1. THE MODERN ERA G.H.W. Bush

2. George Herbert Walker Bush

3. *Election of 1988 VS *George Bush Representative from Texas
Head of the CIA
Vice President
*Bush would win the election with the campaign promise to continue Reagan’s policies & a promise not to raise taxes “READ MY LIPS, NO NEW TAXES.”
Michael Dukakis
Harvard Law Graduate
Massachusetts Governor
Massachusetts Legislator VS

4. Domestic Policy
Greatest domestic challenge was to reduce the growing budget deficit
Was able to cut spending in the military because of the end of the Cold War
Agreed to increase income tax on the wealthy
Never able to make a significant reduction to deficit

5. Civil Rights and Civil Unrest
Recession was hard on young African Americans.
Riots erupted in Los Angeles when a jury found policeman not guilty of beating Rodney King, enough though there was video evidence
70 people were killed and numerous business destroyed
Riots highlighted the plight of minorities and continuing racial tension.

6. Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990
Prohibited discrimination against people with disabilities in employment and in public accommodations
Restaurants, hotels and theaters had to install accessible areas for those in wheelchairs
Employers had to make special accommodations wherever possible

7. Foreign Policy Invasion of Panama (1989)
General Manuel Noriega, Panama
Declared war on the U.S. rather than succumb to U.S. drug war pressure
U.S. launched a successful lightning attack against Panama:
-protect U.S. citizens
-drug trafficking
-protect the Panama canal
-protect democracy & Panamanian human rights
Bush came out as a hero.
Former CIA informant, laundered drug money. Less than a month & 24 casualties later, Noriega was captured & brought back to the U.S. for trial

8. *The Cold War Ends*
1989, with the fall of the Berlin Wall (during Reagan’s term)
East & West Germany reunited
Soviet Union dissolves and becomes the Commonwealth of Independent States

14. *Persian Gulf War (Operation Desert Storm, Gulf War)
August 1990, *Saddam Hussein, dictator of Iraq, invaded Kuwait for territorial claims & oil
The U.N. condemned the action & the U.S. forms a coalition to oust Iraq from Kuwait
Operation Desert Storm began Jan. 1991
*Kuwait was liberated in 6 wks & coalition forces pushed to within 150 mi of Bagdad before returning to the border
Did not oust
Saddam Hussein

18. Hawk Missile System

27. Preparing for “Dirty Bombs”

28. Colin Powell – first African American to hold the position of Joint Chief of Staffs
Norman Schwarzkopf - Commander of the Allied Forces in Desert Storm

30. The End of Sadaam Hussein, 2003
Coalition forces invaded Iraq for a 2nd time, March 2003.
Looking for WMD’s (weapons of mass destruction)

31. *Leader of Iraq
Sadaam Hussein, deposed in 2004

34. Somalia
Bush began a humanitarian airlift of food and supplies to war-torn Somalia in NE Africa where millions of people faced starvation
Bush sent in U.S. troops when local warlords and bandits stole food and threatened food shipments

35. Clarence Thomas
Bush nominated a conservative black judge to the Supreme Court in 1991.
Liberals & women were angered.
Won confirmation after televised Senate hearings that ignited public debate on the issue of sexual harassment.