Presidential Personality, Style, Events & Foreign Policy (Continued):

-​ Carter (D): was only elected for a single term. Primary reason, like normal, is the
economy was bad. In 1979 tho there was a revolution in Iran that overthrew Americas
“fav” dictator. During this revolution there were US diplomats that were taken hostage
and Carter failed to free them and negotiate their release.
-​ Mujahideen: Third was that in 1979 the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan. The
US response? = was known as Operation cyclone and it was made to gather
islamic fundamentalist from around the world, put them in training camps for
gorilla warfare and provide them all they need and then unleash them on the
Soviets in Afghanistan. These groups became known as the Mujahideen. Osama
bin Laden was one of these guys. This policy continued under 8 years of Reagan
and 2 additional ones of George Herbert Walker Bush. 3 presidents implemented
this policy until 1989. These groups then started fighting each other over who
would control the country. From this emerged the Taliban and decided to wage
war and control Afghanistan. The second group was known as Al qaeda, aka Bin
Laden’s group.
-​ Osama Bin Laden In 2001 Al qaeda struck the US’s twin towers and the
pentagon. This act is known as blowback which was the unintended
consequence of US foreign policy
-​ Reagan (R): Served 2 terms in office and known as the great communicator. He had a
quality in his leadership known as charisma, which made people obey him. He also was
famous for implementing a foreign policy known as Reaganomics/Supply side
economics which has been applied 3 times in the US. This is when the US initiates a
deep federal tax cut of about 10-15% and it is assumed the tax cut will not lead to a
federal budget deficit, which is when the gov. spends more than it takes in gov, It’s
assumed rich people will take the money from the tax cut and they will invest it
productively making companies and the gov. will grow and then tax this growing
economy to get the money back. But in reality results have been massive budget
deficits. This makes the US grab money back which can be either through taxes or
reduced spending. Or like Regan you borrow money. Rich people from all over, even
central bank, buys these treasury bills. Then in 1989 Bush continues this policy and
budget deficits continues to grow. Then in 1993 Clinton becomes president and the
deficit starts shrinking and even enters surplus. This is what he did, he increased the top
marginal income tax, taxing the rich more. With the help of republicans in congress,
spending decreased as well. Bush then becomes president and this grows the debt
instead. He cut taxes, increased defence spending, wars put more strain, increased
domestic spending, and the economy went into a recession. During a recession there is
massive unemployment so people are not paying taxes and this causes gov. revenue to
go down, people consume less too, and the stock market shrinks as well. Then why did
the gov. spend money during recession, this is because nobody is there to spend it so
the gov. spends money to states to spend on things such as infrastructure which
stimulates the economy. Now during the Obama years the deficits shrank but the
national debt increased. In 2017 Trump becomes president and a massive tax cut is put
on and the deficit increases and then a corresponding rise on the national debt because
 of the COVID money borrowing. Under trump there was negative job growth. Then Joe
Biden becomes president and once he gets in the budget deficit shrinks because of the
easing of the pandemic and the national debt kept going up. Who does the gov. owe
money too? = large part is owned domestically but about 26% is to foreign countries
such as China and Japan. Continueingggg on…. Reagan’s foreign activities include US
invasion of Grenada, sending US marines to Lebanon, US support for anti-government
forces in Nicaragua, US involvement in Honduras, and Arming Iraq. in 1980 the
president of Iraq ordered the invasion of Iran,it was first very successful and Iraq made it
into Iran. However by 1982 the Iran military recovered and was pushing its invaders and
even into Iraq. When Iraq was in danger the west (including US) sold Iraq the necessary
ingredients to make chemical weapons. Eventually the war ended and neither won, in
1988. US support for Iraq continued until August of 1990 when Iraq invaded Kuwait.
-​ Bush Sr. (R): One term president. His biggest domestic achievement was the passage of
the Americans with Disabilities act (handicap accessibility). Under Bush Iraq invaded
Kuwait in 1990. This was his biggest foreign policy achievement, because it ended
quickly, the war achieved its objectives (weaken their army, set up posts), and there
were few immediate American casualties. However, following the war the military
veterans developed a weird illness known as Gulf War syndrome, until 2008!!. Following
the war Bush emerged extremely popular but in 1992 he lost this and lost his re-election
to Clinton, because the economy went into a recession.
-​ Clinton (D): There were 2 Clintons, the first governed 1993-1994 and the second from
1995-2000. The first governed as a liberal democrat, increasing taxes, supported gay
men in the military, and tried to overhaul america's healthcare system. In the 1994
congressional election the democratic party lost control of congress. Clinton 2 governs
as a moderate, he borrows policy from the democratic and republican party. This
strategy was known as triangulation. This coupled with an improving economy, and
lowering unemployment got him reelected. In this term the budget was balanced and the
debt was on a downward trend. In 1998 he was impeached because of his sexual
downbadness. First Clinton war, in 1998 the US and NATO bombed Yugoslavia for 78
days. They were alleging that the Serbians military was conducting genocide in the
province of Kasubo. Eventually they left and inspectors found no evidence of genocide
only a civil war. The US was able to extend its empire by placing a military base there,
which is close to Russia. Second, the US believed that there was a chemical weapons
factory in Sudan, so they destroyed it. After the attack inspectors found that the factory
was producing pharmacy stuff to 10 million Africans, and never apologized. Third, at the
end of the first gulf war Iraq was placed under strict economic sanctions, they were not
allowed to import anything or export without that prior ok of the United Nations sanctions
committee. It was said these would be lifted when Iraq could show that they got rid of the
WMD were gone. Turns out they destroyed all their WMD by 1994 at the latest, yet the
sanctions continued until 2003. These sanctions killed 1.2 million Iraqies. This killed
them because chlorine for instance is important for cleaning water or poison gas. This
means they couldn’t clean their water and would die.
-​ Bush Jr. (R): His family was in politics. He was the 3rd candidate to become president
without pop. vote. It's uncertain he even won the electoral college votes because there
was no recount in Florida when Algore wanted one. There was a recount but Bush
appealed to the federal supreme court and won. Bush did not have a lot of experience
so he recycled a lot of his dad’s people. Following 911, Bush declares a global war on
terror, and congress helps by passing the patriot act. This says that a domestic terrorist
is anybody who engages in an act that breaks the laws of the US and is dangerous to
American life, appears to be used to scare civilians, and the act is intended to influence
the policy. Compared to other figures? Martin Luther king broke laws against segregation
to influence change, so this means he’d be a terrorist. Mahatma Gandhi is another
example. Nelson Mandela is another. If you're considered a terrorist the gov. can search
your house even if your not there, they can read your email, eavesdrop on attorneys
talking to their client, citizens or noncitizens can be detained indefinitely without the use
of a trial, the gov can hold military tribunals and here there is no trials or discovery
(evidence). Any financial transaction exceeding 10,000 must be reported to the federal
gov, librarians must report the checkout of books from the library if it is deemed
suspicious. Under this time the US also started to engage in a type of torture known as
water boarding. With 911 the Bush administration found and excuse to invade Iraq and
used false info produced by torture to invade. Wars? Invasion of Afghanistan in order to
kill Osama Bin Laden. 2nd, the invasion of Iraq in search of WMD and the idea that they
were with Al Qaeda (911 attack).