Discussion B

The Presidency of George H.W. Bush

I. Election of 1988

I. Election of 1988

• Election of 1988

• Low voter turnout (50.1 percent)

• Most attribute low turnout to negativity of the campaign.

• Bush won with the promise of no new taxes.

II. Domestic Policy

• “Betrayal of the Reagan Revolution”? • By 1990, the US had entered another recession

• Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 • Raised Taxes (oops)

• Savings and Loans industry collapsed. The President reached a compromise with Congress that ended up costing taxpayers more than $100 billion.

II. Domestic Policy

• “Betrayal of the Reagan Revolution”? • The Americans with Disabilities Act (1990)

• made it illegal for employers to discriminate against the disabled, guaranteed the disabled adequate access to places of business and public venues, expanded access to transportation

• Clean Air Act (1990) • Exxon-Valdez

• reducing urban smog, curbing acid rain, and eliminating industrial emissions of toxic chemicals

III. Foreign Policy

• A Changing World

• Glasnost and perestroika awakened a spirit of nationalism in the subject nations of Eastern Europe.

• Gorbachev knew the USSR could not support the ailing Eastern European economies.

• He ordered a large troop pullback from the region and warned leaders to adopt reforms.

III. Foreign Policy

The Fall of the Wall

• To calm rising protests in East Germany, the government opened the gates of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989.

• Thousands of East Berliners poured into West Berlin.

• Spontaneous destruction of the wall

• Less than a year later, East Germany and West Germany were reunified as one country.

III. Foreign Policy

The Soviet Union Crumbles • Beginning in 1990, Soviet republics started declaring their independence.

• Boris Yeltsin, the leader of the Russian Republic, helped foil a hard-liners’ coup against Gorbachev in 1991.

• Gorbachev resigned as president and the Soviet Union dissolved.

III. Foreign Policy

• Panama • US invasion of Panama to remove the dictator Colonel Manuel Noriega on

drug charges (Operation Just Cause).

• Largely successful, but led some to believe that American interventionism in Latin America would continue after the Cold War

III. Foreign Policy

• China and Tiananmen Square (1989)

• Chinese students called on their Communist leaders to embrace reforms.

• Led huge pro-democracy demonstrations that filled Tiananmen Square.

• Tanks surrounded the protesters and opened fire. Hundreds(?) were killed.

• Bush announced an arms embargo… whoopee!

III. Foreign Policy

The Persian Gulf War (August, 1990- Feb 1991)

• Iraq’s Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait in 1990.

• The UN imposed sanctions but the deadline passed.

• US commenced Operation Desert Storm in Jan. of 1991

• Made Bush incredibly popular (for a while)

IV. Election of 1992

The End of the Cold War

Bill Clinton - Democrat

• Arkansas governor 1979-81, 1983-93 – second youngest

• Pushed for middle class tax cuts and a national health care system

• Strong alliance with his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton, when dealing with politics

1992 Election

• Running mate, Senator Al Gore of Tennessee

• Three way race – Clinton (D), George H.W. Bush (R), H. Ross Perot (I) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhVDL_A h5iI

• Clinton presented himself as protector of the middle class

Domestic Policy – Budget Deficit

• Increased taxes (went against campaign promise to middle class) to deal with budget deficit

• Critics felt tax increase would hurt economy – did not

• Presidency longest period of sustained economic growth in U.S. history

Domestic Policy – Health Care

• Costs rising, millions had no health insurance

• Hillary Clinton headed special task force proposing a government-sponsored program of health care

• Defeated

Foreign Policy

• Oslo Accords (1993) - Peace agreement between Israelis (Rabin) and Palestinians (Arafat)

• Somalia (1993) – American forces, distributing food, were killed http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kb SuBZLlSr8&feature=fvwrel

• Haiti (1994) – American forces led a UN effort to remove military dictators (Lieut. Gen. Raoul Cedras and Brig. Gen. Philippe Biamby)

• NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) – passed

Scandals

• Whitewater - Kenneth Starr led investigation into a failed real estate investment of Clintons in 1970s – no formal charges on Clintons

