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The Election Of 1988
 George H.W.Bush was running with the Republican Party, and his opponent Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis and the Reverend Jesse Jackson. Them two both led the Demorcratic Party. Jesse Jackson was also the first African American to lead a major party and actually having a good shot at winning. The Demorcrats end up choosing Dukakis though. But in the outcome of the election Bush received 53% of the popular vote.

The New President
 George H.W. Bush served in the war as a pilot in World War II. After WWII he left his home in Connecticut and started a successful oil business in Texas. He served as a member of Congress, as a ambassador and as the director of the CIA. In his inaugural address George said that he wouldn't follow the old ideas and attitudes of the Reagan era. Bush promised a "kinder, gentler nation"

Drugs, Education, and the Environment
 During Bush's campaign, he spoke out about the spread of illegal drugs and how we need to put a stop to it. Bush appointed William Bennett to be a special "drug czar". His job was to oversee the nation's war on drugs. Bush wanted a better education system, so he called a conference of the nation's governors to set national goals for education. Doing so states and local school districts would have to raise the money to put theses standards into effect. Bush was big on the environment so he appointed a strong defender of the environment, William Reilly, to EPA (environmental protection agency), he signed into law a bill settions tougher standards to reduce air pollution. Nuclear Waste was a threat to the environment as well. When Bush took office 17 military plants had manufactured muclear weapons were closed. The Energy Department estimated that the cost of cleaning up and repairing the plants might have rose to $200 billion.

The Savings and Loan Crisis
 The Government was under a lot of pressure far as finances. The rash of savings bank failures added more pressure. The savings and loan institutions (S&L's) had longed financed mortgages, or loans, for Americans buying homes. The Reagan administration had led a campaign to deregulate S&L's, (to allow them more freedom from government control). S&L's could offer high interest rates and choose where to invest their money. Falling energy prices in the 80's sent estate prices tumbling in the Southwest. A lot of S&L's went bankrupt because a lot of their loans were not repaid.The Bush administration set up a federal agency to take over the failed banks, sell them, or sell off their assets. People blamed Reagan's administration for the collapse. Critics claimed that Reagan's banking officials had ignored the evidence that a crisis was brewing.

Reducing the Deficit
 The S&L crisis added to the growing deficit in the federal budget. To reduce the deficit in the federal budget, congress and Bush had to raise more money or cut spending. Bush promised not to raise taxes in the 1988 election, but Bush and congress couldn't agree on how to cut spending. Bush and congress struggled over a budget that lowered the deficit. fby October 1, the automatic budget cuts called for in the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act would go into effect, if they failed to pass a budget. Bush hinted that he might consider new taxes. He also insisted on cutting taxes for investors who sold their stocks and bonds at a profit. The congress and Bush finally reached a decision that they would cut the deficit by $500 billion over 5 years. That increased taxes on cigarettes, alcohol, and gasoline. It also cut spending in many areas.

The Election of 1990
 A lot of people saw the new budget agreement as a bad thing. They saw a congress unwilling to make difficult decisions on raising taxes or cutting programs. They saw Bush as someone who seemed unable to direct a solution to the budget crisis. They saw billions of dollars needed to bail out savings and loans institutios because of mismanagement. During th election campaign of 1990 congress found voters not being on their side so much. In 14 states, voters elected governors from a different party from those who had been in office. In a lot of states 4 out of 10 eligible voters went to the polls.

Flags and th Supreme Court
 Bush was angered by a decision by the supreme court. The supreme court struck down a law in Texas stating that defacing a flag was illegal. The justice ruled that burning a flag in protest a form of freedom of speech. That was protected by the First Amendment which protects your freedom of speech, protest, and etc. Supporters of the law in Texas argued that defacing a flag was not a symbol of free speech. They argued that it was a insult to the nation. Others not in favor of the law argued that they needed to protect the basic freedom of the people. Other cases like abortion, death penalty, race and sex discrimination also went up with the supreme court as well.

A World in Transition
 The collapse of communist dictatorships in Eastern Europe helped ease world tensions. A lot of people questioned what form new alliances might take.A crisis broke out in the Middle East and the Soviet Union and United States found each other on the same side. A rare event especially after World War II.

<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255);">The End of the Cold War?
<span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"> In 1989 and 1990 the Eastern bloc changed radically. One communist government after another communist government collapsed. Dissenters, once treated as enemies of the state, began to come into power. 1981 the Polish government had outlawed Solidarity, a independent labor union. But, the Solidarity movement and its founder, Lech Walesa, would not be silenced. In 1989, the communist government allowed Solidarity candidates to run for the Polish parliament. They all won. Then a Solidarity leader replaced a communist as head of the government. It was the start of a flood of changes in Eastern Europe capped by the election of Walesa as the President of Poland.

<span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">A wall comes down
<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255);"> Communist East Germany built a wall in 1961 called the Berlin wall, splitting Berlin into East and West Berlin. They wanted to prevent citizens from fleeing to the West. Since then the wall has symbolized cold war hostility. Anyone who tried crossing into West Berlin would be shot. After months of protesting the East German government shocked the world by saying they were going to open the wall. On November 9, 1989, hundreds of East Berliners stormed into the West. After negotiations, the NATO and the Soviet Union agreed on a timetable. October 4, 1990 Germany reunited and became one again, after 45 years of being split up into two.

I<span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">n 1989 the Czechoslovakia communist government were forced to resign. The Czechs then chose Vaclav Havel for their new president, a playwrighter who had been jailed several times by the communist government. Nicolae Ceausescu, the dictator of Romania resisted the tide of change and had protesters shot. Prodemocracy continued to demonstrate and Ceausescu fled. Him and his wife were captured, tried, and then executed in December of 1989. In the Soviet Union Gorbachev accepted the movement towards democratic reform. Serious unrest within the Soviet Union threatened his own power by 1990. Several Soviet republics demanded independence. The Soviet government was forced to begin new democratic reforms, including a multiparty system. The Soviet government then announced that it would allow private ownership of land and business, in 1990.

<span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">The American response
<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255);">Americas response was enthusiastic. Lech Walesa visited the United States in 1989 and Vaclav Havel followed in 1990 each of the men received a hero's welcome. Bush joined the celebration his official response was cautious. He praised the rise of democracy in the Soviet Union and promised some economic support.

Brittany Johnson