The first decade of the 21st century was filled with major news events that include tragic acts of terrorism, natural and humanitarian international disasters, and celebrity deaths. Some of the events that rocked the world in the 2000s continue to reverberate years later. They influence government policy, disaster response, military strategy, and more.

Political Dysfunction

The 2000s were a period of remarkable political dysfunction in the US. The contested election of 2000 left many voters with a sour taste in their mouths, more so than any election in the previous century. Political partisanship deepened to an almost pathological degree. Suddenly we were a 50-50 nation, and angry people were taking to the streets, in the form of the Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street. The political crisis came to a head in the debt-ceiling crisis of 2011, when Congress almost forced the US into a technical default.

At the same time, the US was facing down a new, invigorated set of international rivals — the Chinese economic juggernaut, a resurgent Russia and a metastasizing cancer of international Islamist terrorism.

Terrorism Hits Home

If you were of the age to make memories, you remember where you were when news broke that a plane had flown into the World Trade Center in New York City. The morning of September 11, 2001, would end with two hijacked airliners flown into each of the WTC towers, another plane flown into the Pentagon, and a fourth plane crashing into the ground in Pennsylvania after passengers stormed the cockpit. Nearly 3,000 people died in the country's worst terrorist attack, which made al-Qaida and Osama bin Laden household names. While most were horrified by the carnage, news footage from around the globe captured some people cheering in response to 9/11.

The War on Terror

The global war on terror was sparked by the 9/11 al-Qaida attacks on US soil, though Osama bin Laden's group had previously struck US targets. American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania and the USS Cole off Yemen were among them.

In response to the tragedy of September 11, the US military, with participation from its ally the United Kingdom, began the first attack in the War on Terrorism on the Taliban and Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan.

By 2003, the US was involved in a second Iraq war. Saddam Hussein, Iraq's brutal dictator since 1979, was successfully ousted from power; his two sons, Uday and Qusay, were killed fighting with coalition troops; and Hussein was found hiding in a hole on Dec. 14, 2003. Tried for crimes against humanity, Hussein was hanged on Dec. 30, 2006. On June 29, 2009, US forces withdrew from Baghdad, but throughout the decade, the US has maintained a military presence in both Iraq and Afganistan.

The increased and consistent US military presence in a number of countries was coupled with changes on the domestic front as well. Most significant was the passage of the Patriot Act. Designed to prevent acts of domestic terrorism by expanding the government's powers and diminishing the importance of the idea of "probable cause," the Act soon became a symbol of the massive expansion of government surveillance after 9/11.

Some of the provisions of the Act have since been struck down by the courts; others have become part of the mission of the Department of Homeland Security, which didn't exist when the law was passed. Some are non-controversial and obvious: the law created a slew of new federal crimes related to terrorism, created federal funds to assist victims of terrorism, and gave the federal government a range of new powers to track and seize money being used by organizations connected to terrorism.

According to a 2015 Washington Post article, the Justice Department admitted, “FBI agents can’t point to any major terrorism cases they’ve cracked thanks to the key snooping powers in the Patriot Act.”

Hurricane Katrina and Its Aftermath

The people of the Gulf Coast braced themselves as the sixth strongest hurricane in Atlantic history hurtled their way. Katrina roared onshore as a Category 3 storm on Aug. 29, 2005, spreading destruction from Texas to Florida. But it was the subsequent failure of the levees in New Orleans that made the hurricane a humanitarian disaster.

Eighty percent of the city remained in stagnant floodwaters for weeks. Adding to the crisis was the weak government response from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, with the Coast Guard leading rescue efforts. Katrina claimed 1,836 lives, and 705 people were categorized as missing.

Global Recession

In December 2007, the US experienced its worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. The recession showed that globalization means that countries aren't immune to the effects of foreclosures, rising unemployment rates, controversial bank bailouts, and a weak gross domestic product.

As various nations suffered the consequences of the downturns, world leaders grappled with how to counter the economic crisis in a unified manner. Then-British Prime Minister Gordon Brown unsuccessfully tried to push his "global new deal" in response, but most leaders agreed that better regulatory oversight was needed to prevent a similar crisis in the future.

Change, and Disappointment

On November 4, 2008, Barack Obama, Democratic Senator from Illinois, the land of Abraham Lincoln, won a landslide margin in the Electoral College — 365 to 173 — in the election for the 44th President of the USA, becoming the first African American president in the history of the US. His message of "Hope and Change" was consistently thwarted by a recalcitrant Congress.

The combination of increasingly strident and uncompromising political parties and the election of a black man to the highest office in the land, caused great divisiveness in the US, The Souther Poverty Law Center released a study in 2012 that the number of hate groups in the US had risen by 755% since Obama's election in late 2008.

