activities

Question 14

Which of the following is considered one of the sources of tension preceding the Los Angeles riots of 1992?

A) The failure of Congress to renew the Voting Rights Act
B) The all-white composition of the Los Angeles City Council
C) The dramatic increase in hate crimes against ethnic minorities in Los Angeles
D) Strained relations between African Americans and Korean immigrants

Question 15

Who was appointed as a co-chair of President Clinton's health-care task force?

A) First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton
B) Vice President Al Gore
C) Secretary of Labor Alexis Herman
D) Surgeon General Dr. C. Everett Koop

Question 16

The response of Americans to the legislative agenda of the Congress elected in the 1994 elections indicates which of the following?

A) Americans wanted a balanced federal budget despite the consequences.
B) Americans favored economy in government, but they did not favor cuts to programs such as Medicare and Social Security.
C) Americans supported dismantling social programs designed to provide a "safety net" to the nation's disadvantaged citizens.
D) Americans no longer believed that the federal government should assume responsibility for protecting citizens from environmental hazards or dangers in the workplace.

Question 17

In the aftermath of President Clinton's impeachment, ________________________.

A) the media pledged not to delve into or report on the private lives of politicians
B) Newt Gingrich, Republican Speaker of the House, resigned when evidence surfaced that he had engaged in an extramarital affair
C) Congress passed a joint resolution pledging not to use sexual misconduct or infidelity as a reason for the impeachment of high government officials
D) the Republican congressmen responsible for his impeachment resigned their seats in the House of Representatives

Question 18

Newt Gingrich:

A) The Reform Party candidate for president in 1996
B) A Georgia congressman who led the 1994 Republican Revolution
C) A type of frog ecologists wanted placed on the endangered species list and protected from logging operations in the Northwest
D) A White House lawyer whose suicide was widely attributed to revelations in the Whitewater investigation

Question 19

Which invention was at the heart of technological revolution?

A) Microprocessor
B) Memory Processor
C) ALU
D) Calculator

Question 20

In the first year of his presidency, President Bill Clinton's major goal, a program to assure affordable health care for all Americans, was defeated by ____________________.

A) a close vote in the House of Representatives
B) a betrayal by liberal Democrats who wanted to punish Clinton for being too conservative
C) special interest groups that were too powerful to be defeated by the health-care task force
D) the fear of the American public that the health-care plan was the first step toward socialized medicine

Question 21

Which of the following was one of the effects of the high-tech industry on the American economy in the 1990s?

A) It caused an overall loss of jobs.
B) It generated improved productivity.
C) It caused a significant rise in the cost of electricity.
D) It fostered a revitalization of heavy industry in the Northeast.

Question 22

Which of the following is true of the North American Free Trade Agreement?

A) The United States, Mexico, and Canada agreed to buy certain products exclusively from nations in South America in an effort to ease their debt burdens.
B) It ended the trade war between Japan and the nations of North America.
C) It lowered trade and investment barriers between the United States, Mexico, and Canada.
D) It established a free trade zone between the nations of North America and the European Economic Community.

Question 23

Former President of Yugoslavia:

A) Slobodan Milosevic
B) Ivan Riber
C) Josip Broz
D) Sergej Kraigher

Question 24

What was the unemployment rate at the close of the 1990s?

A) 8.1 percent
B) 5.2 percent
C) 4.3 percent
D) 2.4 percent

Question 25

During the Clinton years, the American economy experienced _______________________.

A) its highest unemployment rate in thirty years
B) a rising standard of living for both the nation's richest people and the nation's poorest people
C) a rapidly declining stock market
D) an ever-narrowing gap between the incomes of the rich and the poor

Question 26

In the presidential election of 2000, _____________________.

