George H.W. Bush

• A Moderate Republican who served as Ronald Reagan’s VP

• Victorious in the election of 1988

• Focused on foreign policy, such as finishing the Cold War and reunifying Germany

• Role in the Persian Gulf War and negotiated and signed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)

• One of his campaign promises was not to raise taxes, but after going back on hi promise and enacting legislation to raise taxes to reduce the budget deficit, he became unpopular

“Voodoo Economics”

• An economic policy perceived as being unrealistic and ill-advised, in particular a policy of maintaining or increasing levels of public spending while reducing taxation

• George H.W. Bush’s description of supply-side economics, which were used by President Reagan (“Reaganomics”)

• Bush argued that the president’s supply-side reforms would not be enough to rejuvenate the economy and would greatly increase national debt

Collapse of the Soviet Union

• 1991

• Resulted in free elections in the USSR and the disposing of previous Communist leaders

• The START treaty prompted the USSR to reduce their nuclear weapon arsenal and to destroy chemical weapons

• 1989 - The Berlin Wall separating Germany was destroyed

• Dissolved the Warsaw Pact

• Boris Yeltsin, the first president, ruled over a free Russia

Boris Yeltsin

• Democratically elected as the first president of Russia

• His reforms included decentralized government control, stopping government censorship of the media, and free economic markets

• Unconstitutionally dissolved the Congress and called for new parliamentary elections

• Guided Russia through a stormy decade of political and economic retrenching

• Eventually he voluntarily resigned and named Putin as president

Saddam Hussein

• An Iraqi politician who served as the fifth president of Iraq

• Nationalized the Iraq Petroleum Company and independent banks, eventually leaving the banking system insolvent due to inflation and bad loans

• Suppressed several movements, particularly Shi'a and Kurdish movements which sought to overthrow the government or gain independence

• Ran a repressive authoritarian government

• 1980s - Hussein was backed by US in the war against Iran

• His invasion of Kuwait eventually led to the Persian Gulf War

Persian Gulf War

• 1990 - Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait, providing an impetus to start the war

• The United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 661, which imposed a ban on all trade with Iraq and called on UN member countries to protect the assets of the legitimate government of Kuwait

• In Operation Desert Shield, the US sent troops to Saudi Arabia

• In Operation Desert Storm, troops focused on invading and liberating Kuwait

• General Norman Schwarzkopf, commander in chief of U.S. Central Command, directed the coalition military campaign, and his staff had devised a two-part operation that was designed to wear down Iraqi defenses before rapidly enveloping and destroying them

Colin Powell

• An African American military advisor and Secretary of State

• Formulated the Powell Doctrine, which limits American military action unless it satisfies criteria regarding American national security interests, overwhelming force, and widespread public support

• Gave a speech before the United Nations regarding the rationale for the Iraq War, but he later admitted that the speech contained substantial inaccuracies

• Was forced to resign from Bush’s cabinet after Bush was re-elected

Norman Schwarzkopf

• A United States Army general

• Served in the Vietnam War, first as an adviser to the South Vietnamese Army and then as a battalion commander

• Led all coalition forces in the Persian Gulf War

• Planned and led Operation Desert Storm, which defeated the Iraqi Army and removed Iraqi troops from Kuwait

  • His winning strategy involved a combination of bombing, a frontal attack, and an encircling strategy

Clarence Thomas

• An African American conservative

• Nominated by President George H. W. Bush to succeed Thurgood Marshall on the Supreme Court

• Appointed by President Ronald Reagan as the chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)

• With an accusation of sexual harassment, his Supreme Court confirmation hearings were very difficult

  • Confirmed by a vote of 52–48, the narrowest margin in a century

• Widely considered as SCOTUS’s most conservative member

Americans with Disabilities Act

• 1990

• Passed by President Bush

• Prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities in all areas of public life, including jobs, schools, transportation, and all public and private places

• Gives civil rights protections to individuals with disabilities similar to those provided to individuals on the basis of race, color, sex, national origin, age, and religion

Los Angeles Riots

• 1992

• Unrest began in South Central Los Angeles after a jury acquitted four officers of the Los Angeles Police Department charged with using excessive force in the arrest and beating of Rodney King

• Thousands of people rioted over six days following the verdict's announcement

• Widespread looting, assault, and arson

• The California National Guard, United States military, and several federal law enforcement agencies deployed more than 5,000 federal troops to assist in ending the violence and unrest

Bill Clinton

• A moderate Democrat

• Victorious in the election of 1992

• Many of his policies reflected a centrist "Third Way" political philosophy

• Presided over the longest period of peacetime economic expansion in American history

• Signed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) into law

• During his second term, he became much more conservative in his domestic policy

• Called for the expansion of NATO in Eastern Europe

• During the Monica Lewinsky scandal, he was impeached by the House of Representatives

