American Studies Handouts PDF

1 Dr. Khaled Chouana Master 1 / American Studies (Semester 2) 2022-2023 The course is a critical look at contemporary America through the analysis of several articles, literary texts and visuals which provide a holistic introduct...

1 Dr. Khaled Chouana Master 1 / American Studies (Semester 2) 2022-2023 The course is a critical look at contemporary America through the analysis of several articles, literary texts and visuals which provide a holistic introduction to the ideas, culture, history and politics of the USA of today. The aim of the American studies course is to familiarize Master 1 students with some domestic and foreign issues of contemporary America and enable them to develop their critical thinking by introducing them to the multidisciplinary study of American culture, history, politics and society. By the end of the course, students should be able to engage in critical discussions and write academic compositions about several aspects of social, cultural, historical, and political life of the USA. Course syllabus 1. Ideas, philosophy and values of the USA 2. Of diversity and minorities 3. The American Dream 4. Protest music and its effect 5. Post 9/11 and war on terrorism 6. US soft power 7. The presidency of Barack Obama 8. Trump and polarization of contemporary America  2 References An Outline of American History. URL: https://usa.usembassy.de/etexts/history/toc.htm BBC News - United States Profile- Timeline. URL: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-16759233 ThoughtCo. / US Foreign Policy. URL: https://www.thoughtco.com/us-foreign-policy-4133010 Lepore, Jill, These Truths: A History of the United States, New York, W. W. Norton, 2018. Mauk, David and John Oakland, American Civilization: An Introduction, New York, Routledge, 2009. Zinn, Howard, A People’s History of the United States: 1492-Present, New York, Harper Collins, 2001.  3 Lecture 1: Ideas, attitudes and values of the USA Objectives After this first lecture, students should: be introduced to several ideals and cultural attitudes of the USA be able to distinguish some key concepts and definitions related to American culture and society be aware of several contradictions of contemporary American civilization and culture Introduction This first lecture briefly explains the core principles of culture that shape American society. We will examine the ideas, philosophy and values that shape the contemporary American society. We will come in touch with a variety of concepts, frameworks and topics associated with US identities formation. Also, there will be an analysis of the distance between the political ideals of the USA and real life in this country. The aim here is to investigate some contradictions and ambiguities that are found in the US society and culture of today. 1. Politics in the USA: a culture Political culture in the United States finds its roots in the Declaration of Independence, a document in which the Founding Fathers emphasized that all American citizens “are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” (Declaration of Independence 1776) The US Constitution is another important document since it is the supreme law of the USA. Its preamble focuses on the idea that the power lies within the people, “We, the people of the United States.” (Introductory statement of the US Constitution) Thus, the government derives its power from the consent of the governed that is the people. There is a political culture in the USA based on some common values such as faith in democracy, equality, liberty, support of capitalism, freedom of speech and individual rights. 1.1. Democracy Democracy, from Greek dēmos “common people” and kratos “rule, strength”, refers to the system of government in which the sovereign power is vested in the people as a whole. In the US context, democracy is viewed by American citizens as the idea that their elected officials (presidents and congressmen) are accountable to them. US citizens have the right to choose their officials as they vote for them. American citizens accept majority rule and they have a deep belief that ultimate power resides in the people themselves.  4 1.2. Equality As for equality, this concept is embodied in the Declaration of Independence, “all men are created equal”. Americans believe in social equality. It means that the country does not include a nobility class such as the one found in France or Britain. Radway et al point out that the form of equality that Americans favor is not equality of outcome, but rather of worth. (124) It means that all citizens have equal opportunities regardless of theirsocial positions. 1.3. Liberalism Liberalism in the United States follows the principles of John Locke, the British philosopher who stressed on some fundamental rights that any individual should be granted. These are “life, liberty, and property.” (179) Liberalism is based on protecting the freedom of the individual who is the main concern of politics. The government is necessary to protect individuals from being harmed by others; however, liberalism views also the rulers as a threat to liberty. (Ten 41) We must remind ourselves that the United States was created by colonists who opposed King George III and his tyrannical reign. In the present time, there is still a form of suspicion of government. Liberalism in the USA can be linked to individualism, a principle based on the fact that the individual’s rights are valued above those of the government. 1.4. US capitalism The United States is often regarded as having a capitalist economic system. Capitalism is based on freedom of private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. It focuses on private property, capital accumulation, wage labor, and competitive markets. American capitalism is based on the mercantile principle of “laissez- faire” which advocates favor individual self-interest and competition, and opposes the taxation and regulation of commerce by the federal government. It means that the government takes a “hands off” attitude toward the economy. (Pearce 120) As a consequence, the US working class had always been opposing the powerful corporation owners and this throughout the modern history of the USA. 1.5. American exceptionalism Alexis de Tocqueville wrote Democracy in America (1840) when he visited America and described a kind of American exceptionalism by asserting that America is a society uniquely different from the more traditional European societies. The idea is that the country is a classless society in which individuals are equal. The USA is the country of social mobility, racial diversity, and freedom of religion. It is the country of the melting pot that welcomes populations all over the world regardless of their origins or religion.  5 2. Some limitations and contradictions When we examine the culture and politics of the USA, we must bear in mind that there has always been a gap between the ideals and values of the USA and real life in that country. It is true that America is a federal presidential constitutional republic and that its political system is based on the separation of powers (checks and balances). However, when one looks at the controversial second amendment of the constitution (bearing guns) and its devastating effects, or looks at the Electoral College which sometimes elects the president of the USA without taking into consideration the people’s votes (The case of Al Gore in 2000 and Hillary Clinton in 2016), one may wonder if the American political system is really fair and effective? Also American workers had been resisting the practices of modern capitalist corporations by forming trade unions (Knights of Labor, IWW, AFL-CIO) throughout the modern history of the USA. The right to form unions and lead union actions is embodied inthe constitutions of several developed countries, whereas the American Constitution does not guarantee this right. American employers strongly oppose trade union with the support of the federal government which does not intervene in conflicts and chooses to follow the “laissez-faire” principle. Today, the US economic system can