• Paula Jones Sexual Harassment case – claimed to have taken place while Clinton was governor and she a state employee – case thrown out

• Monica Lewinsky case – Clinton accused of lying under oath about his relationship with Lewinsky while he was president and she a White House intern

• House approved 2 articles of impeachment

• Senate did not have 2/3 majority to remove Clinton from office

Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell • 1993 policy regarding gay military

members

• Not allowed to be discharged for sexual orientation

• Clinton compromise, wanted to repeal military’s ban on gay personnel

• Policy failed to meet Clinton’s goals of decreasing discharges for homosexuality and reducing harassment

Post-presidency

• Autobiography – My Life, New York Times bestseller list

• Presidential library –2004, Little Rock, AR

• Humanitarian efforts in Africa and Asia, AIDS epidemic

• Clinton and former President Bush - humanitarian relief, victims of tsunami along coasts of Indian Ocean (2004)

• Clinton involved in relief efforts for victims of Hurricane Katrina (2004) and created the Haiti Fund to support Haitians after the earthquake (2010)

George W. Bush’s Presidency

The Main Idea

Following a troubled election, Republican George W. Bush won the White House and strongly promoted his agenda.

Reading Focus

• What were the unusual circumstances of the election of 2000?

• What were key components of George W. Bush’s domestic policy?

• What were the key components and figures in Bush’s foreign policy?

What were the unusual circumstances of the election of 2000?

• Republicans chose George W. Bush whose running mate was Dick Cheney of Wyoming.

The Democrats

• The economy prospered and the government had a budget surplus, but some Democrats were uncomfortable with Clinton’s image.

• Al Gore was the Democratic nominee and he chose Joe Lieberman as his running mate.

The Republicans

• Election-night results showed that the race was hinged on the outcome in a single state—Florida.

• The returns in Florida were so close that news reports changed their minds three times.

A Troubled Election

The Election of 2000

Recounts and Legal Wrangling

• A Florida recount gave Bush 300 more votes than Gore.

• Democrats questioned the Florida balloting.

• Thousands of ballots had gone uncounted; many ballots were rejected by the machines because voters had made mistakes.

• Democrats wanted a hand recount of the ballots.

• Republicans opposed a hand recount because of human error and individual judgment.

• Both sides filed lawsuits aimed at forcing or preventing recounts.

Bush v. Gore

• The Florida Supreme Court ordered recounts in certain Florida counties.

• Bush appealed the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court

• The Supreme Court ruled that a recount was unconstitutional.

• After the Court’s ruling, Gore conceded the presidency.

• Bush became president despite of having received fewer popular votes than his opponent.

George W. Bush’s domestic policy

• As Bush took office the economy began to slow.

• Dot.com profits failed to appear.

• Stock prices were hurt by dishonest accounting practice scandals.

• Bush pushed tax cuts to fulfill campaign promises and to spur the slumping economy.

• New laws cut taxes, reduced the marriage penalty, and lowered the estate tax.

• The economy did not improve, it went into a recession.

• Tax cuts in 2003 eliminated the tax on dividends.

Bush’s Domestic Policy

• In 2003 Bush updated the Medicare program.

• Included a benefit to help Medicare recipients pay for prescription medicine.

Education

• Bush announced the No Child Left Behind Act to improve education.

• States were required to develop academic standards and test students annually to ensure that the standards were being met.

Health Care

• Established the White House Office of Faith-Based Initiatives to help religious community-service organizations develop greater access to federal funding.

Other Issues

Bush’s Second Term

Bush ran against Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts and won re-election in another close contest.

Bush announced his plan to reform Social Security.

By late 2005, Congress had still not acted on Bush’s idea to privatize Social Security.

Bush also filled vacancies on the Supreme Court.

John Roberts was confirmed as Chief Justice. Bush named Harriet Miers to replace Sandra Day O’Connor but she withdrew her name from contention.

Bush nominated conservative judge Samuel Alito to replace O’Connor in 2005.