A) Al Gore's refusal to allow a recount of the votes in Florida gave that state's electoral votes and the presidency to George W. Bush.
B) no candidate received a majority of the electoral votes, and thus the election was decided by the House of Representatives, which gave the presidency to George W. Bush.
C) the Supreme Court, in a 5-to-4 vote, ended the vote recount in Florida, thus giving Florida's electoral votes and the presidency to George W. Bush.
D) a fifteen-member Electoral Commission gave Florida's electoral votes and the presidency to George W. Bush.

Question 27

What was true of the average real wages of American workers from 1973 to the mid-1990s?

A) They rose at the highest rate in the nation's history.
B) They declined steadily.
C) They steadily rose and caused a significant increase in the size of the middle class.
D) They declined at a higher rate than during the Great Depression of the 1930s.

Question 28

The goal of the perpetrator of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing was to avenge ___________________.

A) an American attempt to kill Osama bin Laden
B) America's unquestioning support of Israel
C) the deaths of members of the Branch Davidian religious sect, whom he believed had been deliberately killed by the FBI
D) American undermining of the government of Haiti's Jean-Bertrand Aristide

Question 29

Increasing criticism of NAFTA and economic globalization suggests that ______________________.

A) many Americans were less enthusiastic about globalization than was President Clinton
B) both ordinary workers and multinational corporations were becoming more hostile to the realities of a global market economy
C) it is impossible for activists to mount large demonstrations when the issues are financially complex
D) globalization made it easier than ever before for automobile workers to wage a "Buy American" campaign

Question 30

The 1993 agreement signed by Yasir Arafat and Yitzhak Rabin _____________________.

A) allowed Palestinian self-rule in the Gaza Strip
B) placed Jerusalem under U.N. control
C) called for the dismantling of Israeli settlements in the West Bank
D) settled the disagreement between Israel and the PLO concerning refugees

Question 31

Which of the following was one of the roots of the economic boom of the 1990s?

A) The increased influence of organized labor
B) The rapid development of information technology
C) The revival of heavy industry
D) The dramatic increase in U.S. exports

Question 32

In the 2000 presidential election, ______________________.

A) experts agreed that the type of ballot used was of no significance
B) the Supreme Court played no role
C) Al Gore won the popular vote but did not win the Electoral College vote and therefore the presidency
D) the third-party candidacy of Ralph Nader had no impact on the election's outcome

Question 33

In the aftermath of the Oklahoma City bombing, groups believing that the federal government was controlled by "sinister forces" ________________________.

A) made substantial gains in membership
B) began to make more use of the Internet to spread their beliefs
C) were identified and shut down by the FBI
D) began to buy advertisements in national publications to promote their reactionary agenda

Question 34

What was a reason for the extension of full diplomatic recognition to Vietnam in 1995?

A) A pledge by the Clinton administration to the People's Republic of China
B) Pressure from major corporations that wanted to take advantage of the emerging market in Vietnam
C) A desire to support the democratization of the Vietnamese government
D) The renunciation of Communist ideology by the government of Vietnam

Question 35

The mastermind of the 1995 Riyadh bombing and the bombing of the destroyer U.S.S Cole was _______________.

A) Yasir Arafat
B) Saddam Hussein
C) Osama bin Laden
D) Ali-Hassan al-Majid

Question 36

In 1999, the breakdown of the 1995 peace agreement on the Balkan crisis led to which of the following?

A) President Clinton tried to persuade Congress to send arms to the Bosnian Muslims.
B) Secretary of State Madeleine Albright publicly praised the abrogation of the agreement.
C) U.S.-led NATO forces began an aerial bombardment on Serbia.
D) Congress demanded the withdrawal of all American forces from the region.

Question 37

With regard to international efforts to protect the environment, the Clinton administration _____________________.

A) opposed the 1992 Rio de Janeiro Treaty as an attack on American industry
B) refused to fulfill the previous Bush administration's pledge to support the war against global warming
C) signed the 1997 Kyoto Protocol on carbon dioxide emissions but never submitted it for ratification to the Republican-controlled Senate
D) showed its disdain for the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which it had signed only to mollify the nation's environmentalists, by secretly lobbying against its ratification in the Senate

Question 38

During President Clinton's time in office, ___________________.

