NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ SỰ HỒI SINH CỦA GIẤC MƠ MỸ DƯỚI NHIỆM KÌ CỦA TỔNG THỐNG BARACK OBAMA
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I hereby state that I: Do Thi Diep, QH2010.F1.E21, being a candidate for the
degree of Bachelor of Arts (TEFL) accept the requirements of the College relating
to the retention and use of Bachelor’s Graduation Paper deposited in the library.
In terms of these conditions, I agree that the origin of my paper deposited in the
library should be accessible for the purposes of study and research, in accordance
with the normal conditions established by the librarian for the care, loan or
reproduction of the paper.
Hanoi, 2014
Do Thi Diep
V
Firstly, my sincerest gratitude goes to my supervisor, Ms. Pham Phuong Hoa for
her wholehearted encouragement and support during the time of doing my thesis. The
graduation paper cannot be completed without her.
Secondly, gratefulness and love are sent to my family. From the bottom of my
heart, I owe them for all the things they have done for me.
Thirdly, I would like to express my thanks to my classmates, class
QH2010.F1.E21, for their advice and encouragement when I was really under pressure.
Lastly, I send my thanks to my teachers for their dedication and support in the
last four years.
The American Dream is considered one of the highest ideal of American people. It is
the Dream of equal opportunity for everyone in United States to attain better life.
Originally, it was the dream of people coming to United States for religious freedom.
Overtime, the coverage of American Dream has widened and changed as social context
changed. Under the presidency of President George W. Bush, through his policies,
President Bush degraded the American Dream. After him, President Barack Obama
took the office and has fixed President Bush’s mistake to revitalize the American
Dream. The research investigated three areas: healthcare, education and economy under
the office terms of the two presidents and noted that the American Dream on healthcare,
education and economy has been revitalized by President Barack Obama via his policies
implemented to fix President Bush’s flaws.
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AMOs: Achievable Annual Measurable Objectives
ARRA: Recovery and Reinvestment Act
AYP: Adequate Yearly Progress
CCLC: Century Community Learning Center
CEP: Center on Education Policy
CHIPRA: Children's Health Insurance Reauthorization Act
CFPB: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
CMS: Medicare & Medicaid Services
ELE: Express Lane Eligibility
FNM: Fannie Mae
FRE: Freddie Mac
FIO: Federal Insurance Office
FSOC: Financial Stability Oversight Council
GSEs: Government Sponsored Enterprises
NAEP: The National Assessment of Educational Progress
NCES: National Center for Education Statistics
NCLB(A): No Child Left Behind (Act)
QE3: Quantitative Easing 3
(S)CHIP: (State) Children's Health Insurance Program
SEC: Securities and Exchange Commission
WHO: World Health Organization
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Since America was born, the country has been seen as the land of freedom, of
opportunity for everyone with effort. This ideas also was emphasized in the Declaration
of Independence written by Thomas Jefferson (1776) “We hold these truths to be self-
evident, that all men 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.”. At that time, in the world, people in many countries did not access equal
rights and conditions to realize their wish, hope and dream. They started to run away to
find the new land where their desire of freedom especially religious freedom could be
fulfilled and the departure of their run-away was absolutely the United State of America
where desire of freedom, of prosperity and opportunity could come to real life.
Overtime, the American Dream has changed. Initially, it was the dream of religious
freedom. However, society changed entailed the desire of people changed. The dream
was not limited only in the area of religion anymore; the American Dream gradually
touched every single aspect of society such as job, education, healthcare, wealth, etc. It
was not only the dream of immigrant in America as in the initial time but becoming the
dream of every person in the United States. This may be considered the positive
changes of American Dream. However, beside the positive changes, American Dream
has also suffered negative changes. Some view that “The American Dream Is Dead”
(Whitworth, 2011). It is more exact to say that the original and pure American Dream
when coming into reality has been distorted. In reality, the dream hasn’t been fulfilled
yet because of discrimination, poverty and degraded economy. In addition, critics saw
the dream as “overly materialistic while spiritual empty” (Kiger, n.d.). The material
improvements are achieved much easier and quickly than the spiritual improvement,
which makes material dominate in American Dream. Overtime, people start to question
whether American Dream is alive or even exist. However, in 2008, Barack Obama
*
became the first black president of the United States, which instilled the hope that
American Dream could be revitalized and the president has been trying his best to save
the dream that was ruined.