be labeled as a corporate capitalism, characterized by the dominance of powerful corporations (Coca Cola, Wall mart, Microsoft, Google, McDonald…etc.). Wall Street also plays a major role in the economy as it controls the financial markets and it has some important implications not only for ordinary Americans but for the global economy of the world. When it comes to exceptionalism, it can be said that the country is no exceptional when we examine the issue of poverty (37.2 million in 2020) and homelessness (580 000 in 2020). Additionally, European countries such as Germany, France, and the United Kingdom are much more generous with the disfranchised people in terms of welfare and government assistance. Americans struggle just to get a health care whereas in the European countries medical assistance is embodied in the law and even illegal immigrantshave the right to have a free healthcare despite being against the law of the country. Finally, at the international level, Americans tend to view themselves as being above the law, specifically the international laws of the United Nations as they invaded Iraq in 2003. There is clearly a distance between American ideals that work as a social regulator in the US nation and American real policy which seeks national interest.  6 Lecture 2: Diversity and minorities in the USA Objectives After this lecture, students should: distinguish the different US minorities have some cultural background about the melting pot and diversity in the USA be aware of the ambiguities embodied in several myths and ideals of American civilization and culture 1. Race and ethnicity in the USA America has a racially and ethnically diverse population and this is mainly due to the fact that the country encouraged immigration since its foundation. People all over the world move to the USA each year to settle their and make a living. The US Census categorizes the American population into: White Americans (Europe, Latino, Middle-East and North Africa), African Americans, American Indians, American Asians, and Native Hawaiians. It must be noted that the term “White Americans” has been used so far by the Bureau of the US Census to identify people of European descent, Latinos Americans of North African and Middle Eastern descent. Nevertheless, European Americans are the largest ethnic group of White Americans and this since the country’s foundation. Latino Americans are classified as an ethnicity and not a race and they form the largest minority group in the USA. The concept “race” is often used interchangeably with the concept “ethnicity”. However, the US Supreme Court considered that Jews, Arabs, and Zulus for instance should be labeled as ethnic groups and not as races (US Census). 2. Diversity and the melting pot The USA is the land of culture diversity since it welcomes people from all over the world. In 1782, John Hector St. John de Crèvecoeur wrote his famous Letters from an American Farmer and gave some clues regarding the very controversial issue of American identity or “americaness” by asking a relevant question: “What then is the American, this new man? He is either an European, or the descendant of an European, hence that strange mixture of blood, which you will find in no other country. […] Here individuals of all nations are melted into a new race of men, whose labours and posterity will one day causegreat changes in the world.” (48) Similarly, in 1831 Alexis de Tocqueville described the people of America as: “[…] a society comprising all the nations of the world: English, French, German. […] All people having different languages, beliefs, and opinions. In short, a society without roots, without memories, without prejudices, without routines, without common ideas, without national character. […] What ties these very diverse elements together? What makes a people of allthis?” (Qtd. in Paul 257) We notice that both St. John de Crèvecoeur and Tocqueville, two French writers, depict a  7 mythical America which looks like a paradise and which is composed solely of white Americans of European descent. This America is excluding the African citizens who live on its soil. In fact, African Americans are suffering from the agony of slavery andcannot even voice their concerns. What is more, I think there is a kind of hypocrisy from the French and particularly when Tocqueville who praised America and its democracy, wrote a report on Algeria in 1847 where he advised the French army to follow a strategy that was based on a partial colonization mixed with a full dominance of the Algerian tribes. Tocqueville asserted that domination through violence was necessary to defeat El Emir Abd-el-Kader and to colonize Algeria effectively. But beyond the Algerian question, it is worth nothing that one of the founding ideals of the American identity is the melting pot. It is a metaphor for people coming from different countries to form a homogenous society which lives in harmony thanks to the cultural diversity brought by its members. The different citizens of this country melt together and form a unique culture. The melting pot was used to depict the cultural integration and assimilation of immigrants to the USA. The concept “melting pot” came into use after playwright Israel Zangwill popularized it in 1908 when he wrote his play of the same name. In fact, The Melting Pot depicts the life of a Russian Jewish family who immigrates to the USA and flees oppression in the traumatic Russia. The play looks at America as an ideal society in which its different ethnic groups live in harmony without division and hatred (see below). The Melting Pot (Israel Zangwill, 1908) The above picture is ambivalent since it celebrates the US melting pot and at the same time it can be viewed as a harsh criticism of the American assimilation model. The melting pot is an ambiguous symbol of American unity since it is considered as a myth providing national cohesion on the one hand, and as a tool of violent assimilation to white Anglo-Saxon culture on the other. Heike Paul argues that  8 the melting pot of the early twenties century “has often obscured the role of racism in American society by projecting acolorblind vision of social harmony and by obscuring ongoing inequality.” (282) In fact, the melting pot was linked to US immigration as thousands of migrants should have been Americanized. This does not necessarily mean giving up their culture; rather they brought about a cultural-added value to the national identity. It can be said that all Americans regardless their origin celebrate the tremendous impact of African-Americanculture and aesthetics (Blackness, sport, gangster rap). 3. A multicultural or a melting pot nation? There is one last thing worth mentioning in this lecture. It is that in the American context, very few people label American diversity as a multicultural phenomenon. It is truethat multiculturalism in Britain is prominent and the various ethnic groups of the UK collaborate with each other without scarifying their specific identities; however, in the USA, despite the fact ethnic diversity is common in rural and urban areas (Chinatown, Little Bombay, Indian reservations…etc.), multiculturalism is not clearly established in policy. All immigrants who come to the USA must integrate the new nation with their cultural differences melting together into a harmonious society with a homogenous culture.  9 Lecture 3: The American Dream Objectives After this lecture, students should: be familiar with the idea of the American Dream be aware of the distance between the American Dream and real life in the USA Introduction This lecture tackles the issue of the American Dream and tries to investigate the possibilities of realizing the dream in today’s America for a specific category of people, namely those who are at the bottom struggling in the dirt. Therefore a particular focus will be placed on the most deprived people of the USA who live in poverty and homelessness. 