2010s in United States history
Economic inequality and lack of accountability stemming from the financial crisis led to the 2011 Occupy Wall Street movement which quickly expanded into hundreds of American cities.
[2] The enactment of the Affordable Care Act generated both national support and backlash around the administration's effort to expand the federal government's role in healthcare.
The Obama administration recovered and won widespread public praise following the assassination of Osama bin Laden, the mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks, and a strong, co-ordinated response to Hurricane Sandy.
[12] Michael Brown's death coupled with the shooting of Trayvon Martin kickstarted the Black Lives Matter Movement and a national conversation about the relationship police have with African Americans.
Racism remained a central issue in 2015 which saw an armed gunman massacre nine African Americans in the historic Mother Emmanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina.
Islamic terrorism became a major issue in US political discourse following the 2015 Paris attacks leading to an increase in American military invention alongside European allies overseas.
In his first 100 days, Trump signed a series of executive orders that reduced government's support the Affordable Care Act, expanded infrastructure projects, and instituted an entry ban on foreign nationals from seven Muslim majority countries.
[32] In May 2017, Deputy United States Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appointed former FBI director Robert Mueller as Special Counsel to investigate the extent of the Russian interference and whether or not the Trump campaign was involved.
On August 11, alt-right groups consisting of neo-Nazis, neo-Confederates, white nationalists, Klansmen, & other far-right militias gathered in Charlottesville, Virginia to protest the removal of a Robert E. Lee statue.
[33] The event called Unite the Right, descended into violence, and the following day saw a white supremacist drive a vehicle into a crowd of counter-protestors killing one and injuring thirty-five.
Obama's accomplishments during the first 100 days of his presidency included signing the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 relaxing the statute of limitations for equal-pay lawsuits;[38] signing into law the expanded Children's Health Insurance Program (S-CHIP); winning approval of a congressional budget resolution that put Congress on record as dedicated to dealing with major health care reform legislation in 2009; implementing new ethics guidelines designed to significantly curtail the influence of lobbyists on the executive branch; breaking from the Bush administration on a number of policy fronts, except for Iraq, in which he followed through on Bush's Iraq withdrawal of US troops;[39] supporting the UN declaration on sexual orientation and gender identity; and lifting the 7½-year ban on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research.
In foreign policy, he increased US troop levels in Afghanistan, reduced nuclear weapons with the United States–Russia New START treaty, and ended military involvement in the Iraq War.
He gained widespread praise for ordering Operation Neptune Spear, the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, who was responsible for the September 11 attacks.
Trump reversed numerous environmental regulations, withdrew from the Paris Agreement on climate change, and signed the Great American Outdoors Act but later issued an Executive Order undercutting its impact.
He withdrew the United States from the Iran nuclear agreement and later escalated tensions in the Persian Gulf by ordering the assassination of General Qasem Soleimani.
Trump attempted to pressure Ukraine to announce investigations into his political rival Joe Biden, triggering his first impeachment by the House of Representatives on December 18, 2019, but he was acquitted by the Senate on February 5, 2020.
Following his loss in the 2020 presidential election to Biden, Trump made unproven claims of widespread electoral fraud and initiated an extensive campaign to overturn the results.
At a rally on January 6, 2021, Trump urged his supporters to march to the Capitol, where the electoral votes were being counted by Congress in order to formalize Biden's victory.
A mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol, suspending the count and causing Vice President Mike Pence and other members of Congress to be evacuated.
[43] President Barack Obama's September 9, 2009, Congressional address promoting health care reform was interrupted by Congressman Joe Wilson (R-SC) who shouted: "You lie!"
[54] Twenty children and six adults were killed in a shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, sparking a debate about gun laws.
[58] The United States stepped up drone attacks in Pakistan, Somalia, and Yemen, targeting Yemeni-American Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awlaki on September 30, 2011.
The killing received widespread attention focusing on aspects including the possible role of Martin's race and the initial lack of prosecution against Zimmerman, and it raised questions about Florida's "Hold your ground" gun law.
[68] Ted Cruz (R-TX) wasted a record 21 hours of the Senate's time by reading Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss as a complaint (but not a filibuster) against health care.
[82] The Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu was invited by Speaker Boehner to address a joint session of Congress regarding sanctions against Iran without consulting President Obama in March 2015.
[94] Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) blamed "Republicans who take their marching orders from the National Rifle Association" for the defeat of both bills.
[77] The 115th Congress reformed the federal criminal justice system, responded to the opioid crisis, imposed sanctions on Russia, North Korea, and Iran, and legalized industrial hemp via the 2018 farm bill.
Trump signed a number of executive orders to overturn actions undertaken by President Obama, prioritizing economic expediency over environmental concerns.
Allegations about Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections and during the November 2016 – January 2017 transition period surface, resulting in the resignation of National Security Advisor Michael Flynn.
[77] The Great Recession was a severe financial crisis from December 2007 to June 2009 that began when the U.S. housing market crashed, and large amounts of mortgage-backed securities and derivatives lost significant value.