As a student of ULIS who is interested in American Studies, especially American
Dream, the writer notices that there have been some studies about the degradation of the
dream but nothing about the revitalization of it in contemporary time. Therefore, she
wants to dig deeply into this topic to see how the first black American president despite
being bequeathed an economy deepened in “the biggest financial and economic
meltdown since the Great Depression” (Wood, 2009) and numerous inadequacies in
education, healthcare, etc from President Bush who “earns a place in the bottom five”
(Kim, 2010) in American president rankings tried his utmost to revitalize the American
Dream and to prove that the American Dream is still alive. Above all, his success
helped the American people regain their once-lost-faith in their highest ideal.
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The study aims to bring the comprehensive and clear look about the original
American Dream, then the degradation of American Dream in term of healthcare,
education and economy during President George W. Bush’s presidencies and finally
expresses the vitalization of the dream under the office terms of the president Barack
Obama by presenting his policies on healthcare, education and economy. More
specifically, the study aims to find the answers to three questions:
1. What are the policies on healthcare, education and economy implemented by President
George W. Bush that degraded the American Dream?
2. What are the policies on healthcare, education and economy implemented by President
Barack Obama that helped to revitalize the American Dream?
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The researcher aims to study the revitalization of American Dream in term of
healthcare, education and economy performed by President Barack Obama. However,
;
before that, the researcher will look back to the office terms of President George W.
Bush to show corruption of the dream on these three areas in order to highlight the
integrity of President Obama’s actions.
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Firstly, the study helps the researcher reinforce knowledge about American
Studies in particular and about America the biggest English-speaking nation in the
world through the American Dream which is considered one of identity of the nation in
general. The researcher will gain a comprehensive view about the dream from origin to
current context, how it has changed and how it is different in reality from the theory.
The researcher focuses on some policies of Barack Obama and George W. Bush so the
study will help to accumulate the knowledge about American government under their
terms.
In the second place, the study hopes to set a background or a base for further
studies about American Dream in the future. The next studies going around this topic
may base on the findings of this study to continue developing and finding out new
findings.
Finally yet importantly, studying this topic, the researcher hopes to bring a close and
deep look into the American Dream to the people who are interested in the matter.
Simultaneously, the researcher wants to challenge the pessimists’ opinion about a non-
existent or dead American Dream.
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The thesis is framed in five following chapters:
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This chapter includes the rationale, the research questions, the scope, the
significances, and the design of the study.
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This chapter presents some key concepts used in the study, background and
literature materials related to the American Dream.
5
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This chapter presents research method, data collection instrument and the
procedures of data analysis.
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This chapter provides major findings of the study.
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The chapter includes the summary of major findings, the limitations of the study and
suggestions for further research.
!V
To clean up the mess in education, healthcare and economy left by fore-comer
George W. Bush and revitalize American Dream in these sectors, President Barack
.
Obama has executed several laws, acts namely Children's Health Insurance Program
(CHIP) on healthcare, Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act on
economy. In education, President Barack Obama has been fixing the No Child Left
Behind Act (NCLB) which was implemented by George W. Bush in 2001. The policies
made by President Obama bring significant positive changes to healthcare, education
and economy of the United of States. In this chapter, the researcher provides some key
terms that are relevant to healthcare, education and economy used to support research
analysis. In addition, some previous studies about American Dream will be presented.
