The Bush Era

With such a close election, the result rested on the electoral votes of one state: Florida. The initial results gave Bush a small lead, but winning Florida would have given Gore the votes he needed to win the election. Democrats expressed concern over confusion among Florida voters and problems with counting the ballots. They asked the Florida Supreme Court to force a recount of the Florida votes. The recount began, but in December 2000, the United States Supreme Court ordered the recount to stop.

Bush, therefore, won the electoral votes of Florida and the presidential election of 2000. Al Gore conceded the election but voiced his disapproval of the Court’s decision.

Standing Tall

The election of 2000 showed sharp divisions within the country. Most Americans in the South and Mountain West voted for Bush. Most Americans in the Northeast, Upper Midwest, and on the West Coast voted for Gore. In the Senate, the Republican and Democratic parties were divided evenly with 50 seats each.

President Bush entered office in 2001 with plans for tax and education reform. The terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, however, changed his presidency and the lives of Americans.

Bush led the nation as it fought back against the attacks. Americans showed an outpouring of patriotism in the months that followed. Bush benefited from that and from his strong response to the attacks, including the launch of a global war on terrorism. In September 2001, 90 percent of Americans approved of the job that Bush was doing.

In the same year, the United States slipped into an economic recession. Bush advocated for tax cuts to stimulate the economy. Congress responded by passing the largest tax cuts in American history. These cuts, when paired with the war on terrorism, increased the federal deficit, the amount of spending that is greater than income.

Recovery from the 2001 recession occurred slowly. Still, when Bush ran for reelection in 2004, his popularity was high. Many Americans were reluctant to change leaders when the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were still underway. Bush easily won reelection over his Democratic opponent, Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts.

Analyze Graphs Deficits increased in 2009 but recovered as the economy improved.

Use Visual Information In what year did the federal budget not show a deficit?

Why Did President Bush’s Popularity Decline?

When Bush began his second term in 2005, more than half of Americans approved of the job he was doing. Over the next four years, however, Bush’s popularity steadily declined. His average approval rating during his first term was 62 percent, but during his second term it averaged 37 percent.

Several factors caused President Bush’s popularity to drop. The economy recovered from the 2001 recession by 2004, but not all Americans felt the recovery. Unemployment remained high, and the percentage of people living in poverty increased.

Then, beginning in 2007, the country experienced another recession as the housing bubble burst and home values tumbled. The huge federal deficit that resulted from Bush’s prior tax cuts and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan added to the problems. By 2008, the deficit totaled $455 billion, the highest in history. Americans worried about their own economic future and the federal debt’s effect on the next generation.

As Americans weathered the economic storm, residents of Louisiana and Mississippi faced an actual storm. In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina made landfall in New Orleans, Louisiana. When the storm hit, the city flooded with water. About 1,500 people died. Two thirds of the city’s residents were displaced from their homes. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was not prepared to deal with the results of Katrina.

President Bush, vacationing in Texas, seemed unaware of the disaster’s extent, even though television broadcasts showed the horrifying scenes. The Bush administration received heavy criticism for its handling of Katrina. Bush’s popularity rating dropped. During the 2006 midterm elections, Democrats took control of Congress.

In addition to economic and foreign-policy challenges, President Bush’s response to Hurricane Katrina harmed his popularity in 2005. Here, he looks at the damage from Air Force One, the President’s airplane.

READING CHECK

Recognize Multiple Causes What are two factors that caused Bush’s popularity to decline?

How Has Society Changed?

As the American population in the 2000s changed and grew, the country faced new challenges and revisited old ones. The United States saw increases in immigration, a changing ethnic makeup, and growing numbers of older Americans. Tensions over immigration echoed those the nation had faced during earlier waves of immigration.

Immigration Brings Changes and Challenges

During the early 2000s, about one million immigrants entered the United States each year. Most of these immigrants came from Latin America and Asia. In 2010, just over half of the immigrants in the United States were Latino. Latino refers to people who were born in Latin America or are of Latin American descent. Latino immigrants came to the United States to escape political unrest and economic hardship and to seek opportunity. Asian immigrants came to the United States for many of the same reasons. In 2010, just over a quarter of the immigrants in the United States were Asian.

