Transcript Aim: How did President Bush continue the policies of

Aim: How did President
Bush continue the policies
of President Reagan?
Introduction
By the early 1990s, Americans were preparing
for more changes in direction.
Americans were celebrating the end of the Cold
War and watched the Soviet Union break apart.
On the domestic front, they continued to
experience high unemployment, budget
problems and changing social patterns.
Many Americans began to look for new
approaches in both foreign and domestic
policies to take the United States into the 21st
century.
1. A New Presidency
Ronald Reagan had given the United
States eight years of conservative
leadership.
The presidential election of 1988 would
decide if the American people would stay
with conservatism or strike out in different
directions.
1.1 Voters Choose George Bush
Given the Iran-Contra scandal and the
rising deficit, Democrats thought they had
a good chance in the election of 1988.
The Democrats, however, failed to follow
up on their advantages.
In the early stages of the campaign, so
many Democrats became candidates that
it was hard for one from another.
Jesse Jackson, the party’s liberal African
American candidate and a powerful speaker,
was one of the finalists.
At the nominating convention, Jackson lost out
to Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis.
Chosen as the Democratic presidential
candidate, Dukakis presented himself as a cool
manager who made his state prosper.
Dukakis nominated Senator Lloyd Bentsen as
his vice-presidential candidate.
Michael Dukakis and Lloyd
Bentsen
The Republicans gathered solidly behind
George Bush, who had been Ronald
Reagan’s vice-president for eight years.
Bush chose young Senator Dan Quayle of
Indiana as his running mate.
The Republicans painted Bush as a tough
candidate who would stay with Reagan’s
policies, including lowering taxes.
In November, the Bush-Quayle ticket took
54% of the popular vote and 426 electoral
votes.
Michael Dukakis received 112 votes and
Bush won in a wide victory.
George Bush and Dan Quayle
Election of 1988
The states in blue voted for George Bush and the states in red voted
for George Bush. George Bush became the 41st President of the US in
1988.
1.2 Bush Commands World Stage
During the campaign, Republicans
focused on Bush’s long experience in
foreign affairs.
As President, Bush took an active role in
dealing with other nations of the world.
End of the Cold War
Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev had
started government and social reforms
inside the Soviet Union when he became
leader during the mid-1980s.
Seeing these changes, other nations
controlled by the Soviet Union demanded
they, too, receive the same changes and
reforms.
In June 1989, only six months after Bush had
taken office, Poland held free elections.
Non-Communist leaders of Lech Walesa’s
Solidarity movement won control over the
government.
Soon after, people in Hungary, Czechoslovakia,
Bulgaria, Romania and East Germany rose up
against their Soviet-style governments.
In November, Germans tore down the Berlin
Wall, symbolizing the division between East and
West Germany.
Germans soon began to reunite their country.
The Fall of the Berlin Wall
The Fall of the Berlin Wall
Gorbachev refused to use force to crush the
uprisings in Eastern Europe.
President Bush offered moral support and
modest financial aid to Eastern Europe’s new
governments.
In November 1990, Bush discussed the future of
Europe in a meeting with 32 European nations.
Bush wanted to bring in a new era of democracy
now that the Cold War was over.
George Bush and Mikhail
Gorbachev
Breakup of the Soviet Union
Early in 1990, some members of the 15 separate
republics that made up the Soviet Union began
pushing for independence.
Gorbachev was unable to stop this
independence movement.
In August 1991, hard-line Communists in
Moscow-who feared the end of the Soviet Union
and objected to Gorbachev’s reforms-tried to
overthrow Gorbachev.
Boris Yeltsin, president of the Russian republic,
rallied the people to protect Gorbachev and save
the spirit of reform.
While events unfolded in Moscow, the United
States and other Western European nations
recognized the independence of these nations.
By the end of September, all 15 members of the
Soviet Republic had declared independence.
