CHAPTER 15: POLITICAL DIVISIVENESS:

FROM 2001 TO 2010

Introduction
There had been a lot of political divisiveness in our country.
As the years has gone by it has only gotten worse. In 2001 there
were a lot of problems adding the Patriot Act. At every election for
presidents there was always a reason for a division and something
wrong with the votes. Throughout 2001-2010 there have been many
events. This is only a small portion of many scenarios. History feels
like it is constantly repeating itself and there are many things that
separate us politically.

Attempted Assassination by Robert Pickett

Robert Pickett was an accountant for the IRS (Rank, 2017).
He was fired in 1988 for not having good work ethics and
attendance. He was very upset and believed he was fired for
reporting a colleague. He tried getting his job back for a few years
and was not able to succeed. Two weeks after President George W.
The photo above is of Robert Pickett,
Bush’s inauguration Pickett went to the white house and fired shots they later found that he had mental
at the house. President Bush was not home and there was a disorders.
policeman nearby that had him arrested (Rank, 2017). He pleaded
guilty and had to serve three years in prison and three years of probation.

Patriot Act of 2001

After the attack on the twin towers President George W. Bush had to take a lot of precautions. He
passed the Patriot Act. Senate passed the act on October 11, 2001 and was signed by President Bush on
October 26th (TFAE, 2019). This act stated that the government can gain access to people’s personal
information and privacy without getting permission first (Patriot Act, 2001). Because of this act it started
causing a big divisive issue. There were many people that felt the Patriot Act was violating their personal
rights. They claimed that it was unconstitutional.

Election of 2004
In 2004 President George Bush ran for president for the second time. He ran against democrat John
Kerry. “The total number of electoral votes available in the 2004 election was 538 votes. To win, the
candidate needed a simple majority, which equaled 270 votes.  Bush received a total of 286 electoral
votes, giving him more than the required 270 votes to secure reelection. Kerry received a total of 251
electoral votes” (Politicize, 2014). There were a lot of questions regarding whether the votes were
accurate or not, and a lot of people were very upset with the results. There was a lot of questions
regarding voter fraud. In Florida, Iowa, Ohio, Michigan, Minnesota, and New Mexico more than 181,000
deceased citizens had been listed on the voter rolls (Politicize, 2014). Three of those states were swing
states and could have decided the election. “Ohio also experienced another voting problem: 90,000
Ohioan voters cast ballots that did not contain a valid presidential choice. There are several
 explanations including the voter decided not to choose a candidate, mechanical error, or accidental voting
for more than one candidate” (Politicize, 2014).

Attempted Impeachment of President George W. Bush

When President Bush only had 6 months
left for his presidential term an
impeachment was attempted. The things
they tried to impeach him for was for
high crimes and misdemeanors
(Gov.track, 2008). Some of the claims
that they had against him was false case
“These maps show the amount of attention given by the campaigns of war against Iraq, conflating the attacks
George W. Bush and John Kerry. At left, each waving hand represents a visit
of 2001, and misleading the American
from a presidential or vice-presidential candidate during the final four weeks.
At right, each dollar sign represents one million dollars spent on TV people (Gov.Track, 2008). The end
advertising by the campaigns during the same time period.” (Politicize, statement of the impeachment document
2014). stated, “In all of these actions and
decisions, President George W. Bush
has acted in a manner contrary to his
trust as President, and subversive of constitutional government, to the prejudice of the cause of law and
justice and to the manifest injury of the people of the United States. Wherefore, President George W.
Bush, by such conduct, is guilty of an impeachable offense warranting removal from office.” (Gov.Track,
2008). Even with all these attempts of impeachment the Supreme Court ruled that the president was not
guilty and was not impeached.

Election of 2008
In 2008 we had another election the two main
candidates were Barack Obama and John McCain. Obama won
the election by a lot of electoral votes, and he became the first
black president of the United States. Obama becoming
president helped a lot of unions between races. His goal was to
be the liberal Reagan (Pazzanese, 2016). A lot of people
believed that he was. “He was criticized for being “a
respectability president” who hasn’t been aggressive or
progressive enough on issues such as education, poverty, and
immigration” (Pazzanese, 2016). It has been said that he This map shows the results of the 2008 election
accomplished more than he gets credit for. close to the very end.

Swine Flu
On April 26, 2009, the SHHS declared a health emergency due to the H1N1 Influenza virus. A lot
of people did not feel like President Obama handled Swine flu the way it should have been handled.
President Obama signed a “temporary waiver of certain standard Federal requirements may be warranted
in order to enable U.S. health care facilities to implement emergency operations plans, the 2009 H1N1
influenza pandemic in the United States constitutes a national emergency.” (Obama, 2009). He made a lot
of temporary health changes and it upset many people.

Conclusion
There are many things that happened that caused very upset people, but the Supreme Court tries
to do the best they can in making decisions that would be best for our country. It would be nicer if we as
parties could get a long and become closer and more one, but as the years go by, we are only getting
worse. We need to see things from the point of view of others before we decide. The 2009 flu was very
similar to COVID. There were many people thinking that was President Obama’s fault. Other people
believed that the voting machines were rigged, and they were counting unfairly.

Works Cited:

USA Patriot Act of 2001. (2019). The First Amendment Encyclopedia. https://mtsu.edu/first-
amendment/article/1096/usa-patriot-act-of-2001
What is the USA Patriot Web. (2001). Preserving Life and Liberty. https://www.justice.gov/archive/ll/highlights.htm
Rank, S., PhD. (2017, May 24). Robert Pickett: Firing Shots on GW Bush. History.
https://www.historyonthenet.com/robert-pickett
The Election of 2004 – Battleground and Swing States. (2014). Politicize.
http://cphcmp.smu.edu/2004election/battleground-swing-states/
Text of H.Res. 1258 (110th): Impeaching George W. Bush, President of the United States, of high crimes and . . .
(Introduced version). (2008). GovTrack.Us. https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/110/hres1258/text
Leip, D. (2008). Election 2008 Night Timeline. © 2008 David Leip.
https://uselectionatlas.org/INFORMATION/ARTICLES/ElectionNight2008/pe2008elecnighttime.php
Pazzanese, C. (2016, October 14). Impact of the nation’s first black president. Harvard Gazette.
https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2016/10/impact-of-the-nations-first-black-president/
Declaration of a National Emergency with Respect to the 2009 H1N1 Influenza Pandemic. (2009). The White
House. https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/realitycheck/the-press-office/declaration-a-national-
emergency-with-respect-2009-h1n1-influenza-pandemic-0