END OF THE 20TH CENTURY

Firefighters beneath the destroyed vertical struts of the World Trade Center's twin towers after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, D.C. (© AP Images)

The United States has always experienced periods of political polarization, as Americans debated ways to deal with international events, demographic change, and the effects of technological innovation. The last decades of the 20th century were no exception.

The liberal activism of the 1960s-70s was eclipsed by a new conservatism in the 1980s. Conservatives advocated limited government, a strong national defense, a firm stance against Communism, tax cuts to spur economic growth, tough anti-crime measures, more religious expression in public life, and a stricter code for social behavior. Former actor and Republican Governor of California Ronald Reagan, who represented stability to many Americans, won two terms as president. His supporters credit his policies with hastening the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Projected image of how the New York City skyline might look with the addition of Freedom Tower, which will be built at the World Trade Center site. (Courtesy of Silverstein Properties)

Americans moved to a more centrist position in 1992 and elected as president Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton, who had organized his campaign around the themes of youth and change. Some of Clinton's proposals were quite liberal, such as his plan for a government-managed health care system, which Congress never voted on. Another proposal — ending government payments to welfare recipients and helping them get jobs — was co-opted from conservatives and eventually proved quite successful.

Normal differences in politics turned especially bitter after the presidential election of 2000. The popular vote and the Electoral College vote were nearly evenly divided between Democrat Al Gore and Republican George W. Bush. Thousands of ballots cast in the state of Florida were contested. After a series of court challenges over laws and procedures governing recounts, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a narrow decision that effectively gave the election to Bush.

Bush expected to focus on domestic issues such as education, the economy, and Social Security. But his presidency changed irrevocably on September 11, 2001. On that day, foreign terrorists hijacked four passenger airplanes and crashed them into the World Trade Center towers in New York City, the Defense Department's Pentagon headquarters near Washington, D.C., and a rural area of Pennsylvania. Bush declared war on global terrorism. Americans were generally united in the early phases, but many grew increasingly uncomfortable as the operation expanded.

The long-term effects of events and trends occurring at the beginning of the 21st century have yet to be fully understood.
 

Afterword

From its origins as a group of obscure colonies hugging the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, the United States has undergone a remarkable transformation. One political analyst has called it "the first universal nation." Its population of 300 million people represents almost every nationality and ethnic group on Earth. It is a nation where the pace and extent of change — economic, technological, cultural, demographic, and social — is unceasing. Events in the United States are often the first sign of the modernization and change that inevitably bring other nations and societies into an increasingly interdependent, interconnected world.

Yet the United States also maintains a sense of continuity. It possesses core values that can be traced to its founding as a nation in the late 1700s. These include a faith in individual freedom and democratic government, and a commitment to economic opportunity and progress for all. They are the legacy of a rich and turbulent history. The continuing task of the United States is to ensure that its values of freedom, democracy, and opportunity are protected and will flourish through the 21st century.