Deck 30: Twenty-First-Century America, 1993-Present

Question 1

President Clinton refused to get involved in the violent turmoil in southeastern Europe in the early 1990s that had resulted from the breakup of the Soviet Union.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

Who warned in 1992 that the United States was experiencing "the greatest invasion" in its history?

A)George Bush
B)Pat Buchanan
C)H.Ross Perot
D)Bill Clinton
E)Armand Hammer

Answer 2

Pat Buchanan

Question 3

The Dodd-Frank bill called for government agencies to exercise less oversight over highly leveraged and highly complex new financial instruments.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

George W.Bush won the popular vote in the 2000 presidential election.

Question 5

During the first decade of the twenty-first century, the United States received twice as many immigrants as all other countries combined.

Question 6

In 2008, Barack Obama ran an impressive Internet-based campaign.

Question 7

The fastest growing group of Americans by the twenty-first century categorized themselves as

A)Anglo.
B)Hispanic.
C)Cuban.
D)African American.
E)multiracial.

Question 8

President George W.Bush stated that control of Iraq's oil supply was one major reason for the 2003 invasion of that nation by U.S.forces.

Question 9

President Bill Clinton depended on significant Republican support for the North American Free Trade Agreement to be approved in Congress.

Question 10

Bill Clinton was impeached by the U.S.House of Representatives.

Question 11

In May 2012, President Obama jumped headfirst into the simmering cultural wars by announcing his support for the rights of gay couples to marry.

Question 12

From the outset of Donald Trump's presidential campaign, political analysts realized his public appeal and predicted his nomination.

Question 13

Many opponents to the North American Free Trade Agreement favored tariffs to discourage the importation of cheaper foreign products.

Question 14

During President Barack Obama's first term, a top legislative priority was health-care reform.

Question 15

House Speaker Newt Gingrich and other Republicans in Congress promised a "Contract with America" that would dismantle the corrupt liberal welfare state.

Question 16

By 2000, for the first time in U.S.history the majority of immigrants came not from Europe but from other parts of the world.

Question 17

The U.S.agreement with Canada and Mexico that made North America the largest free-trade zone in the world was the

A)American Tariff Reduction Act.
B)North American Free Trade Agreement.
C)CAM Agreement.
D)Monroe Doctrine.
E)Kennedy Reduction Act.

Question 18

The national Tea Party movement that arose after President Obama's election in 2008 was from the outset a uniquely cohesive political organization.

Question 19

Between 1997 and 2006, the U.S.economy experienced a prolonged expansion as evidenced by rising home prices in Sunbelt states.

Question 20

What was one of the cornerstones of President Clinton's political agenda in his first term?

A)Reforming health care
B)Desegregating the military
C)Allowing gays in the military
D)Lowering the deficit
E)Raising taxes on the rich

Question 21

In spring of 1999, where did NATO and the United States launch air strikes to help stop Slobodan Milosevic's program of "ethnic cleansing" in which Albanian Muslims were murdered, raped, and displaced?

A)Iraq
B)Myanmar
C)Yugoslavia
D)Israel
E)Iran

Question 22

In 2007, the __________ "bubble" burst, leading to a loss of trillions of dollars and ultimately to a devastated U.S.economy.

A)dot-com
B)oil
C)housing
D)education
E)banking

Question 23

In the fall of 2002, Bush revealed a new national security approach called the "Bush Doctrine." Which of the following was part of this proposed policy?

A)Hunting down and killing Osama bin Laden
B)Banning Muslim immigration into the United States
C)Using highly limited bombing campaigns and only as a last resort
D)Containing the spread of Islam worldwide
E)Using preemptive military force rather than diplomacy

Question 24

After the Republican victories in Congress in 1994, Bill Clinton tried to save his presidency by showing he was more of a(n) __________ president.

A)centrist
B)liberal
C)conservative
D)independent
E)combative

Question 25

The burst of the housing bubble, personal loan defaults, contraction of corporate and consumer spending, and failed banks all contributed to the onset of the

A)Great Recession.
B)Panic of 2007.
C)Great Economic Collapse.
D)Bush Downfall.
E)Voodoo Economic Downturn.

Question 26

Barack Obama's opponent in the 2008 presidential race was

A)Chuck Hagel.
B)George W.Bush.
C)John McCain.
D)Wilt Chamberlain.
E)Winston Churchill.

Question 27

Who was Barack Obama's chief rival for the 2008 Democratic nomination for president?

A)Bill Clinton
B)Hillary Clinton
C)Al Gore
D)Chuck Hagel
E)William Snow

Question 28

For the first time since the 1950s, the __________ party captured control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate in 1994.

