On September 11, 2001, al-Qaeda terrorist hijackers flew passenger planes into the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon near Washington, D.C., killing nearly 3,000 people.[162] Hundreds more died later from illnesses related to the attacks, and perhaps thousands of first responders, cleanup workers, and survivors suffer from long-term effects.[163] In response, President George W. Bush launched the War on Terror, which included a nearly 20-year war in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2021 and the 2003–2011 Iraq War.[164][165] A 2011 military operation in Pakistan led to the killing of Osama bin Laden.[166]
Government policy designed to promote affordable housing,[167] widespread failures in corporate and regulatory governance,[168] and historically low interest rates set by the Federal Reserve[169] led to the United States housing bubble in 2006, which culminated with the financial crisis of 2007–2008 and the Great Recession, the nation's largest economic contraction since the Great Depression.[170] During the crisis, assets owned by Americans lost about a quarter of their value.[171] Barack Obama, the first multiracial[172] president, with African-American ancestry was elected in 2008 amid the crisis,[173] and subsequently passed American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 economic stimulus and the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act in an attempt to mitigate its negative effects and ensure there would not be a repeat of the crisis.