1. George HW Bush

2. 1988 Election Reagan’s Vice President, George H.W. Bush was the Republican nominee for President in 1988 Bush was the son of a wealthy Connecticut Senator, but made his fortune in Texas oil Bush also had a distinguished political career, having worked in Congress, the UN, the CIA, and various Republican Presidents The Democratic candidate was Massachusetts governor Michael Dukakis who was credited with reviving the economy of MA after hard times Bush won the election, but wasn’t as popular as Reagan and struggled to live up to Reagan’s image Left: George HW Bush Right: Michael Dukakis

3. The Cold War Ends  Bush will oversee the final days of the Cold War  After the resignation of Mikhail Gorbachev, Russia’s new president was Boris Yeltsin  Bush cooperated with Yeltsin to begin to reduce the numbers of nuclear weapons in a treaty called the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START I) George HW Bush and Boris Yeltsin

4. Tiananmen Square As the Communist governments of Eastern Europe fell in 1989, Chinese students gathered to march for democracy The protesters were asked to leave and they refused The Chinese government sent the army to clear out the protesters – hundreds, possibly thousands were killed Bush didn’t want to attack and didn’t do anything – he instead negotiated to encourage trade

5. Invasion of Panama in December, 1989, Bush invaded the country, trying to oust its leader, Manuel Noriega, because he believed he was smuggling cocaine into the US Noriega was convicted – the war on drugs was being fought by Bush

6. Persian Gulf War August 1990 – Iraq invades Kuwait, claiming that Iraq had a centuries old claim to the country Iraq’s leader, Saddam Hussein, wanted Kuwait’s oil wealth Bush feared the loss of oil and a security threat to Saudi Arabia, so he took action Diplomatic efforts failed and an air assault began on January 16, 1991 Operation Desert Storm was completed in just 6 weeks Bush decided not to oust Hussein

7. Persian Gulf War

8. Weak Economy  Bush’s popularity was at its peak during the war, but lost support afterwards  Budget deficits swelled during Bush’s tenure and he agreed to raise taxes, going against one of his main campaign promises  This pushed the economy into a recession and Bush was unsuccessful in gaining reelection