A)Democratic
B)Republican
C)Whig
D)Federalist
E)Anarchist

Question 29

What federal agency was unprepared for the damage done by Hurricane Katrina in 2005?

A)FEMA
B)FBI
C)CIA
D)DEA
E)NSA

Question 30

The Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) was aimed at assisting ailing

A)banks.
B)refineries.
C)homeowners.
D)stock exchanges.
E)textile mills.

Question 31

The terrorists who struck the United States on September 11, 2001, were led by

A)Sadaam Hussein.
B)Lee Iacocca.
C)Osama bin Laden.
D)Muhammad Qaddafi.
E)Bibi Netanyahu.

Question 32

On September 11, 2001, terrorists flew planes into __________ in New York City.

A)City Hall
B)the Sears Building
C)the World Trade Center
D)the Empire State Building
E)Times Square

Question 33

In the 1990s, a series of major court rulings undermined the affirmative action and race-based benefit programs that had been created in the 1960s.Which of the following cases ruled that race could not be used as a criterion for admission to universities?

A)Dred Scott v.Sanford
B)Hopwood v.Texas
C)Sweatt v.Texas
D)Brown v.Board of Education
E)Adarand Constructors v.Pena

Question 34

The __________ was a law passed that gave federal authorities the right to eavesdrop on confidential conversations between inmates and their lawyers.

A)Prison Rights Act
B)Secret Surveillance Act
C)USA Patriot Act
D)Alien Act
E)Sedition Act

Question 35

By the mid-1990s, the __________ opened up the Internet to everyone, not just the tech elite.

A)federal government
B)World Wide Web
C)Silicon Valley Consortium
D)Association of Computer Scientists
E)Clinton administration

Question 36

After the terrorist attacks on 9/11, President Bush announced the launch of a war on

A)terror.
B)Iraq.
C)Iran.
D)Libya.
E)Uzbekistan.

Question 37

Which of the following was crucial in George W.Bush's victory over Al Gore in the disputed presidential election of 2000?

A)Winning California's electoral votes
B)His final campaign speech in Ohio
C)Winning the "union vote" in the Rust Belt states
D)The Supreme Court order for Florida to stop recounting votes
E)Winning the youth vote

Question 38

Which of the following characterized the "new economy" during the 1990s?

A)Sustained economic prosperity, in part thanks to high-tech enterprises
B)An economy in which globalization had not yet begun
C)High unemployment and high inflation
D)Federal budget deficits and low corporate profits
E)Decreased international trade

Question 39

President Bill Clinton was impeached for

A)making fraudulent investments in Whitewater real estate.
B)embezzling tax dollars.
C)lying under oath and obstruction of justice.
D)the Iran-Contra cover-up.
E)refusing to comply with Congress on presidential appointments.

Question 40

Which of the following statements about the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act of 1996 (PRWOA) is accurate?

A)It revealed Clinton's goal of appealing to liberal Democrats first and foremost.
B)It was statistically unsuccessful, increasing poverty rates during the late nineties.
C)It aimed to decrease the size of the "welfare state" and limit the duration of welfare payments.
D)It sought to increase the amount of welfare payments and other government aid for the poor.
E)It led to disagreements with Republicans that helped cause Clinton to lose the 1996 presidential election.

Question 41

During the Democratic party primaries leading to the 2016 presidential election, Hillary Clinton appealed to the more mainstream party members, whereas __________ appealed to the progressive young Democrats.

A)Barack Obama
B)Nancy Pelosi
C)Ralph Nader
D)Chuck Schumer
E)Bernie Sanders

Question 42

Barack Obama was the first __________elected president in U.S.history.

A)person under 40 years old
B)African American
C)noncitizen
D)naturalized citizen
E)Muslim

Question 43

The __________ reformed Wall Street and provided greater oversight of transactions by federal authorities.

A)Smoot-Hartley Act
B)Mongrel Tariff
C)The New Deal
D)Dodd-Frank bill
E)Financial Reform Act

Question 44

Which of the following was a significant problem faced by the nation that President Obama inherited when he was inaugurated?

A)War in the Balkans
B)The collapse of the Soviet Union
C)An arms race
D)The Great Recession
E)Crude oil shortages

Question 45

Who cast the deciding vote in the landmark case that upheld the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act?

