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Olivia Shaffer
 * Bush Takes Over **



**George H. W. Bush : elected President of the United States in 1988.**

In the election of 1988, the republican duo of George H.W. Bush and J. Danforth Quayle successfully defeated Democrats Michael Dukakis and Reverand Jesse Jackson.

As a veteran of WWII, and a past member of Congress, Bush brought a wide range of experience to the White House.

Bush promised Americans a "kindler, gentler nation".

Like most people, George Bush was a strong opposer to spread of illegal drugs.

William Bennett was appointed the "drug czar" to oversee the nation's "war on drugs".

To improve education, Bush called a conference of the nation's governors to solve the current problems. Unfortunately, Bush explained that schools would have to raise money to put the standards into effect.

Another issue Bush was faced with was the environmental pollution. To help fufill the job as head of the **Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)**, Bush appointed environmental defender William Reilly. Reilly's first obstacle to overcome was nuclear waste. Nuclear waste was all the left over supplies from nuclear testing, which were extremely harmful to society. To decrease the amount of nuclear waste, 17 military plants manufacturing nuclear weapons were closed.

**__The Savings and Loan Crisis__**
**S&Ls** : savings and loan institutions that had long financed mortgages for Americans buying homes.

During Reagan's presidency, Reagan and his administration led a campaign to deregulate S&Ls. However, this led S&Ls to depend on real estate prices. When real estate prices spiraled downward in the1980s, many S&Ls went bankrupt. Once Bush took office, **his administration set up a federal agency to take over all failed banks**. Despite Bush's attempts to save S&Ls, the crisis had weakened the nation's banking system beyond repair.

To fix the S&Ls, George H.W. Bush and his administration estimated that it would cost __**$600 billion over 10 years**__.

Possible Solutions to decrease rising deficit:
 * cut taxes
 * raise more money

President Bush refused to raise taxes. During his campaign he is quoted saying, "**Read my lips, No new taxes!"**

Bush and Congress had to pas a budget to lower deficit by October 1st, if they wanted to avoid the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act going into effect.

FINAL BUDGET: Raised taxes on **alcohol, cigarettes, and gasoline.** It also cut spending in many areas. The result it would have: **reduce deficit by nearly $500 billion over 5 years.**

**Flags and the Supreme Court**
In 1989, the Supreme Court struck down a Texas law making the burning of the American flag illegal. This strongly angered President Bush To back up their decision, the Supreme Court argued that burning the flag was a form of free speech which was protected under the First Amendment. **The First Amendment protected the freedom of speech, religion, and the press.** __Solutions__: Bush called for a new amendment that would allow the states to outlaw defacing the American flag. Other controversial issues facing Supreme Court: **sex and race discrimination, abortion, and the death penalty.**
 * Bush nominated New Hampshire judge, David Souter, to take Brennan's place on the Supreme Court. Souter's main strength was his ability to avoid controversial issues.

=**A World in Transition**= //Important vocabulary://
 * __economic sanctions__- limits on trade and investment
 * __divestiture__- policy in which American universities sold their stock in companies that operated in South Africa.

**The End of the Cold War?**
SInce the end of WWII, Soviet dominated governments had controlled the nations of Eastern Europe. However, in //1989// and //1990//, communist governments began to collapse one by one. When a **Solidarity** leader was elected as head of the government, many changes began in Eastern Europe.

//A Wall Comes Down// MOST SIGNIFICANT SYMBOL OF CHANGES AFTER THE WORLD WAR: November 1989; Berlin wall was demolished and East & West Germany were reunited. Official date of Germany's reunion: **October 4, 1990.**
 * The Berlin Wall comes down.**

//Moving toward democracy// Demonstrations against communism rapidly spread throughout Eastern Europe. Rumania's dictator fled once prodemocracy demonstrations began. However, he was caught and executed along with his wife in December of 1989.
 * Czechoslovakia's communist government was forced to resign in 1989.**

__Gorbachev's power in the Soviet Union was threatened by anti-communist demonstrations__.
 * Soviet Union was forced to begin new democratic reforms. This led to the possibility of the end of communism in the Soviet Union

//The American response// Americans were **enthusiastic** when they heard about the democratic reforms in Eastern Europe. However, Bush remained cautious. Congress decided that the money that had once gone toward the arms race could be used to expand social programs and reduce the deficit.

**New Directions in Latin America**
Bush took LESS militant approach to the war in Nicaragua than Reagan had. Bush created a **bipartisan**: U.S. would provide the contras with //food, clothing, and medical supplies only.// RELATIONS BETWEEN AMERICA AND NICARAGUA REMAINED UNCERTAIN.

//Invasion of Panama// Panama served as a banking and shipping center for major drug dealers. United States helped build a new government in Panama.
 * December 20, 1989:** Bush sent military forces into Panama to control Manuel Noriega who had participated in corruptions of Panamanian elections.

**Unrest in China**
__Tiananmen Square:__ the place where hundreds of thousands students gathered for their campaign. Army takes later arrived killing thousands of protesters. The United States did not take strong action against this event.
 * In the spring of 1989 Chinese students began to campaign for democratic reforms.**

**A Policy Toward South Africa**
President Bush believed that by taking economic action against South Africa, many of the blacks would be hurt by the destruction of jobs. Congress called for __economic sanctions__. (see definition at beginning of section). in 1986, Congress passed a bill forbidding American firms to invest in South Africa. His most dramatic act: //Freeing Nelson Mandela (a black opponent of apartheid who had been in prison for 27 years).// President Bush continued to keep sanctions in place even after all the reforms in South Africa.
 * "constructive engagement"** was a policy that kept quiet diplomacy and criticism toward S. Africa to a minimum.
 * In 1989, South Africa elected F. W. de Klerk as their new president.** He passed many reforms to ease racial tensions.

**War Clouds in the Middle East**
Middle East remained a threat to world peace. **Saddam Hussein** (Iraqi leader) rebuilt his army after Iran-Iraq war. In 1990, his troops invaded Kuwait, causing problems among all nations.

//A complex threat// Industrial nations became more dependent on oil in the 1980's. Saddam was on his way to controlling more than 80% of the worlds oil which caused threats to the entire world.

//The World Responds// United Nations approved a total boycott of Iraq trade. Saddam held Americans/foreigners as hostages in Kuwait/Iraq in response to United Nations warship blockade.
 * To help stop Saddam, Bush sent forces to Saudi Arabia.**

Fugitives in a Desert Drama
Saddam allowed foreign women and children to leave Kuwait, but that was all. Any Kuwaitis who helped keep Americans safe were shot and killed infront of their own homes. //Many Americans spent time in hiding to keep the safe fro the Iraqi forces.//

**War in the Persian Gulf**
President Bush convinced the United Nations that January 15, 1991 was the deadline for Iraq's removal from Kuwait. To prepare for this, Bush sent and additional **200,000 troops** to the Middle East. In December, Saddam refused to negotiate but release most of the hostages anyway.
 * January 16: American, Saudi Arabia and Britain launched an air attack on Iraq.**
 * The defeat of Iraq occurred in only 6 weeks.**