Events

2000	A panicked stock market sell-off signals the end of the dot-com boom. The six-year investigation into the Clintons regarding Whitewater allegations ends with no indictments. The presidential election pitting Vice President Al Gore against Texas Governor George W. Bush is gridlocked over the outcome of the Florida vote. The recount is hindered by fraud allegations and legal wrangling. The Supreme Court votes 5 to 4 to halt the recounts, essentially declaring Bush the winner.
2001	Islamic terrorists under the direction of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden hijack four passenger airliners and crash them into the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington, DC. The final plane crashes in a rural area outside Shanksville, PA.The attack on the WTC destroys the buildings and inflicts major damage to the surrounding areas. Overall, 3,000 people are killed. The US suffers an anthrax scare after drug-laced letters sent to media and governmental figures. In response to the 9/11 attacks, the US and Britain invade Afghanistan to find bin Laden, destroy al-Qaeda terrorist camps, and overthrow the Taliban government.
2002	The Homeland Security Advisory System is introduced to warn US citizens of threats against the US. Halle Berry becomes the first African American female to win the “Best Actress” Oscar. Former president Jimmy Carter wins the Nobel Peace Prize. The “Beltway Sniper” terrorizes the Washington DC area. Two men are behind the attacks; they kill 16 people.
2003	The Space Shuttle Columbia explodes on reentry. All seven astronauts inside are killed. The US launches a missile attack on Iraq, targeting sites of “military importance.” Saddam Hussein appears on Iraqi television to denounce the attacks and rally his people. After the fall of Baghdad and Tikrit, the Pentagon declares an end to major fighting in Iraq and begins withdrawing troops, warships, and aircraft from the Gulf region. Federal and local authorities raid the Bay Area Laboratory Cooperative (BALCO) offices. The raid sets in motion the “Steroid Investigations” of professional athletes.
2004	The CIA admits that no imminent threat from weapons of mass destruction existed before the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The city of San Francisco begins issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Dove launches their “Celebrating Curves” campaign, featuring real women as models in print and television ads. Mark Zuckerberg launches Facebook from his Harvard dormitory room. A tsunami devastates 11 Asian nations, with over 300,000 people either dead or missing. U.S. media release graphic photos of American soldiers abusing and sexually humiliating Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison. These images spark outrage around the world.
2005	Martha Stewart is released from a West Virginia prison. The husband of Terri Schiavo, a woman in a persistent vegetative state for 15 years, decides to remove the feeding tube keeping her artificially alive. A Federal judge refuses to order that her breathing tube be reinserted. The US Supreme Court does not hear the case. Pfc. Lynndie England pleads guilty to seven criminal counts related to her role in torturing Iraqi prisoners of war held in Abu Ghraib. An audit reveals that the Pentagon disputed $1 billion in bills submitted by defense contractor Halliburton for work performed in Iraq. Michael Jackson is acquitted of 10 charges, including molesting a child, conspiracy, and providing alcohol to minors. Hurricane Katrina ravishes parts of Florida, Louisiana, and Mississippi. The storm surge causes the levees to break in New Orleans, resulting in widespread damage. 80% of the city is flooded. The Bush administration is criticized for its slow response and mismanagement of disaster relief efforts. Millions of people are left homeless or displaced, and thousands of stranded people are evacuated to the Astrodome in Houston.
2006	The Mumbai bombings kill 209 people and injure over 700. The leader of the Indian Mujahideen terrorist organization claims credit in 2009. The International Astronomical Union creates the first formal definition of a planet, and excludes Pluto from the list. Saddam Hussein is executed. Twitter is launched. Former Russian security agent Alexander Litvinenko dies from poisoning in the UK. Nintendo launches the Wii.
2007	WikiLeaks, a non-governmental, whistle-blowing organization; launches a web site that publishes many classified US government documents. The International Court of Justice rules that the slaughter of some 8,000 Bosnian Muslims by Bosnian Serbs in Srebrenica in 1995 was genocide. 17 Iraqi civilians are killed when employees of private security company Blackwater USA reportedly fire on a car that failed to stop at the request of a police officer. The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform finds that employees of Blackwater USA have been involved in some 200 shootings in Iraq. The Pulitzer Prize for Fiction is awarded to Cormac McCarthy for The Road.
2008	The Large Hadron Collider at CERN, described as the biggest scientific experiment in the history of mankind is powered up in Geneva, Switzerland. The US government begins to intervene in the US financial system to avoid a crisis. The Federal Reserve outlines a $200 billion loan program that lets the country's biggest banks borrow Treasury securities at discounted rates and post mortgage-backed securities as collateral. They are deemed “too big to fail.” Apple launches its App Store, for the iPhone and iPod Touch Pakistan-based terrorists stage coordinated attacks across India's largest city, Mumbai. They take over a number of Mumbai landmarks, including two luxury hotels. The three-day firefights end with 160 dead.
2009	US Airways pilot Chesley Sullenberger lands Flight 1549 on the Hudson River shortly after takeoff from LaGuardia Airport in NYC. All passengers and crew members survive in what becomes known as the "Miracle on the Hudson." The Swine Flu Pandemic hits the US as the first cases of H1N1 swine flu occur in two people in California. The computer game Minecraft is first released to the public while in development. The sopa opera The Guiding Light ends its 72-year run with its final episode.

Back to Post-WWII US Culture