Then on December 25, 1991, Gorbachev
resigned his authority ending the Soviet Union.
Boris Yeltsin succeeded in bringing 10 of the old
republics into a loose federation called the
Commonwealth of Independent States.
Soviet Union 1945-1991
Russia 1991-Present
Boris Yeltsin
Voices for Freedom in China
The spirit of democracy reached as far as
the People’s Republic of China.
In the spring of 1989, a million people
gathered in the capital city of Beijing to
demonstrate for freedom.
On June 4, however, government
authorities sent in tanks and soldiers in a
bloody crackdown that killed hundreds of
students in Tiananmen Square.
The demonstrations ended, but Deng
Xiaoping, the aging leader of China,
refused to make any changes in the
communist system.
The Bush administration protested the
government’s violence but did not break
diplomatic ties or trade agreements with
China.
Tiananmen Square 1989
Tiananmen Square-1989
Tiananmen Square-1989
Deng Xiaoping
More World Changes
During the last term of the Reagan
administration, Congress had banned
imports from South Africa and prohibited
Americans from investing there.
The ban protested apartheid-a policy of
segregating the Black majority and
keeping it under the control of the white
minority.
In 1990, South African President, F.W. de
Klerk released the popular Black leader
Nelson Mandela from prison.
The following year, de Klerk began
repealing the rules of apartheid and that
led to President Bush lifting the economic
sanctions against South Africa.
F.W. de Klerk
Nelson Mandela
In Latin America, the pro-communist
regime in Nicaragua held free elections in
1989.
In the election, Violeta Barrios de
Chamorro, a political moderate and proAmerican leader, defeated the Sandinista
candidate and she was able to assume the
presidency peacefully.
Ten years of Sandinista rule ended.
Violeta Barrios de Chamorro
1.3 United States Military Actions
President Bush exerted his
leadership in foreign military
actions.
Bush used some of the arms that
Reagan built up during his
presidency.
Panama Invasion
In December 1989, Bush sent some
26,000 troops to the Central American
nation of Panama.
The mission was to remove General
Manuel Noreiga, the President of Panama
from power.
Noreiga had refused to leave office even
after the people of Panama voted him out
in a national election.
American troops captured Noreiga and brought
him to the United States, where he stood trial on
earlier drug-trafficking charges.
Many people applauded the invasion of
Panama.
Some people, especially in Latin America,
criticized the invasion because the United States
used force and that innocent civilians were killed
in the process.
Panama
Operation Just Cause
General Manuel Noreiga
Persian Gulf War
One year later, President Bush ordered
American forces into a much bigger military
action.
In August 1990, the President of Iraq, Saddam
Hussein, sent his army into taking over
neighboring Kuwait. Kuwait’s main export was
oil.
Bush saw this move by Hussein as a threat to
peace and stability in the Middle East while
threatening the shipment of oil.
Bush worked with the United Nations and
our allies to decide how to respond.
With the help of Secretary of Defense Dick
Cheney and the Joint Chiefs of Staff Colin
Powell, President Bush organized
Operation Desert Storm.
He planned to force the Iraqis out of
Kuwait.
Secretary of Defense-Dick Cheney
General of the Joint Chiefs of StaffColin Powell
Both Dick Cheney and Colin Powell were instrumental in our organizing and
enforcing Operation Desert Storm in 1991.
Cheney is now vice president while Colin Powell was Secretary of State under
George Bush. They were instrumental in planning Operation Enduring Freedom.
By January 1991, the United States had
flown more than 400,000 troops and their
equipment into Saudi Arabia.
The Americans joined soldiers from other
nations that belonged to the coalition
(temporary alliance) to drive Saddam
Hussein out of Kuwait.
Hussein and the Iraqi forces dug in along
defensive lines near Saudi Arabia.
On January 16, Operation Desert Storm—
and the Persian Gulf War—opened with a
massive air assault.
