An American History

1150 ★ CHAPTER 28 A New Century and New Crises

and Hispanics. Nonetheless, as fre-

quently happens in midterm elections,

the party that did not hold the White

House, in this case the Republicans,

made significant gains, strengthening

its hold on the House in 2014 and tak-

ing control of the Senate.

The 2012 election reflected the new

diversity in other ways as well. Hawaii

elected Tulsi Gabbard, the first Hindu

to serve in Congress, and the first Bud-

dhist, Mazie K. Hirono, to the Senate.

And for the first time, popular referen-

dums in Maine and Maryland registered

approval of gay marriage, bringing to

nine the number of states where such

marriages were now lawful.

But perhaps the most striking feature of the 2012 election was the unprec-

edented amount of money spent on the campaign. In 2010, in Citizens United v.

Federal Elections Commission, the conservative majority on the Supreme Court had

overturned federal restrictions on political contributions by corporations. At the

same time, “political action committees” were allowed to spend as much money as

they wished supporting or denigrating candidates for office so long as they did not

coordinate their activities with the candidates’ campaigns. Meanwhile, the Rom-

ney and Obama campaigns themselves raised and spent hundreds of millions of

dollars from individual donors. All this resulted in an election that cost, for presi-

dential and congressional races combined, some $6 billion.

FREEDOM IN THE TWENTY- FIRST CENTURY

The century that ended in 2000 witnessed vast human progress and unimag-

inable human tragedy. It saw the decolonization of Asia and Africa, the emer-

gence of women into full citizenship in most parts of the world, and amazing

advances in science, medicine, and technology. Thanks to the spread of new

products, available at ever- cheaper prices, it brought more improvement in

the daily conditions of life to more human beings than any other century in

history. Worldwide life expectancy in the twentieth century rose from forty to

sixty- seven years, and the literacy rate increased from 25 percent to 80 percent.

This was the first century in which the primary economic activity for most of

mankind moved beyond the acquisition of basic food, clothing, and shelter. But

12

7

55

6

4

3

3

(^69)
11 5
38
3
3
5
6
7
10
6
10
6
8
10
201118
8 5
11
6 9 16
9
R 1515
29
13
20
29
34 4
411
147
3
310
16
3
4
Democrat
Republican
Party
Obama
Romney
Candidate Electoral V(Share)ote
332 (61.7%)
206 (38.3%)
Popular V(Share)ote
65,899,660 (51%)
60,932,152 (47%)
THE PRESIDENTIAL
ELECTION OF 2012