A Whole New World A timeline is a visual representation of historical events that helps you visualize the order of those events and how they relate to each other. When you read a narrative account of history, you tend to focus on one event at a time as you read a description of that event. When you “read” a timeline, on the other hand, you can see more broadly how events relate to each other chronologically, which may help you see other types of patterns and relationships among events.

Directions: First, place the events below on the timeline in a way that illustrates recent American history. Then answer the question below the timeline.

• George H. W. Bush’s term in office (1989-1993)
• Bill Clinton’s term in office (1993-2001)
• George W. Bush’s term in office (2001-2009)
• Barack Obama’s term in office (2009-2017)
• America’s Operation Desert Storm brings swift defeat to Iraq (January – February 1991)
• The Oslo Accords, which bring Israel and Palestine closer to
• The first budget surpluses since the 1960s (1998-2001)
• Unemployment drops to 4%, the lowest rate since the 1960s (2000)
• The September 11th Attacks (9/11/2001)
• The War in Afghanistan (2001 – Present)
• The Iraq War (2003 – 2011)
• The Great Recession begins (2008 – 2009) peace and mutual recognition, are signed with American help (1993 – 1995)

Year Event
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020

Follow-up Question: In general, what happened to the United States after the September 11th attacks? Do you think those changes are permanent? Why or why not?