Americans’ responses to immigrants varied. Some Americans valued immigrants’ strong work ethic and the cultural diversity that they brought to the country. Other Americans worried about job competition and decreases in wages as the number of workers increased. They also worried about the cost of providing education, healthcare, and other services to immigrants. In response to these concerns, conservative politicians worked to restrict immigration and strengthen patrols of America’s borders.

Analyze Charts People from all over the world have immigrated to the United States.

Use Visual Information From which single country does the largest percentage of immigrants come?

A Changing Mosaic

Immigration has made America more diverse. In 2010, a little more than one in eight Americans were born in foreign countries. Latinos were the largest minority group in the United States, outnumbering African Americans.

The United States population increased in number. Immigration contributed to this increase, but so did longer lifespans. Older Americans made up 13 percent of the U.S. population in 2014. That figure was expected to increase to 20 percent by the year 2040. This meant that Americans were enjoying longer lives than they did in the past. These changes raised concerns about healthcare costs and federal Social Security payments in the future.

As the American population increased in size, states also experienced demographic changes. In states such as California and New Mexico, and in the city of Washington, D.C., non-Latino whites were a minority of the population by the early 2000s. States in the South and Southwest were growing faster than the rest of the country. These Sunbelt states benefited from increases in population and more representation in Congress.

Analyze Images These new U.S. citizens attended a swearing in ceremony in Florida.

Revisit the Essential Question How do immigrants affect American society?

Questions over Rights

In the 2000s, questions over affirmative action and same-sex marriage brought changes to the legal landscape. The U.S. Supreme Court played a significant role in these changes. In the 1960s, policymakers began to promote affirmative action, or a preference for hiring African Americans, women, or members of other groups that had faced discrimination. Eventually, local governments and universities adopted affirmative action policies to make sure that employees and students came from diverse ethnic backgrounds.

In 2003, the U.S. Supreme Court decided on two affirmative action cases from the University of Michigan. After hearing the arguments, the Court decided that colleges and universities had the right to consider race when deciding whether to admit a student.

In 2013, the Supreme Court again considered the question of minority rights. This time, the court ruled on the question of same-sex marriages. In its decision, the Court declared parts of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) unconstitutional. DOMA required the federal government to deny recognition to same-sex marriages performed in states where those marriages were legal.

Through its decision, the Court ruled that married same-sex couples must receive federal benefits, such as health insurance, retirement funds, and tax refunds, just like other married couples. The Court’s decision reflected society’s growing acceptance of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people.

READING CHECK

Identify Supporting Details What changes have minorities experienced since 2000?

America’s Promise

During the 1900s, the United States experienced dramatic changes that transformed Americans’ lives. Technological advances led to the development of the Internet, electric cars, cell phones, and personal computers. Astronauts walked on the moon, scientists explored the depths of the ocean, and researchers developed cures for diseases. Literacy rates in the United States increased from 25 percent to 86 percent. Life expectancy rose.

By the 2000s, the diversity of Americans had increased. Civil rights and political opportunities for minorities had expanded. The African American civil rights movement of the mid-1900s helped Thurgood Marshall become the first African American Supreme Court justice. It helped Colin Powell to become the first African American Secretary of State under George W. Bush and enabled Barack Obama to become the first African American President.

Rights for women also expanded. In the early 2000s, more than half of medical school and law school students were women. Women served throughout government. In the Clinton administration, Madeleine Albright served as the first female Secretary of State. In 2007, Nancy Pelosi became the first female speaker of the House of Representatives. The number of women serving in Congress continued to rise.

Americans still had questions to consider and solutions to find at home and abroad. The United States remained a world leader. Its role in world affairs continued to change. Globalization increased America’s importance in the world politically, economically, and militarily. It also increased Americans’ responsibility to address worldwide problems, such as climate change, reliance on fossil fuels, economic crises, cyber-warfare, and the spread of infectious diseases.

At home, Americans adjusted to changing demographics. The number of immigrants, people in nontraditional relationships, and people of different racial, ethnic, and religious backgrounds was likely to increase.

Traditionally, America has welcomed people of diverse backgrounds and beliefs. National pride, a commitment to economic opportunity, and a devotion to freedom have guided the United States since its founding. These three principles will continue to guide Americans in years to come.

Analyze Images In 2009, Sonia Sotomayor became the first Latina and the third woman justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.

Explain an Argument What is the value of a diverse judiciary?

READING CHECK

Summarize According to the text, what is America’s Promise?