Odds and EndsUnit 8
President Barack Obama 2009-Present #44
Background
• Democrat from Illinois • Won the 2008 Presidential election • First African American to be elected (Civil Rights)• Re-elected in 2012
Actions
• American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009• The Act included: • direct spending on infrastructure, education, health, and energy• federal tax incentives• expansion of unemployment benefits and other social welfare
provisions.
• Affordable Health Care Act “Obamacare” • The Act was created to:
• increase the quality and affordability of health insurance• lower the uninsured rate by expanding public and private
insurance coverage• reduce the costs of healthcare for individuals and the
government
Actions
• Ended U.S. military involvement in the Iraq War (2011)• Began involvement in Iraq to combat The Islamic State
“ISIS or ISIL (2014)• Normalized relations with Cuba “Cuban Thaw”• U.S. travel restrictions lifted• Fewer restrictions on remittances (transfer of money)• U.S. banks access to the Cuban financial system• Establishment of a U.S. embassy in Havana
Influential Persons
Sam Walton
• Global Economic Interdependence• Built a chain of retail stores that
sold goods at lower prices than competitors
Estee Lauder
• Developed new ways to market her own line of American cosmetics. • Sold in dept. stores & applied
make-up to customers to show effectiveness
Lionel Sosa
• Started an advertising agency specializing in the Hispanic market
Bill Gates
• The largest philanthropist in America today.• Developed software programs that made it
possible to operate personal computers
Oprah Winfrey
• Producer of her own talk show, magazine, book, and cable network• The richest female in
America for a decade and one of the top 10 wealthiest in the Nation.
Michael Dell
• Assembles and sells PCs at
lower prices than competitors.• 41st richest person in the World
in 2012
Rise of Conservatism
• Era of policies favoring big business and the rich.• The rise was also seen with support
coming from groups like the NRA (National Rifle Association, Moral Majority and others.
Globalization
• The internet played the largest part of American Globalization.
• Results of Globalization are things like: lower tariffs (thanks to NAFTA for example), heaper travel prices, new methods of shipping goods for large companies, etc.
• We also see a rise in the numbers of those with American Asian & Hispanic heritage.
• American culture (such as rap music, Levi jeans, fast food) can be seen in other countries around the world.
Iran-Contra Affair
• A deal in which the US government sold weapons to Iran in exchange for release of US hostages in Lebanon.
• Profits from the sale of these weapons went to Nicaragua to support the Contra Guerillas who were trying to overthrow the Sandinista government there.
• This went against US Policy and was considered illegal.• Iran chose to kidnap more hostages hoping to gain more
weapons. This did not happen but the illegal activity was exposed.