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In 17
th
century, envisioning American as a land of freedom and opportunity,
some Europeans sailed to westward and put their very first steps on Massachusetts to
find the freedom of religion. Gradually, the land of freedom attracted many colonists
and slaves to come to fulfill their desire. The ideas of freedom, equality for everyone
themselves became a foundation for the birth of a nation. In 1776, The United States of
America was officially born, in the Declaration of Independence written by Thomas
Jefferson (1776) once again emphasized “all men 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”. This became the motto of America and turned
the country be a departure of anyone who desired to fulfill their dream of material
prosperity and spiritual freedom. Immigrants from every corner of the world arrived
America to settle new life and to make dream come true, they called it American
Dream. However, it was not until 1931, when James Truslow Adam, a historian wrote a
book named “The Epic of American”, the term “American Dream” came to life. The
ideology which constituted American Dream rooted from 17
th
century as mentioning
above, but the official name and definition of its just originated since 1931. In his very
first definition of American Dream James Truslow Adam (Adam, 1931) defined dream
D
of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with
opportunity for each according to ability or achievement.
After Adam’s, American Dream was redefined many times with other words but
still same implication. These definitions are all listed in some prestigious dictionaries.
Oxford dictionary defined “The values and social standards that people traditionally try
to achieve in the US, such as democracy, equal rights and wealth” (Hornby, 2005). In
Cambridge dictionary: “The belief that everyone in the US has the chance to
be successful, rich, and happy if they work hard” (Walter, 2009). In Merriam-Webster
dictionary: “An American social ideal that stresses egalitarianism and especially
material prosperity; also: the prosperity or life that is the realization of this ideal”
(Merriam-Webster, n.d.)
The above definitions may be different in words but the meanings are the same.
The common factors of an original American Dream are equality, opportunity for
everyone to achieve their goals to attain life better. These goals include both material
and spiritual.
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Overtime, the view of people about American Dream changed as American
society changed.
Before the Great Depression, for many people in America, American Dream was
house ownership, stable job, happy family with spouse and children. However, when it
came to Great Depression, many people in the world in general and in America in
particular were hit. Due to financial crisis, many factories, companies, institutions went
bankrupt, which stripped jobs of many people. Therefore, during this time, American
Dream was viewed as people had job to do and earn money to cover bills. Stock market
crashed leading to housing crisis. At that time, thousand of American were pushed out
of their house and became homeless “The Depression had destroyed the fortunes of
legions of self-made millionaires and cost Americans of humbler means their homes and
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jobs, forcing them to live in hobo camps and beg for spare change on street corners”
(Kiger, 2011) so together with the dream of stable job, American Dream also included
house ownership; people themselves owned their house and were their boss in their
land. Also, American lost their hope in the future “what was once the land of hope and
optimism had become the land of despair” (Sutton, 1999) so American Dream in this
time included hope.
In 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt in his speech in front of Congress
expressed his vision of the new American Dream, in which the government would be
the assistant helping people to achieve their dream. Specifically, this American Dream
included full employment for everyone who had the desire of job. In addition, for the
elderly and homeless, the government would give them a hand. The president also
articulated that “enjoyment of the fruits of scientific progress in a wider and constantly
rising standard of living" (Roosevelt, 1941). Soon later after his vision, when the World
War II (1939-1945) ended, America was prosperous than ever because of spending of
the war. America economy sprung up that made many American from every walk of life
become affluent, they had job with stable earning and many of them could afford to
move to more spacious house. The fruit of science and technology pleased people’s life
much. Therefore, the way to activate American Dream also changed. Instead of working
hard to achieve success like before, at that period time of mushrooming technology,
people dreamed to be able to access and expert on technologies.
In the 21
st
century, when “health care, college and housing — have gone up
faster than income” (Amadeo, 2013) American Dream has become the dream of
accessing fully health care and going to college in particular, accessing high quality
education in general. Therefore, for many people, especially the young, American
Dream is to have college degree and get good job with high enough income to buying
house and cover their bills. For the adult, “nearly half of adults define the dream as a
comfortable retirement” (Kadlec, 2013)
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In general, the definition of American Dream has different focuses overtime. The
Dream is characterized by the features of society, economy and politics, but still sticks
to the principle of a better life for everyone.