1. Overview of the American Dream The American Dream is also a major national ethos of the United States. It was coined by James Truslow Adams in 1931 who defined it as: “[a] dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement.” (10) Adams’s definition of the dream came in the midst of the Great Depression in order to give Americans a sense of hope and confidence after their lives were ruined by the biggest economic crisis of the twentieth century. It must be noted that today a significant part of the American population seems not tobe concerned with the dream. The main concern of the most deprived Americans who live in poverty is not to have a big house with a garage and two cars, but to just make a living by getting food on the table, paying their bills and taxes, and support themselves and their children. Realizing the dream for them in this context becomes difficult since it is a privilege reserved only for the middle-class. Jim Cullen’s book, American Dream: A Short History of an Idea that Shaped a Nation (2004), suggests six American Dreams: the Puritan dream based on religious faith and reform, the dream embodied in the Declaration of Independence, the dream linked to upward social mobility, the dream of Martin Luther King of social equality, the post-World War Two dream of suburbanization and home ownership, and finally the ‘Dream of the Coast’ in California which is linked to fame and Hollywood stars. (54) The American Dream is represented in many works of literature, cinema, and popular music (Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby (1925), Dennis Hopper’s 1969 movie Easy Rider, and James Brown’s song “Living in America” (1985), to mention but a few. The American dream is a major factor that draws people from all over the world. TheUnited States  10 was founded on immigration and accordingly the country welcomed people from all nations regardless of their origin, religion or culture. 2. A dream or a reality? We must pay attention to the fact that fulfilling the American Dream became almost impossible for some Americans and particularly with the context of the subprime financial crisis of 2007 that ruined US households who were unable to repay their home loans Stand- up comedian George Carlin mocked the dream and questioned its achievement as he stated: “The reason they call it the American Dream is because you have to be asleep to believe it.” (109) Apparently, there is a clear gap between the American Dream fulfilled by the middleclass and American realities of excluded groups who live in poverty. I think that investigating the contradictions of the American dream can be particularly valuable and fruitful for scholars and students of American studies. Conclusion Class discussion and exchange with the students about their own version of the AmericanDream.  11 Lecture 4: US protest music and its effect Objectives After this lecture, students should: be familiar with the notion of “protest song” in the USA distinguish some key concepts and definitions related to American activism and musical dissatisfaction be aware of the impact of protest songs on US audiences Introduction This lecture will deal with protest music in the USA. We will examine if protest songs can have an impact on the lives of disenfranchised Americans. For that purpose, we will analyze some US popular songs as case studies and investigate their effect on the American society. 1. Defining protest songs The Oxford Concise Dictionary of Music states that “protest song” is a “term which gained currency (first in USA) in 1960s for songs which voiced feelings of protest about some social or political injustice, real or imagined, or about some international event which aroused strong emotions, e.g. American participation in Vietnam war. A famous example is ‘We shall overcome’. Among the principal singers of the genre were Bob Dylan and Joan Baez.” (1728) It seems that “protest song” was an umbrella term used by American music journalists of the 1960’s to cover a wide range of genres and subgenres of popular music that address dissatisfaction and discontent. Similarly, in 1968 American sociologist Serge Denisoff defined a protest song as “a socio-political statement designed to create an awareness of social problems and which offers or infers a solution which is viewed as deviant in nature.” (26) In addition to its protesting dimension, a protest song has also a political function. Its lyrics address political issues because its author wants it to be so and because its listeners view it as a political song. 2. Of the efficiency of US protest songs Are protest songs efficacious in society and in the political scene? Is not the first function of a song to entertain some audience who come one evening to intend a show in which singers play some enjoyable popular music that would preferably avoid political messages and pedagogical speeches? Would not it be advisable for American singers to avoid engaging in activism and simply entertain their audiences with songs? This being said, perhaps the best way to engage in political activism is to join a political party or to integrate a political movement so as to reflect effectively on several political issues and try to bring about a change. It seems a protest song is not the best means to address social issues or to criticize the president of the United States.  12 In 1969, German philosopher Theodor W. Adorno harshly criticized the protest songs of Bob Dylan and Joan Baez against the Vietnam War by claiming: I believe, in fact, that attempts to bring political protest together with “popular music” – that is, with entertainment music – are for the following reasons doomed from the start.[…] And I have to say that when somebody sets himself up, and for whatever reason sings maudlin music about Vietnam being unbearable, I find that really it is this song that is in fact unbearable, in that by taking the horrendous and making it somehow consumable, it ends up wringing something like consumption- qualities out of it. (Qtd. in Gil & Martins 187) The criticism of Adorno may be justified since popular songs are made at the first place to be sold and be consumed in the entertainment market. The protest songs of the 1960s neither stopped the Vietnam War nor brought civil rights to the African-American community. However, we should soften the assertion that protest songs are ineffective in the political sphere. While politics is certainly important in the lives of American citizens, the facts seem to prove the opposite. The 2016 US presidential election recorded the lowest voter turnout since 2000, with 58%. An important part of the American population lost interest in political debates by choosing abstention in 2016. It is difficult then to view a protest song as an effective tool that has an impact on citizens in the field of politics. Finally, let’s remind ourselves that the United Nations Security Council could not stop President George W. Bush from invading Iraq in 2003 and therefore, it is difficult to think that a protest song could be more effective than a UN resolution. Conclusion What is merely viewed as entertainment can be considered as a serious tool to address the problems of the most deprived citizens of the American society. Protest singers are also engaged in social activism as they give money to charitable organizations and food banks which try to get millions of Americans out of poverty. Even today, there is still poverty, social inequality and homelessness in the USA. Hegemonic corporations continue to exploit wage earners by paying them a minimum wage. The African American community is still suffering from police violence and racism. Women are still victims of harassment and physical violence. Big companies still pollute the environment and use GMOs in their products. Even if protest singers cannot change the world with their songs, they must carry on their activism and their singing and allowpeople to believe there is a more hopeful life.  13 Lecture 5: Post 9/11 and war on terrorism Objectives After this lecture, students should: be familiar with the contemporary US foreign policy after 9/11 distinguish key notions related to US foreign policy give a critical analysis of the war on terror and its contradictions Introduction In this lecture, we will look at the US foreign policy and examine several international issues that involve America of the 21st century. The point here is to analyzethe way America combated terrorism and particularly after 9/11. No one can deny the fact that the foreign policy of the United States has a hugeimpact on the entire globe since each country deals with America and tries to have a harmonious relationship with this powerful nation. We will examine the components of the War on Terror which started after 9/11 and investigate if this strategy that was adopted by the US Department State paid off by bringing peace to America and to the entire world. A particular focus will be placed on thelimitations of this policy inside and outside the USA. 1. Timeline The following timeline shows key events related to US foreign policy and War onTerror.  