Regan Revolution through President Obama
Kelly B. Turner
Tonya Simmons
Contemporary US History
Strayer University
06 September 2012

During the time period under discussion from the Regan Revolution to our current President Obama, one major historical turning point was the creation of the Internet. This vast network of linked computers that allowed information to be shared easily and instantly, propelled the information technology of personal computers and cell phones forward at high speed. (Schultz, 2011) The ways that the Internet has changed life in the United States over the past two decades is vast. The economy has widely changed in this new age of technology, American companies reached overseas markets, businesses could broaden their customer base, and computers helped to streamline the manufacturing process. (Schultz, 2011) Fewer Americas read newspapers in the 21st century; instead, they are updated minute by minute on all things news, sports, even keeping up with what their friends ate for lunch via any number of social media outlets. With this burst in IT development came the race to create powerful technology so small that it will fit in a person’s pocket. Americans are not only connected to the world and each other at any given moment of the day, most now have constant access to very powerful computers the size of their hands. Another shift in the culture is the documentation of people’s lives. Every event is documented and publicized with a tweet or an Instagram picture; employers have even started checking up on new recruits social media accounts in order to vet potential employees. A troubling outcome of this wave of technology, the youth that have known no other way, base their identity and worth on this technology, craving the newest gadget or a certain number of likes or followers on social media accounts, while distancing themselves from and struggling with real time face to face interactions. To be sure, the Internet has shrunk the world for all and created an unknown amount of possibility for the future for business and society.
A second major historical turning point under discussion is the terrorist attack on September 11th, 2001. Four planes were hijacked, two striking the World Trade Center towers and ultimately bringing them both down, one crashed into the Pentagon, and the last one crashing in a field in Pennsylvania after the passengers realized that they were being used as a human missile and decided to take things into their own hands. More than 3000 people died that terrible day in the United States. For this current generation, that day is etched in American’s memories just as it was for Pearl Harbor and the JFK assassination for the previous generations. Much has changed in American culture, politics, and laws because of 9/11. The greatest immediate impact on the United States was the “War on Terror” that came on the heels of 9/11. The war in Afghanistan has gone on for over 12 years, has claimed the lives of over 2200 service men and women, and wounded almost 20,000 military members. The Iraq War, presented to the American people as an extension to the War on Terror, has claimed even more military lives, almost 4,500 killed and almost 32,000 injured. (DOD) The cost of American lives has been great since the fateful day of 9/11, starting with the civilians killed in New York, Washington D.C., and Pennsylvania, and continuing still today with the thousands of military that lay their lives down to exterminate terrorists. Not only has this aspect of American life changed with the ongoing war on terror, but also day-to-day life in the United States has changed. Travelers are required to submit to pat downs and full body scans at the airport before they can even enter the airport terminals, too many laws to count have been passed under the Patriot Act to prevent future terrorist attacks, and now, the country examines the scope of our intelligence community in the wake of high profile information leaks, all in the name of protecting America. It’s too soon to say just what the long term changes in this country will stick and what Americans will take from the lessons learned from 9/11; one thing is for sure, the conflict between the extremist Muslim world and the United States that simmered for decades exploded that clear September morning and the violence and casualties have yet to subside.
The United States went to war in Afghanistan and Iraq for a gamete of different reasons. The war in Afghanistan was to retaliate for the attack on American soil on September 11th, 2001; the purpose was to go after Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda group, this was where they were known to have terrorist training camps and it was the main hub of operations for the terrorist group. (Shultz, 2012) The FBI had traced the hijackers to al-Qaeda and on more than one account, senior members of this group accepted responsibility for the planning of 9/11. (Polk, 2005) This initial war prompted a larger “war on terror” as already discussed; President Bush designed the Bush doctrine, which declared America’s right to fight a “preemptive war” against any nation that one day might threaten the US. (Shultz, 2012) Following the Afghanistan war, the United States invaded Iraq; the reason the US went to war with Iraq has never been clear nor the given facts proven. The Bush administration claimed that intelligence showed Iraq had weapons of mass destruction to use against the US and that Iraq also had ties with Bin Laden. Some theories say that the war with Iraq was an attempt to remake the Middle East, which has been a nest for anti-American terrorism for many years or that America wanted to profit from the oil reserves in the country. (Shultz, 2012) One last theory was that President Bush wanted to finish a war his father started during his term to relieve Iraq of their dictator Saddam Hussein. Weapons of mass destruction were never found, nor were links to Bin Laden, which is why most people today believe the United States was there on a president’s own personal agenda. (Greenwald, 2007) Ronald Reagan was the 40th president of the United States; one policy that plagued his presidency was the deregulation of many industries from government control. (Shultz, 2012) Some industries that he deregulated were the airlines, banks, and motor vehicles. Reagan assumed businesses would be able to regulate themselves and would know when to fix problems when they found themselves in trouble; one major outcome of the deregulation was the widening of the economic standing of the rich and poor. (Hayward, 2009) From 1978 to 1987 Reagans friendly business policies and the deregulation saw the number of billionaires raise from 1 to 49 and the number of Americans that earned $500,000 raised ten fold. (Shultz, 2012) This disappearing act of the middle class is still ongoing today, the gap between the rich and the poor in this country is larger than ever. A major pitfall from the deregulation was the Savings and Loan Crisis of the 1980s and ‘90s. Banks were taking money and investing it in shady real estate deals, they also were buying up smaller corporations trying to profit from them. This ultimately led to the government bailing out the banks and set up a system to pay the people back, unfortunately, this came at a price of $500 million for Americans. (Schultz, 2012) Due to Reagan’s military spending, tax cuts, and deregulation the United States’ national debt increased traumatically over his presidency.
The AIDS epidemic rocked the confidence of the 1980s by crossing the initial barriers originally thought there by the unsuspecting masses; this terrible new virus is known as the HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus)/AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome). The disease affects the immune system, keeping it from fighting against infections and if gone untreated it is fatal. The government initially dismissed this new virus as a minimal problem, dubbing it a “gay disease”. As it spread and more cases showed up outside the gay community, this prompted the government to launch an awareness campaign to the people and the medical field started working to find a cure. (Shultz, 2012) There were so many misconceptions about the virus and for the longest time people were afraid of anyone that had the disease; many believed they could contract it like the common cold. (Hayward, 2009) As of today there is not cure for HIV/AIDS but with treatment you can live a long happy life.

Reference Page

Greenwald, Glenn (2007). A Tragic Legacy: How A Good VS. Evil Mentality Destroyed the Bush Presidency. New York, US: Crown Publishing
Hayward, Steven F. (2009). The Age of Reagan: The Conservative Counterrevolution New York, US: Crown Forum.
Polk, William R. (2005). Understanding Iraq. New York, US: HarperCollins Publishers Inc.
Schultz, K. M. (2012). Hist: Volume 2 (2nd ed.). Mason, US: Cengage Learning. (Original work published 2011).
United States Department of Defense (2013). Retrieved Sept. 4, 2013, from http://www.defense.gov/news/casualty.pdf