8 The 1980s and 1990s Another serious social problem on the rise was homelessness By 1990 estimates of the number of homeless people in America varied a great deal with many figures nearing 3 million The Reagan administration’s cuts in funding for low income housing and social-welfare programs were partially to blame The red ribbon is a symbol to promote AIDS awareness and to show support for those stricken with the disease Doctors identified a new and terrible disease acquired immune deficiency syndrome or AIDS in 1981 In that year only a handful of cases were identified By 1993 over 100,000 cases in the United States were reported A homeless man looks for food in a dumpster AIDS AYDZ An acronym for acquired immune deficiency syndrome this disease impairs the human immune system to the point that the body cannot fight off serious infection or disease middle class MID-uhl KLASS This social group made up of people who rank between the poor and the wealthy includes professionals and business workers Homelessness increased through the early 1990s When Congress passed and President Bill Clinton signed a welfare reform act in August 1996 some people feared that even more Americans might be pushed into poverty and homelessness
The cost of living was high and pressures on middle-class families trying to make ends meet were often overwhelming It was to these Americans who Democratic presidential candidate Bill Clinton appealed to most in 1992 Brought up in a small town in one of the nation’s poorer states Clinton could communicate with working people and he talked about wanting to make things better for them This would not be easy to achieve In addition to social problems President Clinton had to face a new and dangerous threat to U S citizens terrorism Throughout history terrorist attacks on American soil were unusual and rare events In the 1990s however there was a growing awareness among Americans that they could be the targets of terrorist acts On February 26 1993 just a month after Clinton’s inauguration as president there was a terrible explosion in New York City’s World Trade Center The explosion killed six people and injured more than 1,000 when a bomb went off in a van that had been parked in a garage under the huge building On April 19 1995 the terrorist target was a federal building in Oklahoma City Oklahoma That bombing killed 166 people 19 of them innocent children On July 27 1996 during the Olympic Games held in Atlanta Georgia a bomb went off at an outdoor park killing a woman contributing to the fatal heart attack of a journalist and wounding more than 100 people The 1980s and 1990s President Clinton asked Congress to 9 pass stricter laws to fight terrorism In signing such a law on August 5 1996 he called terrorism the enemy of our generation A terrorist attack on the Alfred P Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City Oklahoma was heard and felt up to 55 miles 89km away Whether or not Clinton had succeeded in improving life for Americans was a factor in the outcome of the election of 1996 when he ran for reelection against Republican Bob Dole Another factor was the approach of the twenty-first century Which candidate did the voters think would be best for America in the new era On November 5 1996 Americans went to the polls to make that decision
10 Ronald Reagan Ronald Reagan Ronald Reagan The man preparing to face the television cameras was a veteran Hollywood actor He was 69 years old but looked considerably younger the result of many years of careful attention to his appearance As makeup artists and hairdressers completed their work the man stepped forward but not to perform in a movie Ronald Reagan was preparing on this day in October 1980 for a presidential debate An actor turned politician Reagan was seeking what he would later call the greatest role of his life the presidency of the United States Born February 6 1911 Tampico IL Illinois Tampico Term January 20 1981 January 20 1989 Party Republican First Lady Nancy Davis Reagan Vice President George H W Bush Died June 5 2004 Los Angeles CA Vice President George H W Bush
