🌺 The End of the Cold War 🌺

Bush’s Resume

on paper” Probably one of the most qualified candidates for President → 

• Yale graduate

• WWII veteran

• U.S. Ambassador to United Nations

• Director of the CIA

• VP for 8 years

1988 Election

• Americans wanted Reagan’s domestic policies to continue.

• Republicans nominated his Vice President George H. Bush

• Democrats nominated Michael Dukakis, a governor from Massachusetts.

How did Democrats Try and Win the 1988 Election?

by promising to help minorities, the working class and poor Americans. Civil Right leader Jesse Jackson tried to create a “rainbow coalition” of those groups, although unsuccessful, he became the 1^st African American to make a serious run for the presidential nomination.

Perestroika (reconstruction) and Glasnost

The Soviet economy was suffering from years of inefficient central planning and huge expenditures on the arms race.  To save the economy Gorbachev instituted these…

Perestroika (reconstruction)

allowed some private enterprise and profit making. 

Glasnost

allow more freedom of religion and speech.  This spread to Eastern Europe and in ‘89 revolutions replaced Communist rulers with democratic governments in Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland and Romania.

How did the Soviet Union end?

Gorbachev faced criticism at home.  A group of Communist Party officials and army officers tried to stage a coup, arresting him and sending troops to Moscow. In Moscow, Russian President Boris Yeltsin defied the coup leaders from his offices in the Russian Parliament.  Bush phoned Yeltsin to express U.S. support.  The coup soon collapsed and Gorbachev returned to Moscow.

• All 15 Soviet republics declared their independence. In late December 1991, Gorbachev announced the end of the Soviet Union

“ A New World Order”

a change in political thought and the balance of power around the globe and introduced new military challenges. 

Tiananmen Square

• April & May 1989 – Chinese students and workers held pro-democracy demonstrations at Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China’s capital. Protesting China’s Communist leaders who were repressing political speech. 

• government tanks and soldiers crushed protests, many people were killed. Hundreds of pro-democracy activists were arrested and later sentenced to death.

How U.S and other countries responded to Tiananmen Square

They stopped arms sales and reduced diplomatic contacts with China.  The World Bank suspended loans. Bush resisted harsher sanctions believing that trade and diplomacy would change China’s behavior. 

Why did the U.S have Control of the Panama canal in the first place?

In 1978 (Carter) agreed to return control of the Panama Canal by the year 2000. Because of the canals importance, the U.S. wanted to make sure Panama’s government was stable and pro-United States.

Panama

Panama’s dictator, General Manuel Noriega, was aiding drug traffickers and harassing American military personnel defending the canal.  Bush ordered U.S. troops to invade Panama, they seized Noriega who was brought to the U.S. to stand trial on drug charges.  The troops then helped the Panamanians hold elections and organize a new government.

How the Persian Gulf War Started

• Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein sent his army to invade oil rich Kuwait. 

• Bush persuaded other UN member countries from Europe, the Middle East & Canada to join a coalition to stop Iraq. The UN sent a deadline for Iraq withdrawal from Kuwait, after that the coalition would use force to remove them.

• Iraq would not obey the deadline

Operation Desert Storm. 

Cruise missiles and laser-guided bombs fell on Iraq, destroying its air defenses, bridges, artillery and other military targets.

During the Persian Gulf War

• Operation Desert Storm

• 6 weeks later the coalition launches a massive ground attack.  Thousands of Iraqi soldiers died. Fewer than 300 coalition troops were killed.

• 100 hours after the ground war began, Kuwait was liberated.  Iraq accepted the cease-fire terms.

U.S Economy Slows Down

• Inherited a growing deficit (from Reagan) and a slowing economy that created a recession and unemployment rose.  The recession was partly caused by the end of the Cold War – as the Soviet threat faded, we cut back on military spending.

• Huge deficit forced the government to borrow money to pay for its programs, this kept money from being available to businesses,

Downsizing

reducing a company in size by laying off workers and managers to become more efficient

How did Bush Try and Improve the Economy?

• Bush called for a cut in the capital gains tax.

• The federal deficit was hurting the economy – Bush breaks his :no new taxes” campaign promise and agrees to tax increases in exchange for cuts in spending This decision turned many voters against him.

Capital Gains Tax

tax paid by businesses and investors when they sell stocks  or real estate for a profit.

1992 Election

• Republicans nominate Bush and he promised to address voters’ economic concerns.

• Democrats nominate Bill Clinton, governor of Arkansas, despite stories questioning his character and evasion of the draft

• Bill promises to cut middle class taxes, reduce government spending and reform the nation’s health care and welfare programs. His campaign repeatedly blames Bush for the recession.

• Independent billionaire Ross Perot stressed the need to end deficit spending with his no nonsense style.