A) Congress failed to reduce federal spending
B) the United States economy was mired in recession
C) tax revenues declined
D) the federal deficit was erased, which lowered interest rates and increased investment

Question 39

Which of the following is true of U.S. involvement in the United Nations humanitarian efforts in Somalia in the early 1990s?

A) Boris Yeltsin responded to the operation by lodging a formal protest with the U.N. Security Council against that body's meddling in African affairs.
B) The presence of U.N. peacekeepers led rival clans in Somalia to enter into a cease-fire agreement and a democratic regime was installed.
C) Libya responded by invading Somalia in an attempt to prevent its "westernization"
D) When troops loyal to a Somali warlord began deadly attacks against American soldiers, the United States withdrew its troops.

Question 40

Which of the following statements is true concerning foreign policy during the Clinton administration?

A) President Clinton's heavy reliance on American military might to solve international problems ended with the U. S. involvement in Bosnia.
B) President Clinton's willingness to use American military might to end civil wars in developing nations was apparent in his decision to send troops to end the genocide in Rwanda.
C) President Clinton's reluctance to intervene militarily in foreign countries may be seen in his refusal to yield to congressional demands that he send troops to Iraq to overthrow Saddam Hussein.
D) President Clinton's mistrust of foreign military interventions was strengthened by the difficulties that followed U.S. involvement in Somalia.

Question 41

After the attacks of September 11, 2001, ______________________.

A) President Bush, Vice President Cheney, and Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld began seriously to contemplate toppling the Saddam Hussein government in Iraq
B) definitive and incontrovertible evidence was uncovered that Saddam Hussein was on the verge of building a nuclear weapon
C) the Bush administration seemed confused and indecisive regarding how to respond to the attacks
D) it was revealed that Saddam Hussein was part of the Al Qaeda plot to attack the United States

Question 42

Which statement best encapsulates the beliefs of neoconservatives with regard to military action against the Hussein regime in Iraq?

A) They believed that such a war would allow the United States to reshape the Middle East, oppose tyranny, and spread democracy.
B) They warned that instability in Iraq could make that country a refuge for Taliban leaders and supporters fleeing Afghanistan.
C) They warned that a very large military force would be needed to stabilize post-war Iraq.
D) They believed that such a move would destabilize the entire Middle East.

Question 43

Which of the following is true of the administration of George W. Bush?

A) It was strongly opposed to drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
B) It asked Congress to repeal all environmental regulations.
C) It oversaw the dismantling of environmental restrictions on the oil, timber, and mining industries.
D) It supported severe restrictions on emissions by automobiles and power plants to prevent further depletion of the earth's ozone layer.

Question 44

Which of the following is true of President George W. Bush in the months prior to launching the war against Iraq?

A) He invoked the War Powers Act of 1973 before undertaking military action against the Saddam Hussein regime in Iraq.
B) He made it clear that he would not be bound by a resolution against military action although it was passed by both houses of Congress.
C) He launched the war against Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq without invoking the War Powers Act of 1973 or asking for congressional approval.
D) He sought the approval of Congress before launching the war against Saddam Hussein's regime, although he contended he did not really need that approval for such a step.

Question 45

The American electorate began to seriously question the competence of the Bush administration as a result of ________________________.

A) the administration's attempts to privatize Social Security
B) the mismanagement of the government's response to Hurricane Katrina
C) the charges of perjury brought against Attorney General Alberto Gonzales
D) the indecisiveness of the administration regarding how to deal with the resurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistan

Question 46

In 2007, which of the following contributed to a dramatic reduction in violence in Iraq?