Bush’s Foreign Policy

The People

• Colin Powell—Secretary of state

• Condoleezza Rice—National security advisor

• After the 2004 election, Powell resigned and Rice took over as Secretary of state

• Donald Rumsfeld—Secretary of defense

The Policy

• Cancelled the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty

• This caused friction between the U.S. and the Soviet Union and the U.S. and China.

• Bush helped promote the so- called Middle East road map to peace.

• Most important foreign-policy event was the terrorist attack of 9/11

Iraq War Reasons

(Bush, National Archives photo)

• American vulnerability following 9/11

• Ties to al-Quaida

• Weapons of Mass Destruction: Chemical, Biological, and Nuclear

• UN requires inspections and Iraq agrees, but makes inspections impossible

“Even today, I don’t think anybody except maybe

Dick Cheney really knows what it was all about. Did

the US and its various partners invade Iraq to

combat Hussein’s ‘evil’? Was it some kind of

revenge for his plotting against George H.W. Bush?

Was it the supposed stockpiles of WMD and the

threat of terrorism? To deter all would-be state

authors of terrorism? To bring democracy to the

Middle East? To end our post-Vietnam hangover?

Or was it all about oil and those Halliburton

contracts?” (McQuaid, 2013)

Three Phases

• March 20-April 30, 2003

• 2003-2007 Civil War

• 2007-2011 Surge and withdrawal and end

War Begins (May-april 2003)

• 250,000 American troops and 45,000 British troops invade

• Started when US aircraft dropped bombs on a building where it was thought that Hussein was residing

• Airstrikes continue

• Fought Republican Guard in Baghdad; resistance was fierce but disorganized; Marine Corps prevailed

• Baghdad fell in three weeks (April 9)

• Iraq army is disbanded; no scorched earth; little resistance

• Bush declared an end to major combat on May 1

• Hussein captured in December and executed hanged three years later

• About 150 Americans soldiers died in this first phase

Civil War 2003-2007

Cities erupt in looting and violence, mostly directed at former rules of Ba’th party Troops try to maintain order Complicated by insurgent

attacks (guerilla warfare) Shi’ite and Sunni militias engage

in conflicts Bush: “sectarian violence” By 2007, 3000 soldiers have died Abu Graihb

• ;

SURGE 2007

• 20,000 additional troops deployed to stave off complete defeat

• 2007 deadly year

• Violence increases and then decreases as country stabilizes

(Bush visits troops, 2008)

With the Us ending major combat operations in Iraq, do you think the war has been worth the effort?

• A. Yes, it has made us safer. (12%) • B. No, it has cost too much in blood and money

(71%) • C. Maybe, it depends on how Iraq progresses from

here (17%)

60,035 respond (MSNBC.com Online Poll, 8/2/2010)

War ends

“I made it clear that by August 31, 2010, America’s combat mission in Iraq would end. And that is exactly what we are doing—as promised and on schedule. “ --President Obama, Atlanta, August 3, 2010

American Casualties in Iraq (Griffis, 2012)

American Military Casualties in Iraq

Date Total In Combat

American Deaths

Since war began (3/19/03): 4486 3532

Since "Mission Accomplished" (5/1/03) 4347 3424

Since Handover (6/29/04): 3627 2899

Since Obama Inauguration (1/20/09): 257 128

Since Operation New Dawn: 68 39

American Wounded Official Estimated

33184 Over 100,000

Iraqi casualties

• Best Estimates:

• Killed: 40,000 - 650,000

• Displaced: 1.3 million

• Refugees: 1.4 million

• Orphans: 4.5 million

• Birth defects increased 17 fold (going from 1.37/1000 to 23/1000 in one hospital in a decade)

• Percentage of those living in slum conditions before war: 17; percentage of those living in slum conditions after war: 50 (Tirman, 2013)

Did we win?

“And here we are today. Except for tomorrow and the questions my kids, your kids will ask, like these: “Why?” and “Did we win?”

--Rich Sanchez, CNN commentator, August 3, 2010