Ross Perot

• An American business magnate, billionaire, politician and philanthropist

• Founder and chief executive officer of Electronic Data Systems and Perot Systems

• Ran an independent campaign in the 1992 U.S. presidential election and a third-party campaign in the 1996 U.S. presidential election

  • Advocated a balanced budget, an end to the outsourcing of jobs, and the enactment of electronic direct democracy

  • Did not win any electoral votes, but won over 19.7 million votes for an 18.9% share of the popular vote

Hillary Rodham Clinton

• Served as the First Lady and the Secretary of State

• Advocated for major healthcare reform, but her Clinton healthcare plan failed to gain approval from Congress

• Played a leading role in advocating the creation of the State Children's Health Insurance Program, the Adoption and Safe Families Act, and the Foster Care Independence Act

• Advocated for gender equality at the 1995 UN conference on women

• Reaffirmed her commitment to her marriage with Bill Clinton during the Monica Lewinsky scandal

North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)

• 1993

• Created a free trade zone for Mexico, Canada, and the United States

• All tariffs and quotas were eliminated on U.S. exports to Mexico and Canada

• Effects of the agreement regarding issues such as employment, the environment, and economic growth have been the subject of political disputes

• Harmed a small minority of workers in industries exposed to trade competition

Albert Gore Jr.

• An American politician, businessman, and environmentalist

• Served as vice president under Bill Clinton

• As VP, he expanded focus on technological and environmental issues

• The Democratic nominee for the 2000 presidential election, losing to George W. Bush in a very close race after a Florida recount

  • Won the popular vote, but after a controversial dispute over a Florida recount (settled by the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled 5–4 in favor of Bush), he lost the election

New Democrats

• 1988

• A centrist ideological faction within the Democratic Party

• Culturally liberal on social issues while being moderate or fiscally conservative on economic issues

• Believe in moderate deregulation, tax cuts for the low-income, and higher taxes on the wealthy

• Bill Clinton is the Democratic politician most identified with the New Democrats due to

  • His promise of welfare reform in the 1992 United States presidential campaign and its subsequent enactment

  • His 1992 promise of a middle-class tax cut

  • His 1993 expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit for the working poor

• Have faced criticism from those who are farther on the left

Welfare Reform Bill

• 1996

• Passed by President Bill Clinton

• Implemented major changes to U.S. social welfare policy

• Granted states greater latitude in administering social welfare programs, and implemented new requirements on welfare recipients

• After the law was passed, the number of individuals receiving federal welfare dramatically declined

Rush Limbaugh

• A Conservative Republican who hosted a political commentary radio show

• Known for his ultraconservative and often controversial views

  • Attacked liberal views

• His show’s daily commentaries often enraged the groups he targeted, such as feminists

• Opposed Clinton’s healthcare plan

• A key figure in the efforts to impeach President Bill Clinton

Whitewater Scandal

• 1994

• A real estate controversy that involved in both Bill and Hillary Clinton

• Whitewater was a land development venture that turned into a failed investment

  • The Clintons had invested federal money into the Whitewater Development Corporation

  • Bought land and created individual lots to sell as vacation homes in order to boost their income

• Insufficient evidence to charge the Clintons with criminal conduct

• Although the Clintons weren’t prosecuted, their associates were charged with fraud

Kenneth Starr

• Investigated the involvement of Clinton in the Monica Lewinsky scandal

• In his “Starr Report,” he investigated the relationship between Clinton and Lewinsky with secretly-recorded tapes

• Submitted his report and 18 boxes of supporting documents to the House of Representatives

• Outlined a case for impeaching Clinton on 11 grounds, including perjury, obstruction of justice, witness-tampering, and abuse of power, and also provided explicit details of the sexual relationship between the president and Lewinsky

Monica Lewinsky

• A White House intern who served in 1995

• Began a secret affair with President Bill Clinton

• Confided in Pentagon co-worker Linda Tripp about her sexual relationship with the president, with the conversations being secretly recorded

• Filed an affidavit in which she denied ever having had a sexual relationship with Clinton

• Taken by FBI agents and U.S. attorneys to a hotel room where she was questioned and offered immunity if she cooperated with the prosecution

Clinton Impeachment

• 1999

• The House impeached Clinton by charging him with lying under oath to a federal grand jury and obstructing justice

• The Senate voted on whether to remove Clinton from office, and the president was acquitted on both articles of impeachment

  • Needed a two-thirds majority to convict but failed to achieve even a bare majority

BIG PICTURE

• George H.W. Bush - End of Cold War + Persian Gulf War

• Dissatisfied w/ Bush’s domestic policy → Bill Clinton

• Clinton - Moderate reforms

• 1990s - Investment + Internet + free trade + balanced budget → Healthy economy

• Scandal → Clinton impeached