U.S. Political History from 1899 to the Present - SAT Subject Test in United States History

The Watergate scandal refers to Richard Nixon’s attempts to spy on and quiet Democrats and anti-war protestors. The event caused massive disdain among the American population for politicians, and the eventual resignation of President Nixon following the release of the tapes. When Ford came into office he pardoned Nixon and immediately lost credibility. It also directly caused two other major changes. The National Bar Association strengthened its code of conduct, as many of the men incriminated had been lawyers. Watergate also encouraged the American media to engage in aggressive investigative practices.

The prohibition of alcohol caused a great deal of social problems in 1920s America. It directly led to the growth of the American mafia and organized crime in general. It caused people to attempt to distill their own alcohol at home, a practice that could be dangerous to undertake and also poisonous to drink. Furthermore, the economy was struggling and the repeal of prohibition was seen as a small measure that could help the economy and alleviate the difficulty of daily life. Finally, it ideologically turned ordinary Americans into criminals. The correct answer is that Protestant leaders did not begin to speak in less condemning tones about alcohol; rather, the majority of people just were not listening.

Prior to Sherman’s famous “March to the Sea," in which he defeated the Confederates in Atlanta and Savannah, crippling the Southern war effort, popular support for Lincoln was waning heavily. Many voters in the North felt that the Civil War could not be won or that Lincoln’s lack of military knowledge was hindering the war effort. In the months leading up to the election the Democratic candidate General George McClellan was seen as the ideal replacement. However, Sherman’s victories provided a greater degree of legitimacy to Lincoln’s administration and campaign, and he was helped along to a somewhat unexpected victory.

In 1906, Upton Sinclair wrote The Jungle to expose the plight of immigrants; however, most Americans were instead struck by the unsanitary conditions in which their food was made and processed. In response, the Pure Food and Drug Act was passed to ensure cleaner and healthier conditions for food processing.

Theodore Roosevelt had made a promise to the country to not seek reelection in 1908, and handpicked his Secretary of State, William Howard Taft, as his successor. During Taft's term in office, however, many of Roosevelt's progressive policy goals were reversed by Taft, who had joined with the conservative wing of the Republican Party. Roosevelt challenged Taft for the Republican Nomination in 1912 to return the party to his brand of progressivism, and created the Progressive Party (also known as the Bull Moose Party) when he was denied the Republican nomination. The split Republican Party allowed another Progressive, Democrat Woodrow Wilson, to win the Presidency.

In response to widespread public outrage after abhorrent factory conditions were exposed in Sinclair's book, Roosevelt passed the 1906 Pure Food and Drugs Act, which established the FDA.

The Emergency Quota Act of 1921 severely limited immigration to the US and resulted from social and political unrest in the US and Europe following World War I. The US government feared new immigrants, especially from Eastern Europe, would spread radical revolutionary ideas and further contribute to unrest. The Emergency Quota Act was passed decades after both the California Gold Rush and the banning of Chinese immigration, and was therefore not caused by either of these. The act predated both World War II and the Cuban Revolution.

The Sedition Act of 1918 (technically a series of amendments to a previous act) was a very vague law. It forbade “disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or abusive language” against the US, the flag, or the military. Clearly, this language covers quite a lot, and can be stretched even further. This is, of course, a good example of what often happens in wartime—civil liberties get drastically reduced in name of necessity. Here, the law clearly encroaches on free speech.

Although this had the potential to be a difficult question, the answer choices should have narrowed it down considerably for you. In fact, only two of the answer choices are legal maxims used in a case (the other two are just platitudes). The correct answer is yelling “fire” in a crowded theater—the analogy that Justice Holmes used to support his legal conclusion that, when there is a “clear and present” danger, liberties may be restricted.

Joseph McCarthy sought to identify members of the Communist party in high ranking government jobs. He compiled a list of 200 names he believed were Communist with little evidence. He began trials that often ruined careers and reputations of those listed.

The McCarthy and HUAC hearings were the key elements of the second Red Scare, rooted largely in the 1950s, which focused on investigating Communist Party members in America. None of the other answer choices feature parties that were very active during the 1950s, providing another clue and an ability to eliminate certain answer choices.

The Watergate Scandal focused on the breaking and entering of Democratic National Committee offices in the Watergate Office Complex in Washington, DC, on June 17, 1972. In particular, investigations looked into President Nixon’s own involvement and the administration’s cover up of the break in. In 1975, Richard Nixon resigned the Presidency instead of being impeached by the United States Congress.

The 1960 Campaign featured the first Presidential Debate to be televised to a national audience, and led to speculation as to the effect of television on campaigns. Personal campaigning and primaries both were innovations of the 1890s, while Conventions predate the Civil War by decades. Negative campaigning is as old as democracy itself, and goes back to antiquity.

Sixteenth Amendment. For much of its early history the United States government collected finances mostly through custom duties and excise taxes. Income tax was generally viewed as an unconstituional incursion on the right of individuals to acquire wealth. However, during the cash-strapped years of the Civil War the Republican goverment levied a three-percent income tax. It proved to be extremely lucrative and after it was repealed in 1872, many Populist and Socialist movements began to demand a graduated income tax. The movement picked up momentum when the Democratic Party adopted it to its platform in 1908, and the Sixteenth Amendment was adopted into the Consitution in 1909 allowing the United States government to collect an income tax without regard to how the money was earned or a need to parcel the money out to the States. It represents a major extension of Federal power in the Twentieth Century.

Ronald Reagan’s 1980 election caused a major restructuring of the American political landscape, bringing many groups into the Republican column that had previously been strongly Democratic. This restructuring also firmed up many Democratic voters. Particularly key to Reagan’s victory were conservative Christian voters, while all the other groups listed became firmly Democratic.

The Teapot Dome Scandal was the name given to Albert B. Fall's criminal involvement with the leasing of the petroleum reserves in Wyoming and California.

On January 20th, 1961, John F. Kennedy delivered this famous inaugural address in Washington.

William McKinley was assassinated by an anarchist in Buffalo, New York, in 1901. His killer was convicted and sentenced to death, even though his political motives are still unclear.

In the 1936 election the incumbent Democratic candidate, Franklin Roosevelt, defeated the Republican challenger, Herbert Hoover, in a landslide. Roosevelt received a great deal of popular support from, amongst others, the urban poor, farmers, the unemployed, African Americans (who had previously traditionally voted Republican), Catholics, and Progressives. Roosevelt’s policies had generally endeared him to the working and middle classes, but his policies generally angered the wealthy, who found their income heavily taxed—as much as seventy-five percent—under Roosevelt’s new graduated income tax.