Deck 32: A Time of Hope and Fear, 1993-2011

Question 1

After making Clinton a center issue in the 1998 election, congressional Republicans

A) gained ten seats.
B) lost ten seats.
C) gained five seats.
D) lost five seats.
E) gained fifteen seats.

Answer 1

lost five seats.

Question 2

In the election of 2008

A) John McCain mounted a significant smear campaign against Barack Obama.
B) Sarah Palin became the first female vice presidential candidate.
C) Barack Obama choose Hillary Clinton as his running mate.
D) Barack Obama became the first African American president.
E) John McCain tried to ride on the immense popularity of George W. Bush.

Answer 2

Barack Obama became the first African American president.

Question 3

The Bush administration chose to ignore the FISA of 1978 in regards to the issue of

A) torture.
B) domestic wiretaps.
C) prisoner detainees.
D) coal emissions.
E) strip mining.

Answer 3

domestic wiretaps.

Question 4

President Clinton pulled U.S. troops out of Somalia after

A) public opinion turned against the American involvement.
B) conservatives criticized him for attempting to do "nation building."
C) eighteen service personnel died.
D) factional warfare developed.
E) all of these choices

Question 5

All of the following statements regarding Clinton's environmental policies are true except he

A) blocked road construction and logging in 60 million acres of forests.
B) rejected the efforts made by Republicans to put land under federal protection.
C) sought to use incentives rather than penalties for environmental changes.
D) acted to improve crowd control in Yosemite National Park.
E) sought to protect old-growth forests.

Question 6

"AmeriCorps" was a program that

A) was to replace the Peace Corps.
B) let nonviolent offenders out of jail if they joined the military.
C) Clinton strongly opposed.
D) allowed students to repay college loans through community service.
E) restricted the number of hours a minor could work at night.

Question 7

In 1993, a bomb ripped through ____ in New York City, evidence that terrorism had reached the United States.

A) the Empire State Building
B) Grand Central Station
C) Penn Station
D) the World Trade Center
E) Metropolitan Museum

Question 8

Dick Cheney's political views can most accurately be described as

A) New Left.
B) independent.
C) moderately conservative.
D) New Right.
E) liberal.

Question 9

During the Clinton years, the chairman of the Federal Reserve Board was

A) Ira Bond.
B) Paul Volker.
C) Warren Buffet.
D) Alan Greenspan.
E) Dick Morris.

Question 10

President Bush replaced William Rehnquist on the Supreme Court with

A) John Roberts.
B) John Bolton.
C) Harriet Myers.
D) Samuel Alito.
E) Steven Breyer.

Question 11

The response to the economic crisis in finance and real estate in 2006 by Hank Paulson was

A) an internationally coordinated trade and tariff agreement.
B) an across the board tax cut.
C) the Troubled Assets Relief Program.
D) an economic stimulus package for families.
E) to bail out Goldman Sachs.

Question 12

Compared to the 2000 election, in 2004, George Bush did best in gaining the support of people

A) in suburbs.
B) who regularly attended church.
C) who were white.
D) who lived in small towns.
E) all of these choices

Question 13

The 1992 Democratic nominee for the presidency was

A) Bill Clinton.
B) Michael Dukakis.
C) Al Gore.
D) Edward Kennedy.
E) Joe Lieberman

Question 14

All the following statements regarding the 1996 presidential election are true except

A) Robert Dole chose Jack Kemp as his Republican running mate.
B) Ross Perot ran again as he had in 1992 though he was less aggressive.
C) Clinton won with just over 50 percent of the vote.
D) Clinton was the first Democratic to win at least two terms since Franklin Roosevelt.
E) Clinton had about the same margin of victory as in 1992.

Question 15

During the 1990s, the income gap between the wealthiest and ordinary workers

A) narrowed to its smallest difference in thirty years.
B) remained about the same throughout the decade.
C) was less than it had been during the Reagan administration.
D) grew steadily wider through the decade.
E) lessened until 1996 when it suddenly grew much wider.

Question 16

The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act was

A) defeated by the Republican Congress.
B) vetoed by President Clinton.
C) eliminated the food stamps program.
D) part of Clinton's plan to make government larger.
E) the first major overhaul of the national welfare system since the 1930s.

Question 17

Compared to Bill Clinton in executive style, George W. Bush

A) favored meetings that were more formal and structured.
B) was more interested in free-wheeling, intellectual give-and-take.
C) was more likely to be interested in the details of ideas.
D) preferred longer meetings.
E) was remarkably similar.

Question 18

New Right activists and the Bush administration enjoyed considerable success in the area of

A) judicial appointments.
B) oil exploration.
C) immigration reform.
D) overhauling Social Security.
E) lowering federal spending.

Question 19

In the 2000 presidential campaign, George W. Bush criticized past Democratic efforts in

A) making diplomatic contact with North Korea.
B) treating sexual predators.
C) nation building abroad.
D) responding to natural disasters.
E) fighting terrorism.

Question 20

In 1994, President Clinton sent U.S. troops into ____ in order to reinstate its democratically elected leader.