September 11, 2001 - 9/11 attacks launched by Al-Qaeda on the American soil  September 16, 2001 - George W. Bush launches War on Terror (Global war onterrorism)  October 7, 2001- War in Afghanistan begins  March 19, 2003 - War in Iraq is launched  May 1, 2003- Bush’s “Mission Accomplished” speech on the USS Abraham Lincoln  December 13, 2003 - Saddam Hussein is captured  March 11, 2004 - Madrid train bombings kill 193 people  July 7, 2005 - London bombings (7/7) kill 52 people  March 2, 2006 - Bush signs the US-India Peaceful Atomic Energy Cooperation Act  August 30, 2010 - Barack Obama declares the end of US combat operations in Iraq  May 2, 2011 - Osama Bin Laden is killed by US special forces at Abbottabad,Pakistan  March 6, 2014 - US economic sanctions against Russia after its illegal occupation ofCrimea in Ukraine  December 28, 2014 - The war in Afghanistan ends  July 20, 2015- USA reopens its diplomatic mission in Cuba after being closed for 50years  December 6, 2017 - Trump recognizes Jerusalem as the capital of Israel/ UNOcondemns US decision  14  April 14, 2018 - US, UK and France air strikes against Syria in response to theDouma chemical attack against Syrian civilians on 7 April  October 2018 - Trump decides to give high priority to fighting terrorism throughmilitary action  January 28, 2019 - USA and Taliban leaders agree to the withdrawal of the 14 000US soldiers remaining in Afghanistan  June 30, 2019 - Trump becomes the first US president to step into North Korea andmeets its supreme leader Kim Jong-un  October 27, 2019 - Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, the leader of ISIS since 2013, diedduring a raid in Idlib conducted by US special forces  January 3, 2020 - US drone strikes Baghdad International Airport and kills Iranianmajor general Qasem Soleimani of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps 2. 9/11 and its aftermath Following the terrorist attacks on American soil on September 11, 2001 which killed2977 Americans and injured 6000 others, President George W. Bush launched the war against the Taliban in Afghanistan as part of the War on Terror. This latter is defined as aninternational war started by the US government to eradicate the most important terrorist groups being the Taliban, Al-Qaeda, and subsequently the Islamic State. (Heazle & Iyanatul 111) On January 29, 2002, during the State of the Union address, Bush declared that countries such as Iraq, Iran and North Korea represented “an axis of evil, arming to threaten the peace of the world. By seeking weapons of mass destruction, these regimespose a grave and growing danger.” Bush believed it was important to stop terrorists by waging a limitless war against them and against the rogue states that helped them. Historian and author Jill Lepore contends that “the Bush administration conceived of the war on terror as an opportunity to strike against hostile regimes all over the world, on the grounds that they harbored and funded terrorists.” (318) Leopore carries on by claimingthat “between 1998 and 2011, military spending nearly doubled, reaching more than $700 billion a year—more, in adjusted dollars, than at any time since the Allies were fighting theAxis.” (318) In fact, America was not going to spare money in order to combat terrorism. What was important was to avoid another 9/11 on the American soil. It is worth noting that US foreign policy after 9/11 was based on unilateralism and the use of preemptive war. It means that America supported one-sided actions and also considered its army could wage wars against any country menacing its liberty even if thatcountry had not declared war against her. The War on Terror which started in Afghanistan was going to spread to Iraq for America  15 suspected Saddam Hussein to illegally possess weapons of mass destruction (WMDs). In fact, the US government decided to attack Iraq without being sure the countrydid have WMDs and without going through the Security Council knowing that the vote of a resolution allowing this war would certainly be doomed to failure. After the end of major combat operations in Iraq, coalition forces noticed a flurry of attacks on its troops. Indeed, one of the important points that caused the unpopularity of thewar was the number of US casualties. The US Department of Defense stated that as for January 14, 2013, 4 422 soldiers died while 31 926 soldiers were wounded in action in Iraq. The Iraqi population suffered tremendously because of the US invasion. The website Iraq Body Count stated that 288 000 people died because of violence. The new Middle East that Bush wanted to introduce would not see the light of day. The coalition force didnot find the weapons of mass destruction, while it was the main argument supporting thisinvasion. The Bush administration was wrong about the full cost of the war. The Nobel Prize-winning economist winner Joseph Stiglitz asserted that the total cost of the war ranged from $2.8 to $4.5 trillion. This number represented the cost only to the United States and did not reflect the enormous cost to Iraq, or the rest of the world. 3. Anti-terrorist legislation and Guantanamo After 9/11, it was obvious that Americans agreed on the need to ensure greater security to the country and prevent the danger of further attacks. But critics of the Bush administration claimed that its package of antiterrorist legislation (‘Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and ObstructTerrorism’- more usually known as ‘the USA PATRIOT Act’) went far beyond what was necessary to achieve this objective. The USA PATRIOT ACT was signed by Bush on October 26, 2001 to strengthen national security. This law was criticized for its authorization of indefinite detentions of immigrants; the permission given to police officersto search a home without the owner’s consent or knowledge; and the expanded use of National Security Letters, which allowed the FBI to search telephone, e-mail, records, including library and financial records. The USA PATRIOT ACT undermined some essential civil liberties in the USA. It alsocreated a new spirit of intolerance. If anyone criticized President Bush for his foreign policy, he or she was going to be accused of inculcating antipatriotic sentiment. Some academics opposed to the war in Afghanistan complained they were harassed by universityand other authorities. So, America became an Orwellian Big Brother who had been watching the citizens. The actions and private life of Americans were being monitored by the US government and this undermined civil liberties significantly. Another consequence of the 9/11 attacks was the setting up of the Guantanamo Bay detention camp in 2002. This military prison is located at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and therefore it is not considered as a legally domestic US territory. The Taliban and Al Qaedadetainees who were  16 imprisoned there were not entitled to the right of habeas corpus (a court order requiring a person under arrest to be brought before a judge or into court) sincethey were not on the American soil. President Bush argued that the Geneva Convention which protects prisoners of war (POW) would not apply to the terrorists for they were not on the American soil. However, most prisoners were freed and were transferred to other