Election of 1988 Democrat Michael Dukakis(Mass. Gov) no emotion on TV Favorite Gary Hart (Co. Senator) dropped out after charges of sexual misconduct Jesse Jackson s Rainbow Coalition minorities and disadvantaged Republican VP George H. W. Bush Running mate Dan Quayle Platform Read my lips, No new taxes, strong defense, tough on crime, anti-abortion Votes: 426 to 111 (47.9 to 41 mil) -Dems still control Congress
Election of 1988
President George H. W. Bush 1989-1993 Republican
Presidential Rankings: C-Span Survey, 2009 1. Abraham Lincoln 15. Bill Clinton 29. Zachary Taylor 2. Franklin Roosevelt 16. William McKinley 30. Benjamin Harrison 3. George Washington 17. John Adams 31. Martin Van Buren 4. Theodore Roosevelt 18. George H.W. Bush 32. Chester Arthur 5. Harry Truman 19. John Quincy Adams 33. Rutherford Hayes 6. John Kennedy 20. James Madison 34. Herbert Hoover 7. Thomas Jefferson 21. Grover Cleveland 35. John Tyler 8. Dwight Eisenhower 22. Gerald Ford 36. George W. Bush 9. Woodrow Wilson 23. Ulysses Grant 37. Millard Fillmore 10. Ronald Reagan 11. Lyndon Johnson 12. James Polk 13. Andrew Jackson 14. James Monroe 24. William Taft 25. Jimmy Carter 26. Calvin Coolidge 27. Richard Nixon 28. James Garfield 38. Warren Harding 39. William Harrison 40. Franklin Pierce 41. Andrew Johnson 42. James Buchanan
Background Father Senator from CT 1 st rate education at Yale, WWII service, made $ in TX oil business Committed to public service: emissary to China, UN ambassador, director of CIA, VP Significant political & diplomatic experience More moderate than Reagan Promised to work for a kinder, gentler America
Domestic Policy
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) 1990 no discrimination against physical/mental disabilities Dept of Education challenged legality of scholarships targeted for racial minorities Civil Rights Bill of 1991 No discrimination in hiring Victims get trial by jury More awards for emotional distress
Nominated Clarence Thomas for Sup Ct critic of affirmative action Opposed by liberals labor unions, NAACP, NOW Senate Judiciary Committee = 7-7 vote, went to full Senate Anita Hill, law professor at Univ. of Oklahoma accused Thomas of sexual harassment TV hearings 52-48 vote Thomas becomes judge
Gender gap b/w two political parties pro-choice women are democratic hate anti-abortion stance of Republicans
War on Drugs Reagan began Just Say No campaign Bush spent billions to seize illegal drug shipments and helped foreign countries fight drug traffickers US = 50% of world s consumption of illicit drugs (crack cocaine)
Clean Air Act, 1990 Power plants required to reduce pollutants into the atmosphere Smog checks required for renewal of automobile registration Automakers required to install antipollution devices Provided for reduction of acid rain and emission of CFCs 1992 water bill fundamentally reformed distribution of subsidized water to Western states.
Recession of 1991 Unemployment = 7% (10% in Cali) Bush agreed to a budget increase with $133 bil in new taxes (no new taxes?) Ratings plummeted
Foreign Policy
End of the Cold War Democracy trickling into communist countries China 1000s of pro-democracy demonstrators protest in Beijing s Tiananmen Square 30ft Goddess of Democracy statue - modeled after Statue of Liberty Tanks rolled over crowds, protestors killed by machine gun Bush wants no punishment, wants to maintain normal relations with China 1989 Revolutions Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, E. Germany, Romania All broke away from Soviet control Berlin Wall came down and Germany was reunited in Oct 1990
The Berlin Wall fell in November; Germany was unified in October, 1990 November 9, the beginning of the fall of the wall.
End of the Cold War Aug 1991 communist coup in the USSR, Gorbachev kidnapped Boris Yeltsin (Pres of Russian Republic) helped Gorbachev go free Dec 1991 Gorbachev resigned as Soviet President, SU dissolved into Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) Russia is dominant, Yeltsin is leader Goal is to embrace democratic reforms Q s over who would control Soviet nuclear arsenal Bush spoke of a new world order democracy reigns, diplomacy over weaponry
End of the Cold War START (Strategic Arms Reductions Treaty) w/ Yeltsin reduce long-rang nuclear arsenal by 2/3 within 10 years Wave of nationalism and ethnic hatred in former Soviet empire Chechnya declares independence from Russia Yeltsin sends in troops Yugoslavia ethnic cleansing against various minorities Refugees flood into W. Europe Germany now has burden of a backward E. Germany hurt economy W. democracies hurt by weaknesses of former communist lands
End of the Cold War What is the US foreign policy now? End of Cold War hurt US economy Closed 34 military bases, canceled new military technology Towns with new industries dried up Nelson Mandela - freed from jail after serving 27 years for conspiring to overthrow the government Elected S. Africa s president four years later Nicaragua and El Salvador - free elections 1989 US troops in Panama to capture dictator and drug lord Manuel Noriega in Panama (after he overthrew democratic govt) Noriega extradited to US, tried, became a POW in the US jail system
Invasion of Panama A mug shot of Manuel Noriega, after his capture by U.S. troops.
Persian Gulf War Aug 2, 1990 Saddam Hussein of Iraq overran Kuwait (oil-rich) Needed Kuwait to help pay for Iran-Iraq war debt Wanted control over Persian Gulf region Wants to control oil supplies and extinguish Israel US gave Iraq weapons during Iran-Iraq War Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein s military forces in Kuwait were mauled by a multi-national effort led by the U.S. in 1991
Persian Gulf War UN Security Council condemned invasion and demanded withdrawal of troops Economic embargo did nothing Ultimatum leave by January or UN will use all necessary means US led massive international deployment on Arabian Peninsula 29 countries, 37-day air attack targets in Kuwait and Iraq Iraq responded with scud short-range missiles on Saudi Arabia and Israel (military and civilian)
Persian Gulf War Iraqi potential: stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons (poison gas, anthrax) Released oil into gulf to stop amphibious assaults Oil well fires smoke stops aerial views US General Norman Schwarzkopf s (Stormin Norman) strategy soften Iraqis with relentless bombing, then suffocate on ground with troops and armor Feb 1991 land war began Operation Desert Storm 4 days, 100 hour war Lightning speed to block enemy s ability to retreat or reinforce Ceasefire, Kuwait liberated Hussein still leader of Iraq