A) Nicaragua
B) the Dominican Republic
C) Haiti
D) Costa Rica
E) Panama

Question 21

Soon after being reelected, President Bush sought a radical overhaul of

A) drug enforcement.
B) public housing.
C) immigration policy.
D) energy regulations.
E) Social Security.

Question 22

In the 2002 elections, Republicans

A) gained seats in the Senate but lost some in the House.
B) lost seats in the Senate but gained some in the House.
C) gained seats in the Senate and in the House.
D) saw no change in seats in the Senate but gained some in the House.
E) saw no changes in seats in either the Senate or the House.

Question 23

President Bush proclaimed an end to "significant combat" in the Iraq war

A) less than two months after it began.
B) from the Oval office.
C) after the capture of Saddam Hussein.
D) before the U.S. troops had reached Baghdad.
E) all of these choices

Question 24

Bill Clinton's assets as president included all of the following except his

A) youth, vitality, and musical tastes.
B) successful health-care reform plan.
C) culturally diverse administration included African Americans, Latinos, and women in key roles.
D) image as a "New Democrat" who wanted to reduce taxes and government spending.
E) support for welfare reform.

Question 25

One area in which Democrats seemed disappointed in Barack Obama involves

A) his position on gay marriage.
B) his healthcare programs.
C) his retention of former Bush appointees and position on the war.
D) his use of social networking and technology.
E) all of these choices

Question 26

In the 2004 presidential election, John Kerry was fiercely attacked over his

A) voting record in the Senate.
B) allegations of affairs.
C) choice of a running mate.
D) Vietnam War record.
E) campaign contributions.

Question 27

Shortly after September 11, 2001, President Bush announced he would wage a war against

A) Iran.
B) Iraq.
C) Afghanistan.
D) terrorism.
E) all of these choices

Question 28

In the 2000 election, the key state in deciding the winner of the presidency was

A) Texas.
B) Florida.
C) Ohio.
D) New Hampshire.
E) Nevada.

Question 29

All of the following were terrorist attacks directed at the United States by Islamic militants except

A) bombing of U.S. embassy in Kenya in 1998.
B) attack on the battleship, the Cole, in 2000.
C) World Trade Center bombing, 1993.
D) Oklahoma City bombing in 1995.
E) bombing of U.S. embassy in Tanzania in 1998.

Question 30

The Supreme Court vote that ultimately decided the 2000 election was

A) 9 to 0.
B) 8 to 1.
C) 7 to 2.
D) 6 to 3.
E) 5 to 4.

Question 31

The Texas-based energy company that would become the most infamous example of corruption in the 1990s was

A) Adelphia.
B) Enron.
C) Tyco.
D) A.T.T.
E) Tyson.

Question 32

The "No Child Left Behind" program dealt with the issue of

A) education.
B) foster care.
C) homeless children.
D) sexual predators.
E) physical fitness.

Question 33

In foreign policy, President Bill Clinton

A) continued a trade embargo against Vietnam.
B) expanded international markets and lowered trade barriers in Asia and North America.
C) offered nuclear weapons to South Korea as a deterrent to North Korean aggression.
D) established friendly relations with Cuba.
E) broke off relations with Israel.

Question 34

By the end of 2006, the number of U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq was nearly

A) 3,000.
B) 4,000.
C) 5,000.
D) 6,000.
E) 8,000.

Question 35

All of the following statements regarding the Clinton impeachment are true except

A) Clinton's approval ratings rose while the special prosecutor's ratings fell.
B) the special prosecutor who discovered the affair was a conservative Republican.
C) Clinton was impeached on the grounds he had obstructed justice.
D) Clinton initially denied the affair and later recanted.
E) the economy showed solid growth during the impeachment debate.

Question 36

In the 2004 presidential election, George W. Bush's margin of victory in the popular was

A) less than 1 percent.
B) less than 3 percent.
C) more than 5 percent.
D) more than 8 percent.
E) more than 12 percent.

Question 37

The most accurate assessment of the Clinton administration's controversial $20 billion loan to Mexico in 1995 would be that it was

A) very successful for both countries.
B) a continuing source of friction between the two nations.
C) a political fiasco for President Clinton.
D) an embarrassment for both countries.
E) a good financial deal for Mexico but a bad one for the United States.

Question 38

In 2006, the war in Iraq cost the United States ____ billion dollars a month.

A) two
B) three
C) four
D) five
E) six

Question 39

In 1998, Republican Speaker of House, Newt Gingrich, was forced to resign from office due to

A) illegal campaign contributions.
B) hiring family members on his staff.
C) being arrested for drunk driving.
D) making a racial joke.
E) an extramarital affair.

Question 40

When the Bush administration began the invasion of Iraq in 2003

A) it followed the Pentagon's recommendations regarding the troops needed.
B) it sought to create a system of governance among the Iraqis.
C) a ground attack was begun without any air support.
D) news reporters were not allowed to accompany troops.
E) it started in the month of May before the weather got too hot.

Question 41

John McCain more successfully used social networking sites than Barack Obama.