countries. The number of prisoners was reduced to 40. Barack Obama tried to close the prison of Guantanamo in vain since the US Congress voted against its closing. In January2018, Donald Trump signed an executive order to keep the prison open indefinitely. Conclusion We live today in a complex world where foreign diplomacies will play a significantrole in the promotion of international peace. The USA is involved in several internationalissues which have a direct impact on different countries, including Algeria. Across the globe, there has been a transition from a bipolar world (Cold War involving USA and former Soviet Union) to a multipolar world. Buzan and Lawson contend that there is a transition from “an era of bipolarity to one of unipolarity, multipolarity or even non- polarity.” (71) While America remains a strong power economically and military, emerging economies such as China, Brazil, and India have been challenging US dominance and hegemony. But what is more important is that international terrorism alsoadapted to this complex era. In fact, ISIS uses social media to spread terror around the world in addition to recruit new members. The Financial Times described ISIS’s use of social media as “probably more sophisticated than most US companies.” (Jones & Khalaf) Perhaps, it’s time for America to adjust its foreign policy to the challenges of the eraof non- polarity by developing a real partnership with underdeveloped countries in Latin America, Africa and Asia. One key element, I think, to face terrorism, nuclear weapons, poverty and global warming is to develop economic and cultural cooperation based on equality, mutual respect and mutual benefit.  17 Lecture 6: US soft power Objectives After this lecture, students should: - be familiar with the notion of US soft power - make a distinction between hard power and soft power - be aware of the importance of the concept of soft power and its implications Introduction In this lecture, we will examine US soft power. After giving a short definition to thisconcept that is used in the fieldof foreign policy, we will give some examples of US soft power.The point here is to explore the impact of US soft power on the rest of the world in general and on the Arab world in particular. By the end, we will assessthe importance of soft power for the US foreign policy of the 21st Century as the most powerful country of the world is confronted to international terrorism, global warming andthe global economic crisis. 1. What is soft power? The concept of “soft power” is used in the field of foreign policy to describe any country’s use of nonmilitary power to convince other countries to ascribe to its policies. Soft power implies that there is hard power which is opposed to it. The Thesaurus Dictionary explains that power is “the capacity or ability to direct or influence the behaviorof others or the course of events”. One person may oblige another person to do somethingby using force or by threatening him. This is called hard power. But soft power is the opposite of hard power since it happens when someone gets what he or she wants throughattraction or persuasion. Soft power in the field of foreign policy can be achieved through the use of cooperative  18 programs such as university and cultural exchanges in addition to financialaids. The term “soft power” was coined by the Harvard professor of political science Joseph Nye in the late 1980s and relates to a nation’s ability to attract or persuade othernations, rather than coerce them by using military or economic means. Nye offers an overview of the concept of soft power by stating that: Everyone is familiar with hard power. We know that military and economic might often get others to change their position. Hard power can rest on inducements (“carrots”) or threats (“sticks”). But sometimes you can get the outcomes you want without tangible threats or payoffs. The indirect way to get what you want has sometimes been called “the second face of power.” A country may obtain the outcomes it wants in world politics because other countries admire its values, emulate its example; aspire to its level of prosperity and openness. This soft power—getting others to want the outcomes that you want—co-opts people rather than coercesthem. […] Soft power is not merely the same as influence. After all, influence can also rest on the hard power of threats or payments. And soft power is more than just persuasion or the ability to move people by argument, though that is an important part of it. It is also the ability to attract, and attraction often leads to acquiescence. Simply put, in behavioral terms, soft power is attractive power. Soft power resources are the assets that produce such attraction. (2004) Nye views power as the ability to get what we want from others and this can be done in three ways: through coercion (use of force or intimidation); through payment; and throughattraction and persuasion. For Nye, coercion and payment are called hard power, whereas the ability to get what we want through attraction and persuasion is called soft power. Softpower is “the ability to get what you want through attraction rather than coercion or payments.” (9) Soft power in the USA is embodied in its cuisine, internet, technologies, sports, American Dream, soft drinks, blue jeans, tolerance and democracy. Millions of people watch American movies, read comics and US literary works, listen to rock music, eat hamburgers and donuts, like visiting New York City or the Statue of Liberty and attend American colleges which have a high reputation and are ranked the best educational institutions in the world. Nye contends that the soft power of a country rests primarily on three resources: “its culture (in places where it is attractive to others), its political values (when it lives up to them at home and abroad), and its foreign policies (when they are seen as legitimate and having moral authority.)” (25) Consequently, America attracts different countries all over the world and influences them because they consider it as an ideal nationthat is worthy to be imitated. After all, countries everywhere want to be as powerful and developed as the USA and they think that they can do so by adopting the standards and policies of that country. 2. Examples of US soft power The best example of American soft power is the Marshall Plan. It was a financial aidthat was transferred to Western Europe in 1948 to help France, Britain and several other countries which were destroyed because of World War II. America gave Western Europe $12 billion to rebuild the destroyed  19 cities by modernizing industry and improving prosperity. Above all, the United States wanted to prevent Western Europe from falling to the influence of the Communist Soviet Union and to achieve this goal she used soft power. Similarly, the US Department of State sponsors multiple programs for educational,cultural, and professional exchanges across the world. Educational exchange programs such as Fulbright or FLEX are an element of US soft power. Also, America assists countries which face natural disasters and help them with several verities of disaster assistance programs, such as flood control in Pakistan and earthquake relief in Japan andHaiti. This humanitarian help can attract the devastated countries which would like to cooperate with the USA politically and economically and adopt its values. 3. Decline of US soft power? Nye noticed that there is a decline in the United States’ use of soft power and particularly after 9/11. The wars of Afghanistan and Iraq combined with the Bush Doctrine all lessened the value of soft power in the minds of people all over the world. The Arab world in particular considered the USA as an imperial nation. Although Arabs admire some aspects of American culture, they oppose American policies in Iraq and Guantanamo. Under the presidency of Donald Trump, the United States dropped from the top ranked in the world in soft power to fourth in 2018, according to Fortune. Let’s not forgetthat Trump adopted an “American First” policy that emphasized American nationalism, unilateralism and isolationism. Nye argues that “Tweets can help to set the global agenda,but they do not produce soft power if they are not attractive to others.” (2019) Conclusion Thanks to globalization and information technology, countries like China, India, andBrazil will use their soft power to influence other countries and reach their international objectives. Those countries can undermine the US dominance in economics and culture; however, America is a resourceful country that can easily adapt to globalization and the challenges of the twenty-first century. In short, the United States will use a smart power tofoster its preponderance in a fragile world threatened by international terrorism, global warming, pandemics and economic crises.  