home

After serving 8 good years as vice president under Reagan George H.W. Bush seemed liked the best candidate for the Republican Party. On the other hand the Democrats had two people to choose from. They were Governor Micheal Dukakis and the first American American to run for a major party Jesse Jackson. In the long run Bush won the elections of 1988.
 * THE ELECTION OF 1988**

President Bush came into office with a very wide view. Since he was a pilot in WWII he had war time experience. Also he knew what Reagan tried to do in office. But Bush hinted he would have different views then Reagan.
 * THE NEW PRESIDENT**

During his 1988 campaign spoke out greatly against illegal drugs. Bush hired William Bennett to over sea the war on drugs. In 1990 he resigned feeling the use of drugs had lowered, even though he had not. So Bush hired Bob Martinez to take his place. The President also appointed a strong defender of the environment, William Reilly, to head the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In 1990, he signed into law a bill setting tougher standards to reduce air pollution. They were the first bills passed for the environment since the Carter years. Another thing that Bush did was solve the nuclear waste problem. He shut down 17 military plants were shut down. These military plants were making nuclear weapons and dumping dangerous nuclear waste. The Energy Department estimated that the cost to clean this would be 200 Billion dollars, and there still hasn't been one yet today.
 * DRUGS,EDUCATION, AND THE ENVIRONMENT**

A rash of savings bank failures put even more pressure on the nationals finances. The S&L had long financed the mortgages in the US. They also encouraged people to save money. The Bush administration took over these federal agencies so they wouldn't lose any more many. By the 1990's many S&L's collapsed weakening the nation's banking system.
 * THE SAVINGS AND LOAN CRISIS**

To try to help with the Nation's budget the government had to cut spending some how. The Congress had to do anything it could to cut spending and stop losing money. After a long time trying to figure out a good plan the Congress and the President came up with a plan to cut the nation's debt by 500 Billion dollars over 5 years.
 * REDUCING THE DEFICIT**

During the election campaign in 1990, member of Congress found voters in an angry mood. In 14 states, voters elected a governor of the different party. Most voters reelected most members of Congress, but with little enthusiasm.
 * THE ELECTION OF 1990**

In 1989, the court struck down a Texas law that had band the burning of the American flag, but many fought that burning the flag was the freedom of speech. Flag burning was just one of the many problem Congress faced, abortion, race and sex discrimination were all big topics in the 1990's
 * FLAGS AND THE SUPREME COURT**

Since the end of WWII, Soviet dominated governments had controlled nations of Eastern Europe. In the 1990 many communist parties collapsed. Dissenters, once treated as enemies of the state, began to come into power. A WALL COMES DOWN No single event symbolized these changes more vividly than the opening of the Berlin Wall. Communist East Germany had built the wall in 1961 to prevent the citizens from fleeing to the West. Since then the wall symbolized cold times. In November of 1989, after months of protest in East Germans, the East German government stunned the world by announcing that it was opening the wall. On November 9th, 1989, hundreds of East Berliners steamed through the gates to visit the west. MOVING TOWARD DEMOCRACY Demonstration against communism spread rapidly across Eastern Europe. In Czechoslovakia the communist government was forced to resign in 1989. In Romania, dictator Nicolea Ceausescu resisted to tide of change and got shot by protesters. Soviet President Gorbachev accepted the movement toward democratic reform in Eastern Europe. By 1990, however, serious unrest within the Soviet Union threatened his own power. Several Soviet republics demanded independence. THE AMERICAN RESPONSE With the Cold War coming to an end, United States and Congress talked about a "peace dividend." Money that once had funded the arms race would go to social programs in the United States. Bush discouraged too much optimism. He continued to believe it was necessary to maintain a strong national defense. His 1990 budget called for only a small reduction in defense spending.
 * THE END OF THE COLD WAR**

Unlike Ronald Reagan, Bush took a less militant approach toward affairs in Nicaragua. Bush felt administration worked out a bipartisan agreement that would give the contras food, clothing, and medical supplies. INVASION IN PANAMA For many years, Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega had been considered friends with the United States. However he became big in drug smuggling. After years of doing so Bush sent in the Military to stop the drugs from being smuggle.
 * NEW DIRECTION IN LATIN AMERICA**

The wave of reform that swept communist Europe sent shock waves through China. In the Spring of 1989, dissident Chinese students began to campaign for democratic reforms. Thousands of protesters went into Tiananmen Square to protest, all of them were shot and killed by the government, while all the United States did was sit back and watch.
 * UNREST IN CHINA**

The world wide move toward democracy also seemed to spread to South Africa. During the early 1980's, the South African government had continued to pursue the policy of apartheid, or separation of the races. Even though Reagan episode this he did very little to stop it. Once Bush came into office things started to change and South Africa took a change towards good.
 * A POLICY TOWARD SOUTH AFRICA**

Despite hopeful signs in other parts of the world, the Middle Est remained a threat to world peace. After the Iran-Iraq war ended in 1988, Saddam Hussein rebuilt his military. On August 2, 1990, his troops invaded Kuwait, one of the richest oil producing countries in the world. The United States or the World weren't going to let Saddam Hussein do this. They told Iraq if they didn't black out they would be forced out.
 * WAR CLOUDS IN THE MIDDLE EAST**


 * FUGITIVES IN A DESERT DRAMA.**