home

= = == = = =Marietta Altenor= =__The election of 1988__= =__The new president__= =__Drugs education and the environment__= =__The savngs and loan crisis__= =__Reducing the deficit__= =__The election of 1990__= =__Flags & supreme court__= =__The end of the cold war__=
 * ====[|Republican- George H.W. Bush]====
 * Democrat- Michael Dukakis
 * Bush won with the popular vote of 53% and a 426 electoral votes
 * Jesse Jackson was the first African American to be nominated as a choice of Democratic party.
 * ====Bush had a wide range of experiences he was; as a pilot in world war II and won a medal for bravery he also had a successful oil business in Texas. he served as a member in congress as an ambassador and as a director of the central intelligence agency.====
 * Bush let people know that he was not gong to simply follow the old ideas of the Reagan era.
 * ====Bush tried to maintain a balance between continuing the policies of the Reagan years and working closely with the democratic controlled congress====
 * ====Bush wanted to control the spread of illegal to do that he appointed William Bennett to be a "drug czar" and oversee the nation's war on drugs====
 * Bush promised to chart a new course for the environment & education
 * 1989 Bush called a conference of national governors to set national goals for education
 * Bush appointed a strong defender of the environment; William Reilly
 * 1990 Reilly signed into a law making tougher standards to reduce air pollution
 * Nuclear waste was becoming a problem and an estimated $200 billion dollars would be needed to clean and repair the plants
 * ====Bush administration set up a federal agency to take over failed banks, sell them or sell off their assets====
 * Government estimated that cost of bailing out S&L's would run more than $600 billion dollars over 10 years.
 * By 1990's many S&L's weakened the nations banking system in general.
 * ====Saving and loan crisis added to the growing deficit in the federal budget.====
 * __Plan to reduce deficit:__ //congress and the president need to either cut spending or raise more money//
 * Bush promised not to raise the taxes he said "No new taxes"!
 * Congress and the president struggled to find a budget and were fighting to gt one before Oct.1st or the automatic budget cut called for in the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings act would go into effect
 * Bush insisted on a tax for investers who sold their stocks and bonds at a profit called the "capital gains" tax.
 * The "capital gains" tax would stimulate the economy but was argued that it would mainly benefit rich investors.
 * Finally the congress and the president finally reached a budget agreement that would cut the deficit nearly $500 billion over 5 years.
 * That plan increased taxes on cigarettes,alcohol,and gasoline.
 * ====The people began to realize that the congress was unwilling to make difficult decisions on raising taxes or cutting programs====
 * They also seen a president who was unable to direct a solution to the budget crisis.
 * During the campaign of 1990 congress felt the voters were very angry and in 14 states voters elected governors from a different party from those who had been in office.
 * ====Bush was angered by the 1989 decision of striking down a Texas law of burning the American flag.====
 * Justice ruled that the 1st amendment protected the person because it was a protest in the form of freedom of speech.
 * Bush wanted a new Amendment to outlaw defacing the American flag
 * Other issues including abortion,race, sex discrimination and the death penalty were causing arguments in th supreme court.
 * ====1989 & 1990 eastern bloc changed and communist governments collapsed====
 * 1989 communist allowed solidarity candidates to run for the polish parliament which led tot he new solidarity president Welesa .(In 1990)
 * November of 1989 the Berlin wall opened
 * November 9th 1989 hundreds of Berliners streamed through the gates
 * October 4th 1990 germany became one nation again

__Moving toward democracy__

 * ====Czechoslovakia had a new president //Vaclav Havel//====
 * In Rumania Dictator; //Nicolae Ceausescu// resisted change and had protesters shot, Havel and his wife fled and were captured and killed.

__Americian response__
=__New direction in Latin America__=
 * ====Americans were enthusiastic====
 * Money used in arms races was now going to expand social programs and reduce the deficit.
 * Bush's 1990 budget called for only a small reduction in defense spending
 * ====A bipartisan agreement was made with congress which let the U.S provide the contras with food, clothing, and medical supplies.====
 * ====Violeta Chamorro won the elections in Nicaragua in 1990====

__Invasion of Panama__
=__Unrest in china__= =__A policy toward South Africa__= =__War clouds in the middle east__=
 * ====Manuel Noriega the dictator of Panama was involved in drug smuggling====
 * Panama was a banking and shipping canter of major drug dealers
 * December 20th 1989 Bush sent military force in Panama
 * Soon Noriega surrendered and was taken to the U.S. to stand trail
 * U.S. installed new government in Panama and offered to rebuild the economy
 * ====Spring of 1989 Chines students began a campaign for democratic reforms many gatherd in Tiananmen Square,Beijing====
 * In June army tanks rumbled in and killed thousands of protesters.
 * Bush chose not to take stong action against the Chinese government and thought that we should keep diplomatic channels open.
 * ====1986 Congress called for economic sanctions that limits trade and investment to pressure South African government to end apartheid.====
 * Divestiture began which is when businesses that were in South Africa began to close down
 * September 1989, South Africa elected a new president F. W. de Klerk
 * He soon announced a series of reforms to eliminate racial tensions
 * De Klerk wanted to release Nelson Mandela & soon both of them went to the U.S. to visit Bush.
 * ====Middle east remained a threat to world peace.====
 * August 2nd 1988 Hussein's army invaded Kuwait.

__A complex threat__

 * ====If Hussein took over Saudi Arabia he would control more than 80% of the oil region====
 * It is believed with that power he could possibly cripple the western world
 * He needed to be stopped or he would to be able to strengthen his already strong army and take over other Arab countries

__The world responds__
=__Fugitives in a desert drama__= =__War in the Persian Gulf__=
 * ====Bush immediately dispatched American forces to Saudi Arabia====
 * Bush wanted other Arab nations to join together and fight back
 * United nations began to boycott Iraq and in response Saddam held many Americans and other foreigners hostage in Kuwait and Iraq and warned that those people would die if there were attacks
 * ====Iraq tanks were gong through Kuwait and taking more people hostage and looting businesses and hospitals.====
 * People who helped where caught, taken from their homes and shot to death
 * People scrambled to find places to hide they couldn't just stay in their apartment they lived in stairwells and small crawl spaces.
 * ====November 1990 Bush convinced United Nations to declare January 15th 1991 as a deadline for Iraq's removal from Kuwait====
 * Bush sent 20,000 extra troops to the middle east
 * Suddam was willing to have heavy casualities