20 Lecture 7: Presidency of Barack Obama Objectives After this lecture, students should: - describe the presidency of Barack Obama - identify several concepts used in US politics - assess the Obama presidency by tracing its ambiguities Introduction This lecture is an overview of the presidency of Barack Obama. We will trace the accomplishments and limitations of the 44th president of the USA who served two terms inthe White House (2008-2012 and 2012-2016). We will investigate if the election of the first African American president of the USA solved the American agony of racial bondageand segregation and if it benefited minority groups who face exclusion and social inequality. Globally speaking, we will assess the presidency of President Obama by focusing on several domestic and foreign issues such as: social justice, health care, US diplomacy and relationship to the Arab world. The following timeline indicates the most important events of the presidency of Obama. 1. Timeline  4 November 2008: Barack Hussein Obama II is elected president.  20 January 2009: Inauguration of Obama as the 44th president of the United States.  18 February 2009: Administration commits to doubling U.S. military presence inAfghanistan.  26 June 2009: The House passes “cap and trade” bill to combat climate change.  11 July 2009: First presidential visit to Africa.  9 October 2009: Nobel Peace Prize is awarded to Obama.  23 March 2010: Obama signs the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (alsocalled Obamacare).  8 April 2010: Obama signs the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) with Russiato decrease nuclear stockpiles.  2 November 2010: In the midterm elections, the Republicans win control of the Houseof Representatives as the Democrats lose 63 seats.  27 April 2011: Obama releases his long form birth certificate to prove that he is anative- born U.S. citizen.  2 May 2011: Osama bin Laden is killed by U.S. Special Forces.  17 September 2011: Occupy Wall Street protests begin in Manhattan’s Zuccotti Park.  26 February 2012: Trayvon Martin, a 17-year-old African-American teenager fromMiami  21 Gardens, Florida, is murdered by George Zimmerman.  11 September 2012: U.S. consulate and annex in Benghazi, Libya, is attacked.  6 November 2012: Obama is reelected president.  2 January 2013: Obama signs American Taxpayer Relief Act raising taxes on the topbracket back to where they were before President George W. Bush took office.  15 April 2013: The Boston Marathon bombing kills 3 and injures 283 runners andspectators.  5 June 2013: Edward Snowden leaks highly classified documents from the NationalSecurity Agency.  13 July 2013: Black Lives Matter (#BLM) emerges as a political movement, protestingagainst racial profiling and police brutality.  1 October 2013: The federal government shuts down because Congress refuses to passlegislation lifting the debt ceiling.  6 March 2014: Obama demands sanctions against Russia for invasion of Ukraine andCrimea.  9 August 2014: Michael Brown, an African-American man, is killed by the police ofFerguson, Missouri.  5 November 2014: Republicans take control of Senate in midterm elections.  2 June 2015: Obama signs a renewal of the Patriot Act.  29 June 2015: Obama expands eligibility for overtime pay for millions of workers.  1 July 2015: Cuba and the United States restore diplomatic relations.  17 January 2016: The Obama administration lifts sanctions on Iran.  20 September 2016: Keith Lamont Scott, an African-American man, is fatally shot bypolice in Charlotte, North Carolina, stirring civil unrest.  8 November 2016: Donald J. Trump defeats Hillary Clinton, winning the presidency.  20 January 2017: Obama delivers his farewell address on January 10 and leaves theWhite House on January 20. 2. Historical and political context When Obama was elected president of the United States on November 4th, 2008, thecountry was in the midst of the global financial crisis that is considered to be the most serious financial crisis since the Great Depression of 1929. In fact, many American households were caught in the economic turmoil and were unable to pay their home loans.They also suffered from social inequality and the lack of health insurance. Republicans took control of the House of Representatives in the 2010 midterm election, while  22 they won control of the Senate after the 2014 elections, and this made it difficult for the White House to pass bills and reforms regarding health care, immigration,social justice, and several other issues. (Edwards 186) No one can deny the fact that the election of Obama, the first African American president, brought a new hope for racial minorities and reduced perceptions of racism in the USA; however, the African American community felt disappointed because race- related policies were infringed. What is more, during the presidency of Obama, African Americans faced racial profiling, police brutality and racial inequality in the US criminaljustice system. At the international level, the world was struggling with combating global terrorism and trying to decrease the negative effects of climate change. America had its army deployed in both Iraq and Afghanistan and there was an urgent need from the public opinion to bring the US troops back home. The White House had also to deal with Iran andits attempt to develop nuclear weapons. The US-Russia relations declined tremendously because Russia invaded Ukraine and annexed Crimea. 3. Domestic affairs Obama started his presidency during the Great Recession where the financial systemwas close to collapse. On February 17, 2009, the US president signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. It is an economic stimulus package of $831 billion whose aim is to help the US economy recover from the financial crisis by increasing federal spending for health insurance, education, and financial assistance to individuals who facejoblessness. (Ceaser et al. 27) To address the excesses in the banking sector that provoked the financial crisis, Obama signed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act in 2010, which controlled bank risk- taking. As a Democrat, Obama favored tax increases on higherincomes Americans and was able to reform the health care system by passing the Patient Protection Affordable Care Act (2010), also called Obamacare. Millions of Americans were lacking a basic health care and consequently Obamacare guaranteed low-income Americans to purchase health insurance. When it comes to racial issues, it seems that the Obama Administration failed to findways to make significant changes for the different minorities groups, including the AfricanAmericans. The truth of the matter is that many Americans celebrated the idea that the election of Obama in 2008 was the climax of the civil rights struggle; however, the reality was that millions of African Americans were still facing racial disparities, police brutality, poverty, and unemployment. The shooting of the African Americans people Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, and Keith Lamont Scott, to name but a few, by the police made things worse. In 2013, Black Lives Matter (#BLM) emerged in the African American communityto protest  23 against violence and racism towards black people. Obama was caught betweentwo fires when addressing the issue of police brutality. On one hand, some African American activists criticized him when he expressed his empathy for the police. On the other hand, some members of the police criticized the president’s condemnation of racial bias after the death of African American people caused by the law enforcement action. Though Obama was very skeptical about addressing the issues of segregation and racialinequality, he started in 2014 discussing the drawbacks faced by many members of minority groups. 