War on Terror
This event, early in the 21st century, set the stage for the so-called War on Terror.
What are the 9/11 attacks?
Historians see Reagan's election to the presidency in this year as a significant milestone in the rise of American conservatism.
What is 1980?
This new technology dramatically increased the ability of businesses to connect and communicate globally.
What is the internet/digital communications technology?
This region was hit especially hard by the outsourcing of manufacturing jobs in the second half of the 20th century.
What is the Rust Belt/upper Midwest?
This illegal campaign activity by people with strong ties to President Nixon led to a decline in the faith Americans had in the federal government.
What is Watergate?
What are civil liberties?
In contrast to Democratic presidents like FDR and LBJ, conservatives like Reagan governed according to this guiding principle.
What is small government/deregulation?
Despite debates over its role in the modern world, the US is still viewed as one of these (although we shouldn't get too cocky--we could still be defeated by "a ragtag volunteer army in need of a shower")
What is a (global) superpower?
The "melting pot" ideal, popular in the 1990s, continued to pressure immigrants to do this.
What is assimilate?
This president, who succeeded Nixon, was never elected to the presidency or vice presidency.
Who is Ford?
In an attempt to change the geopolitical circumstances that allowed terrorist groups to become powerful, the United States began armed conflicts in these two nations in the early 2000s.
What are Iraq and Afghanistan?
As parties realigned and conservatism asserted itself as a major political force in the 1980s, this demographic characteristic began to be heavily associated with the Republican party.
What are any of the following: white, male, Christian, Southern, Western?
Immigrants from these two global regions provided an important labor force for the US in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
What are Asia and Latin America?
This balmy region benefited from increased migration and defense spending after WWII (and also from air conditioning!)
What is the Sun Belt?
This member of a prominent political family was president on Sept. 11, 2001.
Who is George W. Bush?
Critics of America's wars in the Middle East charged that the desire for this, rather than security concerns, actually motivated those conflicts.
What are fossil fuels/oil?
The Cold War wound down under the Reagan administration, thanks in large part to this skill of Reagan's.
What is diplomacy?
This region emerged as a focus of US intervention after the Cold War due in large part to its rich oil deposits.
What is the Middle East?
As manufacturing jobs moved out of the US, this lower-wage sector became the site of most job growth.
What is the service industry?
President Jimmy Carter was mocked by critics for proposing small changes like turning down the heat and wearing sweaters in response to this phenomenon.
What is the energy crisis?
This October 2001 law gave increased authority to law enforcement agencies and made it easier for law enforcement agencies to work together.
What is the USA PATRIOT Act?
(Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism)
Critics of Reagan cite his refusal to acknowledge the spread of this deadly disease until years into his presidency as one of his biggest failings.
What is HIV/AIDS?
This agreement ensured commerce without financial penalties or restrictions between the US, Canada, and Mexico.
What is NAFTA (the North American Free Trade Agreement)?
This negatively impacted the earning power of individuals in the late 20th century (more than one answer possible).
What are declining union membership/stagnating wages/outsourcing/a shift from manufacturing to the service industry?
Presidents Bill Clinton and Donald Trump are two of the three presidents to undergo this process in the House of Representatives.
What is impeachment?