CHAPTER REVIEW
Rapid Review
To achieve the perfect 5, you should be able to explain the following:
• The ability to manage domestic issues were critical for a president’s political success in the post-Cold War era.
• George Bush alienated many conservatives, especially when he broke his “no new taxes” pledge.
• The end of the Cold War can be attributed to American policy decisions and to weaknesses in the infrastructure of the Soviet Union.
• George Bush skillfully managed the “Desert Storm” operation against Iraq.
• Bill Clinton presented himself as a “New Democrat” and concerned with economic issues in the 1992 presidential campaign; these were important factors in his victory.
• Clinton’s failure on national health insurance helped pave the way for large Republican gains in the 1994 congressional elections.
• Clinton and Newt Gingrich were formidable opponents in the budget battles of the mid-1990s.
• The Whitewater Affair and investigations of the personal life of Bill Clinton were the defining political events of the second term of Clinton’s presidency.
• George W. Bush’s election demonstrated the difficulties of arriving at a “final tally” in any election and was finally secured by the intervention of the United States Supreme Court.
Time Line
1988: George Bush elected president
Solidarity replaces communist government in Poland
1989: Berlin wall opened, communist governments fall in Eastern Europe
1991: Persian Gulf War
Breakup of the Soviet Union
Beginnings of economic recession
1992: Election of Bill Clinton
American troops killed in Somalia
1993: NAFTA ratified by Senate
Terrorist bombings at World Trade Center
1994: Republicans sweep congressional elections
U.S. military enters Haiti
Kenneth Starr becomes Whitewater independent counsel
1996: Clinton reelected
1998: Federal budget surplus announced
Articles of impeachment passed in House of Representatives
1999: Clinton acquitted in impeachment trial in U.S. Senate
2000: George W. Bush elected president
Review Questions
1. A defining characteristic of the Clinton presidency was his
A. strict adherence to traditional Democratic values
B. pragmatic policy making
C. close alliance with liberals in the Democratic party
D. unprecedented alliance with labor unions
E. ability to work closely with fundamentalist religious groups
(Correct Answer: B. In claiming to be a “New Democrat,” Clinton sometimes adopted traditional Republican ideas as his own. To many critics, the pragmatism of the Clinton White House masked a lack of core values that the president truly believed in.)
2. George Bush alienated many conservative Republicans by
A. appointing the relatively inexperienced Dan Quayle as vice president
B. continuing to urge the tearing down of the Berlin Wall
C. signing the 1990 agreement with the Democrats to reduce the deficit
D. pursuing policies against Iraq
E. approving the Willie Horton campaign advertisement in 1988
(Correct Answer: C. This was the agreement where Bush broke his “no new taxes” pledge and broke with traditional Republican policy.)
3. Critics accused Bush of lacking “vision” because
A. he failed to articulate a successful policy to end the economic deficit
B. he failed to remove Saddam Hussein from power
C. he failed to broker peace between the Palestinians and Egypt
D. he failed to sign an arms treaty with Mikhail Gorbachev
E. he failed to explain his perception of America’s role in the post-Cold War world
(Correct Answer: E. Several historians state that a weakness of both Bush and Clinton was that they were unable to articulate a coherent post-Cold War foreign policy.)
4. All of the following were reasons for the end of the Cold War except
A. the United States military buildup under Ronald Reagan
B. the fact that many producers of military weaponry in the United States did not want to continue to produce this weaponry
C. the weaknesses of the Soviet economy
D. the Cold War rhetoric of both Ronald Reagan and George Bush
E. the tremendous costs to the Soviet Union of continuing to control the satellite countries
(Correct Answer: B. Most manufacturers had no desire to stop producing weaponry for the Cold War. When the Cold War finally ended, many of these companies were forced to lay off workers, and some that could not diversify were forced to close.)
5. Bill Clinton was a formidable political opponent for the Republicans for all of the following reasons except
A. his ability to eventually win over former Republicans of the New Right
B. his support in the black community
C. his ability to take Republican positions and make them appear to be his own
D. his ability to withstand political scandal
E. his ability to stake out moderate positions, thus gaining support from both Democrats and Republicans
(Correct Answer: A. The New Right was the group that came to despise Bill Clinton the most. Members of the New Right interested in social issues were among Clinton’s most passionate detractors during the Whitewater Affair.)