4. Foreign policy When Obama joined the White House, he inherited a chaotic foreign policy from hispredecessor George W. Bush who started two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Yet, like Bush, Obama supported War on Terror and accordingly he adopted similar policies of the Bush administration by combating global terrorism endlessly. Obama’s foreign policy was marked by diminishing American commitments overseas. His foreign policy focused on ending the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and at thesame time the president implemented an aggressive policy in the Middle East against ISIS by using drones. To be precise, Obama authorized 542 drone strikes in Pakistan, Libya, Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Somalia, and Yemen according to Micah Zenko. The strikes killed an estimated 3797 people, including 324 civilians. Obama conveyed a new way of doing foreign policy. It was less militarized and moreengaged- focused. He believed Americans should take themselves out of the field as often as possible, while they should sit down at the give and take table and negotiate with their allies about central issues. Some observers labeled the president’s foreign policy as the Obama Doctrine. The president told New York Times journalist and columnist Thomas L. Friedman that his doctrine is “we will engage, but we preserve all our capabilities.” However, several scholars did not agree whether there was an actual “Obama Doctrine”. Rather, there was a style and a way of conducting US foreign policy that was effective and very cautious.Obama’s foreign policy put a stress on negotiation and collaboration instead of actingunilaterally and confronting other nations. Obama is a realist politician. Contrary to what some commentators believe, Obama isnot an idealist leader who thinks about the well-being of the rest of the world. He carried out an “America First” approach to foreign policy which centered on eradicating global terrorism and maintaining America as the strongest nations of the world. The truth is Obama’s realpolitik did not try to make the world a better place but accepted it as it is. After all, foreign policy is about getting stronger and imposing a country’s primacy over the other countries. Obama was able to normalize US relations with Cuba and reached an agreement withIran  24 in 2015 to reduce its nuclear facilities. Similarly, he promoted international discussions that led to the 2016 Paris agreement on global climate change. Conclusion The election of Obama embodied the idea that the American Dream is possible for everyone; an inclusive dream for all Americans regardless of their ethnic background or their country of origin. Unlike Bush, Obama improved the image of America in Europe and even in several Arab countries leading to the enhancement of American soft power. However, the president could not pass laws to decrease racial inequality and increase immigration in the country. Similarly, he could not close the prison camp of Guantanamoas he promised because of the antagonism of the US Congress. On January 20th, 2017, Obama left office. Americans opened a new page with President Donald J Trump. It is up to historians and scholars of political science to assessPresident Barack Obama, his policies and his achievements.  25 Lecture 8: Donald Trump and polarization of America Objectives After this lecture, students should: have some knowledge about the presidency of Donald Trump distinguish some key concepts of US politics such as impeachment, populism, non-interventionism, andprotectionism be aware of several limitations and ambiguities of President Trump’s policies Introduction This lecture tackles the domestic and foreign policies of the 45th and current president of the United States, Donald J Trump. After presenting a brief biographical overview of the president and his main policies, we will examine the reasons why the Congress tried to impeach him. Finally, we will delve into the presidency of Trump and examine if contemporary America became polarized because of his decisions and policies. 1. Who is Donald Trump? Donald John Trump was born on June 14, 1946 in Queens, a borough of New York City. He earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from the Wharton School and took charge of his family’s real- estate business in 1971. The Trump Organization, a group of 500 business entities belonging to Trump, builds skyscrapers, hotels and casinos throughout America. Trump produced and hosted The Apprentice, a reality television series from 2003 to 2015 which assesses the business skills of a group of contestants. His networth is said to be $2.1 billion. Trump entered the 2016 US presidential election as a Republican and was opposed tothe Democratic nominee, former secretary of state Hillary Clinton. He based his political campaign on right- wing populism, protectionism, and nationalism. His campaign focused on opposing illegal immigration and free-trade agreements. Trump used a very populist slogan, “Make America Great Again” that attracted the US media and was appealing to millions who voted for him. He won the 2016 presidential election thanks to the Electoral College and became the 45th president of the United States, while still losing the popular vote (65.8 million Americans voted for Clinton, whereas 62.9 million Americans voted forTrump). On the 3rd of November 2020, Trump lost the presidential election to the Democratic Party candidate former vice president Joe Biden, but he refused to concede defeat. Biden won the election receiving 81.3 million votes to Trump’s 74.2 million and winning the Electoral College by 306 to 232. 2. Timeline of the Trump’s presidency  20 January 2017: Inauguration of Trump as the 45th president of the United States.  26  27 January 2017: Trump signs an executive order (also called the travel ban) stopping all refugee arrivals for 120 days and banning travel to the USA from 7 Muslim countriesfor 90 days.  6 December 2017: Trump recognizes Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and announces plans to relocate the US Embassy there.  22 December 2017: Trump signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act which hindered the functioning of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare); however, the president failed inhis efforts to repeal the act.  8 May 2018: Trump withdraws from the Iran nuclear deal.  15 February 2019: Trump decides to build a wall on the border with Mexico.  30 June 2019: Trump becomes the first sitting US president to enter North Korea.  25 July 2019: Trump speaks on the phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and asks him to investigate Joe Biden, the Democratic nominee for presidentin the 2020 election.  12 August 2019: A whistleblower files a complaint pertaining to Trump’s conduct on the Zelensky call.  24 September 2019: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announces the beginning of animpeachment inquiry related to the whistleblower complaint.  19 December 2019: Trump became the third president in American history to be impeached (The two past presidents who faced impeachment were Andrew Johnson in1868 and Bill Clinton in 1998).  3 January 2020: Trump announces that a US airstrike in Iraq has killed QasemSoleimani, the leader of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Quds Force.  5 February 2020: President Trump is acquitted in impeachment trial by the US Senate.  27 March 2020: The House passes the $2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief, andEconomic Security Act (CARES Act).  15 April 2020: President Trump announces America will stop funding the WorldHealth Organization.  