Question 42

In 2005, an official U.S. government report concluded that, in 2003, Iraq

A) did have biological weapons though it was unclear what happened to them.
B) destroyed its biological weapons once the U.S. invaded.
C) did not have either biological or nuclear weapons when the U.S. invaded.
D) had no desire to possess weapons of mass destruction.
E) had ended all purchases of military weapons of any kind.

Question 43

Americans are in complete agreement that the Obama administration did everything possible to resolve the BP oil spill.

Question 44

At the end of 2006, the war in Iraq was very unpopular in the United States.

Question 45

President George W. Bush's popularity soared

A) when he introduced his tax cut package.
B) after the terrorist attacks on U.S. targets in Washington and New York.
C) when he announced his energy program.
D) when he took a tough stand against corporate fraud.
E) when he ordered the invasion of Panama.

Question 46

Mexico paid back a controversial $20 billion loan from the Clinton administration within a year with $1 billion in interest.

Question 47

The attacks of September 11, 2001 were the first times that Islamic terrorism had been directed against the United States.

Question 48

Ralph Nader ran for President in 2000

A) on the American Party ticket.
B) on the Green Party ticket.
C) as a "compassionate conservative."
D) as an attempt to divide the support of George W. Bush.
E) as a Republican.

Question 49

During the Clinton presidency,

A) crime statistics dropped dramatically.
B) unemployment fell below 4 percent.
C) more than sixteen million jobs were created.
D) welfare rolls declined by 6/7ths.
E) all of these choices

Question 50

The most conservative faction of the Republican Party are known as

A) the New Right.
B) the New Left.
C) Liberal Conservatives.
D) Libertarians.
E) the Tea Party.

Question 51

Kenneth Starr was hired as a special prosecutor to investigate allegation that Bill Clinton had a sexual affair with a white House intern.

Question 52

In the election of 2000, a majority of white men voted for

A) Al Gore.
B) Ralph Nader.
C) George W. Bush.
D) Ross Perot.
E) Edward Kennedy.

Question 53

Clinton worked more in the international community and consulted leaders before making key decisions than Bush did.

Question 54

Which of the following will be a consequence of developing internet technology?

A) Americans will lose the ability to research for information.
B) Americans will become more individually oriented.
C) Printed publications will go out of business.
D) Media will become completely unbiased.
E) All of these choices

Question 55

Criticism of the federal government's handling of the Hurricane Katrina included

A) the inability to accurately account for the number of dead and missing.
B) an inadequacy to prepare for such a disaster.
C) failure to provide timely and effective relief.
D) videotape that contradicted statements made by White House officials.
E) all of these choices

Question 56

From the 1990s on, Americans seem very interested in court cases.

Question 57

The Bush administration has argued for a loose definition of what constitutes torture.

Question 58

The Supreme Court vote that ultimately decided the 2000 election was unanimous.

Question 59

The (George W.) "Bush Doctrine"

A) called for tax cuts to stimulate the economy.
B) challenged the Soviet Union's dominance in Eastern Europe.
C) asserted U.S. authority to wage preemptive war.
D) supported domestic legislation to enhance surveillance of suspected terrorists.
E) called for U.S. dominance in Latin America.

Question 60

President George W. Bush's proposals for educational reform called for

A) mandatory, nationwide testing of children as a means of determining which schools were teaching effectively.
B) abolishing the use of standardized tests to determine the success of students and schools.
C) reducing the involvement of the federal government in education and empowering the states to control their school systems.
D) abolishing the public school system.
E) using federal funds to increase teacher salaries.

Question 61

Soon after being reelected, President Bush sought a radical overhaul of the American federal prison system.

Question 62

The death toll in the September 11, 2001 attacks was nearly 3,000.

Question 63

In the 2004 presidential election, John Kerry was fiercely attacked over his choice of running mate.

Question 64

George W. Bush won the presidency in 2000 due to a Supreme Court decision.

Question 65

In 2005, an official U.S. government report concluded that, in 2003, Iraq did not have nuclear weapons but did possess biological weapons when the U.S. invaded.

Question 66

In 2000, Ralph Nader attracted twice the votes that Ross Perot got in 1992.

Question 67

Bill Clinton strongly backed the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Question 68

Ohio was the key state in determining the winner of the 2000 presidential election.

Question 69

The "No Child Left Behind" program dealt with the issue of foster care.

Question 70

The highest priority of Bill Clinton's foreign policy was to lower trade barriers and expand global markets.

Question 71

Republicans obtained a bare majority of votes in favor of the impeachment of Bill Clinton but not the required two-thirds majority.

Question 72

Bill Clinton sent U.S. troops to intervene in a civil war in Rwanda.

Question 73

An international furor broke out over American soldiers' treatment of prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison.

Question 74

Democrats provided some of the strongest opposition to passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Question 75

In 2006, President Bush issued his first veto of a bill on the issue of wiretaps.

Question 76

Barack Obama has utilized celebrities and new technologies more than any other president.

Question 77

The United States went in alone into Iraq.

Question 78

During his time in office, Bill Clinton signed nearly fifty trade agreements.

Question 79

In 2005, the newly elected Iraq national assembly was dominated by Sunnis.

Question 80

Compared to Bill Clinton in executive style, George W. Bush preferred longer meetings to study more of a plan's details.