American and allied bombers, flying day
and night, pounded Iraqi troops, depots
and targets near and in Baghdad.
After six weeks of war, General Norman
Schwarzkopf overran the Iraqi forces.
American casualties were light.
One hundred hours after the ground war
began, President Bush declared a cease
fire.
Iraqi power was damaged and Kuwait was
liberated.
Saddam Hussein
Operation Desert Storm
General Norman Schwarzkopf
General Schwarzkopf, General
Colin Powell and Secretary of
Defense Dick Cheney
George Bush Poll (1991)
1.4 Bush Struggles with Domestic
Concerns
President Bush won praise for his foreign
policy.
However, he had trouble with domestic
affairs.
Bush continued the policies of Reagan
regarding lower taxes and cutting of social
programs.
Bush called for a “thousand points of light”
or volunteers to help solve domestic
problems.
Thousand Points of Light
Failings of Savings and Loans
In 1990, a serious recession struck the
economy.
Sales of goods slumped, manufacturing plants
closed, workers lost jobs, real estate prices
dropped.
Many banks had taken risks after the
government eased regulations during the
Reagan years.
Under Bush, they now had debts that needed to
be paid, the problems was they could not do it.
Because the government insures bank deposits, the
government took steps to repay the depositors money.
The government sold all real estate holdings which
belonged to the banks.
Due to the poor real estate market, the government had
to spend more money to pay off the loans.
Americans were annoyed that their taxes were used to
pay off monies that the banks owed. This showed many
Americans that the government catered to the needs of
the wealthy while many people who were working class
struggled.
Silverado Savings and Loan-Bailed
out by the Bush Administration
Not only is Neil Bush the CEO of this
S & L. He is the youngest son of the
President of the United States,
George H.W. Bush.
New Taxes
As a candidate, Bush promised to make the economy
grow which would reduce the federal deficit.
The deficit went up and by 1990, Bush realized that he
should go with the Democrats and reduce the deficit
within five years.
The plan of Congress was to lower spending on health
care, cutting social programs, raising taxes on the
wealthiest Americans and increased taxes on gas, luxury
goods and alcohol.
People accused Bush of going against his promise of
“read my lips…no new taxes.”
“Read my lips, no new taxes.”
Foreign Trade
Another problem facing the United States economy was
the unfavorable balance of trade.
The balance of trade refers to the difference between the
total value of the country’s exports compared with the
total value of the country’s imports.
Americans bought many more goods from the Japanese
than the Japanese bought from the United States.
The United States had a large and costly imbalance in its
trade with Japan.
Early in 1992, Bush flew to Japan to persuade their
government to buy more of our products. The visit to
Japan failed to change people’s minds in Japan.
US Trade Deficit With Japan
In an attempt to improve the foreign trade
imbalance and improve the economy, President
Bush began to work with Canada and Mexico on
a North American Free Trade Agreement.
Under the agreement, the three nations would
eliminate tariffs and other laws that would hold
back trade.
This would make North America one huge, freetrade unit when Bush announced the plan in
1992.
Congress did not take any action on NAFTA
while Bush was president.
NAFTA
The three major nations that compose NAFTA are the United
States, Mexico and Canada.
NAFTA encourages free trade across the North American
continent.
The Bush Supreme Court
Like Reagan, Bush believed in appointing
Supreme Court justices who would
support his conservative views.
In 1990, Bush appointed David Souter
from New Hampshire to become a new
justice.
In 1991, he appointed Clarence Thomas to
replace Thorogood Marshall.
Bush Appointments to the US
Supreme Court
David Souter (1990)
Clarence Thomas (1991)
Gridlock in Washington, DC
Congress and the Bush administration could
seldom agree on how to solve all of our nation’s
problems.
Constant squabbling brought government action
to a standstill, popularly called gridlock.
As the elections of 1990 grew near, upset voters
threatened to get rid of their officials, but all the
incumbents-the people already in office had won
re-election.