2 October 2020: President Trump tweets that both he and First Lady Melania Trumphad tested positive for coronavirus and would immediately quarantine.  7 November 2020: Biden becomes president-elect; however, Trump refuses to concededefeat and continues to challenge the results.  6 January 2021: The U.S. Capitol building is evacuated during the Electoral College results certification process after seditionists and insurrectionists broke the security barrier and stormed the building. Both Houses of Congress recess the Electoral Collegedebate after the mob forced a  27 lockdown of the building.  8 January 2021: President Trump announces he would not be attending Joe Biden’sinauguration making him the first outgoing President not to attend his elected successor’s inauguration since the 1869 inauguration of Ulysses S. Grant.  11 January 2021: Democrats in the House of Representatives formally charge President Trump with one count of “incitement of insurrection” after Republicans in theHouse block invocation of the 25th Amendment making Trump the first President to face two Impeachment trials.  19 January 2021: President Trump delivers his farewell address from the White House. Trump talks about the accomplishments of his term as president and wishes good luckto the upcoming administration. 3. Highlights of the presidency of Trump From the very beginning of his presidency, Trump challenged the leadership of his predecessor by trying to get rid of every law, reform and act passed by the Obama administration. Globally speaking, when assessing the Trump presidency, I may label it as a “presidency of withdrawal.” Since he was in office, Trump withdrew and still tries towithdraw from several agreements and laws passed by President Obama and his team. Trump withdrew the Paris Agreement on climate change mitigation. America, one of the world’s largest polluters which failed to ratify the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, decided to leave the Paris Agreement that was supposed to regulate greenhouse-gas-emissions. The Donald Trump administration withdrew from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a trade agreement between trans-pacific countries which was negotiated by President Obama and did not come into effect because of Trump’s opposition in January 2017. Under Trump, America abruptly withdrew its US troops from northern Syria on December 19, 2018. Trump took this decision although his military and civilian advisors recommended it would be a mistake. (Obaid 219) As a consequence, Secretary of DefenseJim Mattis resigned from the Trump administration. Trump withdrew the USA from the Iran nuclear deal of 2015 and reinforced tensions with Iran after ordering the assassinationof General Qasem Soleimani. Similarly, the Trump administration withdrew from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty with Russia on August 2nd, 2019. When it comes to the Middle East, one can argue that the Trump administration wasonly able to create frictions and antagonism with the Arab world. The US president recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and decided to move the US embassy there. Moreover, the Trump administration decided to end all funding for the United Nationsrefugee agency that helps Palestinian refugees.  28 What is more, the US president signed Executive Order 13769, often referred to as the Muslim ban, which temporarily suspended the admission of immigrants coming from 7Muslim countries, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen. Thousands of people gathered at various airports in the United States and around the world to protest theunethical ban. The Muslim ban blocked nationwide before it took effect by a federal judgein Hawaii and another federal judge in Maryland. (LeMay 39) Additionally, Trump announced the USA would stop funding the World Health Organization (WHO) because, according to him, this UN agency was too lenient on China.This decision drew widespread criticism from international leaders and American politicians. Likewise, several pundits criticized Trump for the slow response of his administration to the Covid-19 pandemic. The New York Times reporter Donald McNeil Jr.asserted that the US “completely blew it for the first two months of our response.” He added “Yes, it is the president’s fault. […] It is not China’s fault.” Aaron Blake and JM Rieger, from the Washington Post, argued that Trump had underestimated the seriousness of coronavirus as he pointed out “he [Trump] would repeatedly say the situation was “under control,” downplay the threat and compare it to the flu. For about two months before that, though, people around him were offering cautions about the pandemic that thecoronavirus would become.” Even former President Obama strongly criticized the work ofthe Trump administration by describing Trump’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic as “chaotic.” Finally, Trump was accused of pressuring the president of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate his political rivals Joe Biden in exchange for nearly $400 million inmilitary and security aid to Ukraine. In December 2019, after an inquiry, the House of Representatives voted to impeach the president. On February 5, 2019, after a three-week trial, senators acquitted Trump of two impeachment charges, abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. On January 13, 2021, Trump faced a second impeachment again because he incited the US Capitol attack of January 6, 2021. But the president was acquitted of the charge on February 13, 2021. All in all, the presidency of Trump can be described as promoting trade protectionism5, immigration restriction, non-interventionism6 and an “American First” foreign policy. We all remember the inaugural speech of 20 January 2017 when Trump pledged to put America first during his presidency, saying: “From this day forward, it is going to be only ‘America first, America first’. Every decision on trade, on taxes, on immigration, on foreign affairs, will be made to benefit American workers and Americanfamilies.” Therefore, the US government withdrew from every international agency and treaty to save millions of dollars and focus on domestic issues. Peter Dombrowski and Simon Reich argue that Trump’s approach to foreign policy and security policies is “nonexistent, chaotic and thus incoherent.” (57) In fact, I think the president of America  29 shouldn’t reject globalism while promoting isolation and patriotism. The world of today is not a better place to live in and the USA, the most powerful nation ofthe world, has to play a major role in fighting terrorism, decreasing global warming, and eradicating world poverty. Conclusion In conclusion, I want to ask the following question: was America polarized because of Donald Trump and his ambivalent presidency? Never before had Americans dealt with aUS president so contradictory. We cannot neglect the fact he is an unconventional figure who opposes political correctness. He overused populism in his addresses and found it difficult to deal with the US media that he constantly accused of trying to undermine hispolicies and achievements. That is why he opted for dealing with Americans via twitter instead of confronting journalists and answering their questions. Similarly, critics noticed Trump’s persistent self-referential attitude that is associatedwith excessive self-importance. In 2000, he told the magazine Fortune: “I’m intelligent. Some people would say I’m very, very, very intelligent.” Trump fired a number of government officials and advisors that disagreed with him and who affected his publicimage. As a consequence, there was a lack of stability in the White House and this weakened the leadership of Trump. It is true that the members of the US Congress failed to impeach the president twice,but the trials that were followed by millions of Americans had a negative impact on the image of the president. The ultimate outcome of all these inadequacies was the removal ofthe president from the White House. Americans had definitely turned the page of the Trump years by electing Joe Biden as the 46th president of the United States.