As mentioned above, in the 21
st
century, Americn Dream is ensured when
“children are well cared for and well educated, and every American adult – irrespective
of gender or color – has the opportunity to compete for and enjoy the riches of this
society” (Jill, 2004). However, under his presidency, George W. Bush vetoed Children's
Health Insurance Program (CHIP) on healthcare that supported children especially in
low-income families twice. In education, President Bush implemented No Child Left
Behind Act (NCLB) aiming to enhancing American education standard. However,
“nearly all people in the education world believe to be fatally flawed” (Valerie Strauss,
2013). In term of economy, George W. Bush didn’t do well, which resulted in a
stagnant economy with weak banking system. The policies implemented by George W.
Bush seemed to be contrary to principle of American Dream. In another word Bush
degraded American Dream. After George W. Bush, President Barack Obama has
executed some policies on healthcare, education and economy to revitalize American
Dream.
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For Bush, what makes people associate to him most have been wars in
Afghanistan and Iraq and his generous investment in them. During his office terms, he
repeatedly urged Congress to fund for wars in Afghanistan and Iraq with the total sum
of $ 196 billion. In contrast, he vetoed domestic spending bills for the reason of tight
budget. Some bills vetoed by President George W. Bush were supporting people with
low income significantly on healthcare, education. In term of economy, President Bush
has been famous for adding 4,900 billion dollars to the debt of the nation. Under Bush’s
administration, banking system of American was hurt massively by financial crisis in
H
2008. The collapse of leading financial institution, Lehman Brothers at that time
shocked the whole world market and pushed financial market, one of the strengths in
economy of America, to the verge of collapse. Considering what George W. Bush has
done and reflected in the mirror of American Dream, it sounds that American Dream
was broken. The chance for everyone to achieve their goals in life, to get rich materially
and spiritually and finally to better their life were stripped of when the funding for
healthcare program supporting uninsured children was vetoed, when war spending got
priority over education spending, when education act was launched to enhance
education outcome turned out to become “test and punish” act and when economy was
not stable. President George W. Bush left his presidency in 2009 left behind his
policies and also his mess for President Barack Obama. The nomination of President
Obama has become turning point in American history and made a big bang in the world.
President Barack Obama is the first black President of America, which is a strong
evidence for the existence of American Dream with no discrimination between the black
and the white. During his presidency, President Obama always struggles to fight for
rights and benefits of American in general and for middle class, low-income citizens
and legal immigrant in particular. He has signed bills that support these people for the
aim of bringing equal chance for everyone to get better life in America. Also, he is
fixing what George Bush had done to corrupt American Dream. The policy that was
vetoed by George Bush but then signed and expanded by President Barack Obama in
2009 was Children’s Health Insurance Program. In term of education, Obama is fixing
the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLBA) launched by Bush in 2001 by giving waiver for
32 states from the requirement of the NCLBA. For economy, president Obama has
found that the cause of economic crisis in 2008 was financial system that was out of
control of government. Therefore, he implemented the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform
and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank) to rebuild the system that nearly collapsed.
The Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) on healthcare, Dodd-Frank
Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act on economy, the waivers from No
4
Child Left Behind (NCLB) requirement for more than thirty states in United States are
prominent policies executed by President Barack Obama that can obviously illustrate
the revitalization of American Dream from degradation in George. W Bush’s
presidency.
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This program was created in 1997 under the Clinton administration with the purpose of
covering uninsured children in low-income family but not eligible for Medicaid. In
some states, CHIP is also awarded to parents, pregnant women and poor adults. This
Act has significantly stripped off costly healthcare burden of poor children and adults
Although this program has been a lifebuoy for healthcare needs of children in low-
income families, during his office terms, President George W. Bush vetoed funding for
this program twice for the reason of budget deficit. However, in 2009, President Barack
Obama reauthorized the act that has known as Children's Health Insurance
Reauthorization Act 2009 (CHIPRA). The Act was expanded to “4 million children and
pregnant women, including legal immigrants” (Medicaid, 2009). The reauthorization of
President Barack Obama has helped uninsured children who are in low-income families
access full healthcare services with significant reduction in cost.