A) Political reconciliation among the competing factions in Iraq
B) A "surge" in U.S. forces in Iraq along with an anti-insurgency strategy that emphasized protecting the civilian population
C) A change in U.S. strategy that effectively closed the border between Iraq and Iran
D) The U.S.-led reconstruction of Iraq's schools, hospitals, electric power plants, and water-purification facilities

Question 47

In the aftermath of 9/11, which of the following caused many civil libertarians to charge that the Department of Justice was threatening the basic freedoms enjoyed by Americans?

A) The way in which the Justice Department enforced the Homeland Security Act
B) The Justice Department's order that private planes would not fly over Washington, D.C.
C) The Department's decree that all people entering shopping malls had to undergo a search for weapons and incendiary devices.
D) The Justice Department's granting of new powers to FBI agents to monitor the Internet, mosques, and rallies

Question 48

When Barack Obama took office in January 2009, he inherited which of the following from his predecessor?

A) A balanced federal budget
B) The looming threat of war in the Middle East between Israel and Syria
C) A major recession that had the potential to turn into a global meltdown
D) Unemployment figures which were high but were steadily going down

Question 49

In an attempt to prevent the collapse of the U.S. financial system, Congress passed, and President Bush signed into law, _______________________.

A) the Federal Housing and Banking Authority Program
B) the National Banking Recovery Act
C) the Reconstruction Finance Act
D) the Troubled Asset Relief Program

Question 50

With regard to the Iraq war, policymakers in the Bush administration _____________________.

A) wanted a United Nations peacekeeping force to stabilize Iraq after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein
B) insisted that responsibility for postwar Iraq be put in the hands of the State Department
C) paid very close attention to studies done by the State Department concerning possible problems that might be encountered in postwar Iraq
D) seemed not to have planned for the postwar period

Question 51

Which of the following was considered the centerpiece of President George W. Bush's domestic agenda when he took office in 2001?

A) Health-care reform
B) Severe budget cuts with the aim of balancing the federal budget
C) A new energy policy that attempted to prevent further global warming
D) A massive tax cut

Question 52

In the 2012 presidential election, President Obama's key advantage proved to be _________________.

A) steady improvement in the unemployment rate
B) his promise to raise the minimum wage
C) the death of Osama bin Laden
D) the end of the war in Afghanistan

Question 53

Contrary to traditional conservative ideology, President George W. Bush __________________.

A) believed that the federal government had no role in the nation's public education system
B) called for tax increases for the wealthiest Americans
C) oversaw the passage of a prescription drug plan for American seniors under Medicare
D) held that the management of national emergencies should be dealt with at the state level, not at the federal level

Question 54

In the aftermath of 9/11, many governments allied with the United States objected when the Bush administration __________________.

A) announced that it would hold accountable any nation from which an attack on American soil, American facilities, or American citizens was mounted, and that the United States would respond immediately and militarily to any such attack
B) adopted the most restrictive immigration policy in the nation's history
C) asserted that the United States would not wait for security threats to become real, but would instead employ preemptive action to defend the nation
D) asserted that America would use its military power solely for the physical protection of the United States and U.S. citizens

Question 55

Which of the following contributed to the nation's economic crisis that began in 2007?

A) The influence-peddling scheme of the "Keating five" which led to a housing "bubble."
B) The deregulation of financial institutions, which allowed them to engage in risky practices such as "subprime" mortgages.
C) The collapse of hundreds of savings and loan institutions, which had a ripple effect throughout the American economic system.
D) The overregulation of Wall Street, which began in the Clinton administration, eventually paralyzed credit markets.

Question 56

In the months prior to launching war against Iraq, the Bush administration said that military action against that country was necessary because Saddam Hussein was _________________.

A) planning another invasion of Kuwait
B) attempting to acquire nuclear weapons
C) plotting an attack against Israel
D) planning to end sales of Iraqi oil to the United States

Question 57

The economic crisis that began in 2007 caused which of the following?