A)John G.Roberts
B)Rod Rosenstein
C)Joe Biden
D)Ruth Bader Ginsburg
E)Kenneth Starr

Question 46

In pledging to "make America great again," one of the items Donald Trump promised was to

A)decrease military spending and withdraw from Iraq.
B)enhance Obamacare and reinvigorate relations with Mexico.
C)repeal and replace Obamacare and increase military spending.
D)accept more Muslim refugees from Syria and other unstable Arab states.
E)promote conservationist policies to protect the environment.

Question 47

What factors might account for the Republican gains in Congress in the 1994 elections? How did President Clinton respond to the new Republican majorities in the House and Senate?

Question 48

President Obama's stated belief that the United States could no longer afford to continue to police the world was known as

A)the Bush Doctrine.
B)the Clinton Doctrine.
C)the Obama Doctrine.
D)the Contract with America.
E)globalization.

Question 49

In the presidential election of 2016, Hillary Clinton won __________ but Donald Trump won __________, thus becoming the forty-fifth president of the United States.

A)the popular vote; the electoral vote
B)the electoral vote; the popular vote
C)the votes of working-class whites; the votes of immigrants
D)the Rust Belt; New York
E)the western states; the northeastern states

Question 50

What was one of the goals of the Affordable Care Act (ACA)?

A)Repealing the individual mandate that had required uninsured adults to buy an approved private insurance policy
B)Making health insurance more affordable and making health care accessible for all, regardless of income
C)Providing health insurance for everyone except people with preexisting illnesses
D)Offering lower taxes to employers who did not offer health insurance
E)Lowering Medicare payroll taxes and preventing drug companies from needing to pay government fees

Question 51

What was an effect of Shelby County v.Holder (2013)?

A)It allowed states to deny spousal benefits to same-sex couples who had been legally married.
B)It declared that same-sex marriage is a right guaranteed by the American Constitution.
C)Counties and states in the South were able to push through laws making it harder for minorities and poor people to vote.
D)It outlawed requirements that all voters provide driver's licenses or other forms of identification.
E)It allowed corporations to spend indefinite amounts of money in support of political campaigns.

Question 52

Donald Trump used the social media outlet __________ to communicate effectively with his base of supporters and reinforce the anger and resentment many felt toward the government in Washington.

A)Facebook
B)Twitter
C)MySpace
D)Pinterest
E)Snapchat

Question 53

What was the Bush Doctrine, and what were some of the ways it influenced decisions made during the Iraq War?

Question 54

The Obama administration was __________ at the same time the executive order was issued that said undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children could remain in the U.S.legally.

A)first instating the DADT policy
B)deporting record numbers of illegal immigrants
C)compromising on immigration issues with anti-immigration Republicans
D)deporting the so-called Dreamers
E)helping negotiate the formation of NATO

Question 55

Which of the following did Donald Trump succeed in doing during the first year of his presidency?

A)Repealing and replacing Obamacare
B)Filling his cabinet with working-class people
C)Confirming his Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch
D)"Draining the swamp" in Washington, D.C.
E)Building a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border

Question 56

Which of the following statements about the 2016 campaign is accurate?

A)The campaign was mean-spirited and the most unconventional in American history.
B)Polls predicted Clinton's loss, and she was thought to have lost the three televised debates.
C)Trump received the support of all leading Republicans after winning the Republican nomination.
D)Clinton avoided the announcement of any scandals in the months before the election.
E)Trump emphasized the importance of NAFTA and promised to keep the agreement.

Question 57

Describe the new patterns of immigration to the United States from the 1990s-2000s.What might account for the change?

Question 58

Barack Obama was the first U.S.president to visit __________ since Coolidge in 1928, in an attempt to reestablish diplomatic relations.

A)Taiwan
B)Venezuela
C)Cuba
D)Colombia
E)Russia

Question 59

In the end, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act was not large enough to generate a robust economic recovery.What method did this bill include in an effort to achieve this goal?

A)Providing cash to states to spend on various economic stimulus projects
B)Bailing out the financial community
C)Providing operating funds for General Motors and Chrysler Motors
D)Increasing the amount of money available for financial aid
E)Propping up the ailing economy of Russia

Question 60

The Tea Party's left-wing opposite on the political spectrum was the __________ movement.

A)Occupy Wall Street
B)Serenity Now
C)Greenpeace
D)Independents
E)National Socialists

Question 61

Discuss the issue of increasing polarization in American politics from the 1990s through 2017.What roles, wittingly or unwillingly, have Presidents Clinton, Bush, Obama, and Trump played in the divisiveness?

Question 62

What factors accounted for the declining popularity of George W.Bush during his second term, and how did those same factors help Barack Obama win in 2008?

Question 63

Describe the Great Recession.What factors led up to it? How did it affect U.S.society?