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The Election of 1988 • George H. W. Bush ran in the 1988'S presidential election as a representative of the Republican Party. He ran against Michael Dukakis, a representative of the Democratic Party.

• Once Election Day came, Bush received 53 percent of the popular vote to Dukakis’s 46 percent. Bush took 426 electoral votes, to Dukakis’s 111.

The New President • Bush became the first president if over 200 years to become The President of the United States, after being the Vice President. Before being president, Bush was a member of Congress, and the director of the Central Intelligence Agency. • Bush wanted to focus on a gentler nation, instead of focusing on material wealth. He maintained balance with the policies of the Reagan years and he worked more closely with the Democratic-controlled Congress.

Drugs, Education, and the Environment • Bush spoke out strongly against illegal drugs and appointed William Bennett as “Drug Czar”. Bennett over saw the nation’s war on drugs. In 1990 Bennett resigned and Bob Martinez replaced him. • Bush promised to create a new chart in regard to the environment and education. The states and local schools had to raise money to put these standards into effect. • Bush also appointed William Reilly to oversee the Environmental Protection Agency. • 1990, he signed a bill to limit air pollution. • Bush closed 17 military plants that had manufactured nuclear plants. There is still no solution today for the growing amount of waste.

The Savings and Loan Crisis • Failures within banks, put pressure on the nation’s finances. The Savings and Loans financed mortgages/loans for Americans buying homes. • The crisis happened because interest rates accelerated in the late 1970’s and banks had to deal with long-term mortgages. This caused S&L’s to go out of business because they weren’t attracting enough depositors. • Bush administration created a federal agency that took over all of the failed banks. They sold them or sold off their assets. The estimated cost for bailing out the S&L’s was more than 600 billion dollars over 10 years. • The Reagan administration and the Congress were blamed for the crisis.

Reducing the Deficit • The Congress and the President had to raise money because of the S&L crisis. • In 1990, Congress and the President couldn’t come to a consensus that lowered the deficit. If a budget weren’t passed by October 1st, then the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act would be put into effect. • Bush considered new taxes, which would help the economy. This was known as “Capital Gains”. • The President and the Congress came to an agreement in cutting the deficit by 500 billion dollars in five years.

The Election of 1990 • After the new budget cuts, Americans saw a President that couldn’t direct a solution to the budget crisis and a Congress that wouldn’t make the necessary choices on raising or cutting taxes. • On Election Day, the voters seemed angry and in 14 states, the voters elected governors that were from a different party. These men had already been in office before. After the election, the majority of Congress was reelected.

Flags and the Supreme Court • The Supreme Court ruled that burning the American flag was a form of protest and of speech. Burning the American flag was protected by the First Amendment. President Bush didn’t agree with this, he called for a new amendment that would outlaw defacing the flag. • People argued that burning the flag was wrong and that it was an insult to the nation. Others believed that protecting basic freedoms was more important than symbols. Today burning the American flag is legal. • In 1990, William Brennan retired and Bush nominated David Souter as the leader of the Court’s liberal wing and in October, 1990 Brennan took a set on the Supreme Court.

Section 4: A World in Transition

The End of the Cold War?

• 1989-1990, communist governments collapsed in the Eastern bloc. Dissenters came into power even though they were once treated as enemies as the states. • In 1989, solidarity candidates were allowed to run for the Polish parliament, because of the communist government. • All of these candidates won and a solidarity leader replaced the communist leader. In 1990, Walesa became president of Poland.

A wall comes down • The Berlin Wall was built to separate West Berlin and East Germany. In 1989, the Berlin wall was opened after much protest. Days later, many East Berliners charged through the opened gate to see West Berlin. • At last after 45 years Germany became one nation after the cold war.