A) The paralysis of credit markets
B) Severe inflation
C) A record increase in interest rates on home mortgages
D) The collapse of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

Question 58

Which of the following caused the international community to condemn the United States?

A) Revelations of abuse and torture of prisoners by American guards at Abu Ghraib prison
B) The U.S. invasion of Afghanistan after the attacks of September 11, 2001
C) The U.S. decision to impose a constitution on Iraq without consulting with the Iraqi people
D) Revelations that the intelligence community in the United States knew that an attack on the World Trade Center was imminent, yet had done nothing to prevent it

Question 59

President Bush's announcement that the United States would withdraw from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty with Russia and build a national missile defense system was an indication that:

A) Bush was more sympathetic to his father's views on foreign affairs than to Ronald Reagan's.
B) Bush was a sly politician who, by refusing to be swayed by the criticisms of foreign governments, intended to win over the conservative Democrats he needed to push his agenda through Congress.
C) Bush was an independent thinker who was not going to be controlled by strong-minded members of his administration such as Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.
D) Bush wanted the United States to plot a unilateralist course in international affairs.

Question 60

Although the U.S. economy began a recovery in 2009, the percentage of people who were unemployed or underemployed was approximately ________________.

A) 9 percent
B) 10 percent
C) 15 percent
D) 17 percent

Question 61

Which of the following indicated an increasing level of support in the early twenty-first century for the legal equality of gay and lesbian Americans?

A) The ruling by the Supreme Court striking down all laws that ban adoption by gay couples
B) The extension of domestic-partner benefits to gay couples by many states and private corporations
C) The passage by Congress of the Defense of Marriage Act
D) The 2008 repeal of the military's "don't-ask-don't-tell" policy

Question 62

By 2003, the second largest ethnic group in the United States was ________________.

A) African Americans
B) Anglo Americans
C) Asian Americans
D) Latino Americans

Question 63

Explain the Bush administration's policy of preemptive action, and discuss the domestic and international debate generated by the adoption of this policy.

Question 64

Examine the issues and personalities and explain the outcome of the 1994 congressional elections. How successful were Republicans in enacting the agenda outlined in the "Contract with America?"

Question 65

Discuss the nature, causes, and consequences of the rapid demographic changes within American society during the 1990s and early twenty-first century.

Question 66

Examine the clash in values of the "New Democrats," both with the ideological predecessors in their own party and with the Republicans.

Question 67

Discuss the emergence of ethnic wars in the Balkans and the situation in the Middle East. How did the Clinton administration respond to each situation and what were the consequences?

Question 68

Which of the following is true of Al Qaeda during the decade following 9/11?

A) It became clear that by the end of the decade that Al Qaeda's home base was in Iran.
B) By the end of the decade, the United States and its allies had largely destroyed Al Qaeda's terror network and created a safer and more stable world order.
C) Operating through small cells of terrorists and using the interconnectivity present in a globalized world, Al Qaeda became a truly transnational threat.
D) With the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, Al Qaeda was rendered headless and powerless.

Question 69

Discuss the economic downturn that began with the housing bubble collapse in 2007 and subsequent efforts to reverse it.

Question 70

Explain the causes and consequences of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks against the towers of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

Question 71

Examine the causes of the economic boom of the 1990s and discuss the impact of this boom on the American people and American society.

Question 72

Discuss the domestic accomplishments and failures of the administration of President George W. Bush.

Question 73

Examine the causes and consequences of the 2003 war against Iraq.

Question 74

Discuss the social and economic problems faced by the Clinton administration, and explain the administration's responses to those problems.

Question 75

Analyze the multi-ethnic turmoil in Los Angeles in the early 1990s.

Question 76

Obama's foreign policy included a troop "surge" in _____________.

A) Somalia
B) Iraq
C) North Korea
D) Afghanistan

Question 77

Discuss the domestic accomplishments and failures of the Obama administration.

Question 78

Discuss the assertion that the post-Cold War world was "the age of globalization."