The CHIPRA is another evidence of the revitalization of American Dream which was
twice vetoed by George Bush. Obama reauthorized the act to obey the principle of
American Dream that is equal right for everyone to attain better healthcare.
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This is an Act about education born by President George W. Bush in 2001 in
order to entirely improve education outcome of schools in America. This Act sets a goal
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that all students will reach standard scores of reading and doing math and to define the
scores, students have to take NCLBH test. Students sit for the test annually, this
progress is called “Adequate Yearly Progress” (AYP). If any school does not reach the
standard score of the year, it will receive some punishments namely being listed in
“school improvement” list.
After nearly decade of implementation, the Act has been considered a fraud for
many reasons. Critics believe that the Act is not an improvement but just “test and
punish” that scares many school especially schools in poor areas. The Act will widen
the gap in education between classes in American society. Therefore, in administration
of President Obama, he decided to give waivers from requirement of NCLB for more
states. The waivers have stripped pressure off many schools, but to get waivers schools
have to commit to raise standards, improve studying and teaching quality.
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It was unfortunately for Barack Obama to become President of America amid
financial crisis in 2008. At that time, with the death of the most giant financial
institution of America, Lehman Brother, baking system of American was on the verge
of collapse. Numerous obstacles were posed challenging Obama to overcome. The
President has launched some laws as tools to clean up the mess and rebuild US
economy.
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The Act normally is called with the name of Dodd-Frank (“Dodd” in “ Chris Dodd”
the former chairman of Senate Banking Committee, “Frank” in “Barney Frank”
Financial Services Committee chairman. They together revised the bill so members of
Congress voted to name the Act after their names. Dodd-Frank includes 16 provisions
which reform financial and banking system of America which are essentially located in
Wall Street. According to the Act, the financial stability, liquidity authority and
transparency in banking system will be consolidated. The Act also gives consumers of
financial services protections from risk of loss and bankruptcy. The Act gradually
rescued banking system of USA and regained the belief of financial consumers.
**
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As mentioning above, American Dream originated from ethos of the nation: Liberty,
Opportunity and Equality for everyone. Therefore, it is a very holly dream embracing
core American values. There have been many published books and works taking
American Dream as topic. In 1931 the historian James Truslow Adams wrote the non-
fiction work named The Epic of America, from this book, the term “American Dream”
was popularized. American Dream described in this books as “being able to grow to
fullest development as men and women, unhampered by the barriers which had slowly
been erected for the benefit of classes rather than for the simple human being of any
every class” (Adams, 1932). The Dream targeted to gender equality and no
discrimination in class order, equal opportunities for everyone to achieve their goals in
life. For Adams, he considered economic success the first among other values because
the publishing time of the book was in the early stages of the Great Depression “Wall
Street had melted down, personal saving and investment had been vaporized, business
were going bust” (Adams, 1932). Also for this reason, the book of Adams could not
have been better at depicting American Dream. The viewpoint about American Dream
of Adams has become leading concepts of American Dream which are still applied
nowadays.
Two outstanding studies on American community named Middletown in Transition
conducted by Robert and Helen Lynd published in 1937 and Yankee City of W. Lloyd
Warner in 1929. Both of these studies mentioned American Dream. While the first
study was in Middletown where the Lynds found that most successful businessmen in
the town were “from comparative poverty to great wealth” ( the Lynds, 1937). The
studies was conducted five years after the publish of “The epic of America” so the
Lynds referred point of view of Adams and concluded that successful men in
Middletown achieved their American Dream. For the study of the Lynds, American
Dream quickly spread and became familiar to American. The second study of Warner
focused on men’s status in society rather than economic aspect. According to Warner
“A man by applying himself, by using the talents he has, by acquiring the necessary
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