Moving toward democracy • Communism in Eastern Europe began to fall. In 1989, communism fell in Czechoslovakia. Vaclav Havel became the Czechoslovakian president. • Rumania: Nicolae Ceausescu had any protesters shot, but Ceausescu fled away because of prodemocracy demonstrations. He was captured along with his wife. They were both executed. • In Russia, the Soviet President, Gorbachev was for the movement for democratic reform. • 1990: Lithuania and Estonia demanded independence, this threatened Gorbachev’s power. • The Soviet Union allowed private ownership of land and business. The American response • In 1989,Lech Walesa visited the United States and in 1990, Vaclav Havel also visited the United States. Both were welcomed in the United States. President Bush was in celebration, but he remained cautious. • Bush believed that it was necessary to maintain national defense.

New Direction in Latin America • In Latin America, Bush didn’t press for military aid for the Contras. Instead of providing the Contras with military aid, Bush provided them with food, clothing, and medical supplies. • Feb. 1990: In Nicaragua, Violate Chamorro won the election and Ortega abided the results of the election. Although, Ortega’s brother retained his control over the military. By the end of 1990, Chamorro’s power was slipping. • Relations between the United States and Nicaragua were uncertain. Invasion of Panama • In the past Manuel Noriega, helped funnel American support to the contras in Nicaragua. During this period, Noriega was smuggling drugs. Panama was the center for the major drug dealers. • On Dec. 20th 1989, President Bush sent American troops into Panama because Noriega didn’t denied anything drug related and he declared a state of emergency and corrupted elections. • Noriega went into hiding, but he surrendered and was taken to the U.S. for trial. The United States set a new government in Panama. Unrest in China • Spring, 1989: Students in China campaigned for refunds. More than 100 thousand people gathered at Tiananmen Square in Beijing China. • June: Many protestors were killed or arrested. Bush refused to take action against the Chinese; he wanted to better Chinese behavior by keeping the diplomatic channels open.

A Policy Toward South Africa • Early 1980’s: South Africa’s government continued with apartheid, this is the separation of races. • The Congress called for economic sanctions. Economic sanctions-limits trade and investment. The Congress used economic sanctions to stop apartheid. • Divestiture-American universities and some state governments sold their stocks in companies that operated in South Africa. • 1989, election of South Africa’s President, F. W. de Klerk. He proposed reforms to ease racial tensions.

War in Clouds in the Middle East Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein

• August 2nd 1990, Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait. Kuwait was one of the richest oil-producing nations in the Middle East. A Complex threat • If Saddam got oil from Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, then he would have controlled more than 80 percent of the oil in that region.

The world responds • Bush sent American troops to Saudi Arabia. The United Nations and the Soviet Union boycotted trade with Iraq.

• Many nations joined the blockading merchant vessels. Saddam held American hostages in Kuwait and Iraq.

Fugitives in a Desert Drama • Tanks from Iraq went through the streets of Kuwait and destroyed stores, businesses and hospitals. Saddam let some foreigners leave Kuwait. • Some Kuwaitis helped Americans flee from Kuwait. The Kuwaitis that were caught were taken in front of their homes and shot. • Other Americans that couldn’t escape hid in hideouts. • A person from Florida lived in an 8 feet long, 3 feet wide and 3 feet high crawl for 23 days. • Bill Mills, and fellow friends made an underground garage in case American troops launched an air strike. Mills and his wife spent about four months in hiding when he, his wife and a couple friends tried to reach the American embassy in Baghdad. On the way to the American embassy, Mills and the others had to stop at six different Iraqi checkpoints. War in the Persian Gulf • Nov. 1990, Bush had the United Nation’s Security Council declare a deadline of Iraq’s removal of Kuwait. President Bush sent 200,000 troops in the Middle East. • Dec. Saddam rejected a negotiation and let some of the hostages free. • Members of Congress, including France and the Soviet Union argued that the U.S. should boycott against Iraq.

• On January 16th, the United States, Saudi Arabia and Britain launched an air attack on Iraq. Iraq was defeated in six weeks.