The Resurgence of Conservatism

 

I.                    The Election of Ronald Reagan

a.       New Right

                                                               i.      The “Old Right” had been Southerners and Westerners who advocated States’ rights and harbored suspicions of federal power

                                                             ii.      Gained momentum from the countercultural protests of the 1960s.  They were concerned about social issues

                                                            iii.      They denounced:

1.      Abortion

2.      Pornography

3.      Homosexuality

4.      Feminism

5.      Affirmative action

                                                           iv.      They advocated:

1.      Prayer in schools

2.      Tougher penalties for criminals

b.      Reagan’s Political Ideas

                                                               i.      Was brought up in a generation whose values were formed well before the upheavals of the 1960s

                                                             ii.      Sided with the New Right

                                                            iii.      Denounced activist government; championed the “common man” against big business

                                                           iv.      Condemned:

1.      Federal intervention in local affairs

2.      Favoritism for minorities

3.      Elite and arrogant bureaucrats

c.       Neoconservatives

                                                               i.      Drew on the ideas of “neoconservatives,” who:

1.      Championed free-market capitalism with no government restraints as domestic policy

2.      Tough anti-Soviet positions in foreign policy

3.      Questioned liberal welfare programs and affirmative action

4.      Called for the reassertion of traditional values and centrality of the family

d.      Reagan’s Characteristics

                                                               i.      Had a down-home attitude

                                                             ii.      Had been:

1.      A sports announcer for a radio station

2.      Actor in Hollywood

3.      President of the Screen Actors Guild (helped purge reds from the industry)

4.      Spokesman for General Electric

5.      Governor of CA

e.       Democratic Nomination

                                                               i.      Was bungled by Carter’s inability to bring inflation down

                                                             ii.      Tried to nominated Senator Edward Kennedy of MA, but it fell short when revelations about a 1969 car accident in which a young woman assistant was drowned when Kennedy’s car plunged off a bridge

                                                            iii.      Carter was finally nominated

f.        Republican Nomination

                                                               i.      Reagan was nominated

                                                             ii.      He attacked Carter’s fumbling performance in foreign policy and blasted the “big-government” philosophy of the Democratic party

                                                            iii.      The high interest rates and inflation led to Carter’s doom, although he tried to counter that Reagan was a trigger-happy warrior who might push the country into nuclear war

g.       Results of the Election of 1980

                                                               i.      Reagan won:

1.      Won 51% to 41% of the popular vote

2.      489-49

                                                             ii.      Republicans gained control of the Senate for the first time in 25 years; first president voted out of office since Herbert Hoover in 1932

                                                            iii.      On Inauguration Day, January 20, 1981, after 444 days of captivity, the Iran hostages were released

h.       Carter’s Legacy

                                                               i.      Accepted defeat gracefully

                                                             ii.      Continued to work in foreign affairs

                                                            iii.      Earned the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002

II.                 The Reagan Revolution

a.       Scaling Down Government

                                                               i.      Wanted to dismantle the welfare state and reverse the political evolution of the preceding half-century

                                                             ii.      He believed that years of New Deal style tax-and-spend programs had created a federal government that was large and not responsible

b.      The Facts About the Expanded Government

                                                               i.      From 1960-1980, federal spending had risen from 18% of the GNP to 23%

                                                             ii.      The federal budget had been shifting from defense to entitlement programs

                                                            iii.      In 1973, the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare surpassed the Department of Defense in budget

c.       First Part of Economic Program – Cutting the Budget

                                                               i.      Reagan proposed a new budget that included cuts of $35 billion in mostly social programs

d.      Boll Weevils

                                                               i.      To gain support of the Democratic-majority House, he wooed southern conservative Democrats who abandoned their party to follow the president, called Boll Weevils

e.       Assassination Attempt On Reagan

                                                               i.      In March 1981, a deranged gunman, John Hinckley, shot the president as he was leaving a Washington hotel

                                                             ii.      A .22-caliber bullet penetrated beneath Reagan’s left arm and collapsed his left lung; the outpouring of sympathy was enormous

                                                            iii.      12 days after the attack, he walked out of the hospital and returned to work

                                                           iv.      Hinckley was institutionalized

III.               The Battle of the Budget

a.       Second Part of Economic Program – Tax Reforms

                                                               i.      Reagan also wanted deep tax cuts that amounted to 25% in all income brackets

                                                             ii.      Congress approved:

1.      Reducing individual tax rates

2.      Reducing federal estate taxes

3.      Created a tax-free savings plan for small investors

                                                            iii.      The combination of budget constraints and tax reduction was called “supply-side” economics or Reaganomics.  His advisors assured him that it would:

1.      Stimulate investment

2.      Boost productivity

3.      Create dramatic economic growth

4.      Reduce the federal deficit

b.      The Budget Deficit Increases

                                                               i.      There was a deep recession – worst since the 1930s

                                                             ii.      In 1982, unemployment reached 11%

                                                            iii.      Businesses went bankrupt

                                                           iv.      Banks collapsed

                                                             v.      The automobile industry, once the biggest industry in America, battled against Japanese carmakers and lost

                                                           vi.      Some charged that the policies of Carter had actually caused the recession; others said that the budget cuts hurt the poor and disabled, while the tax cuts favored the rich

c.       The Economy Recovers

                                                               i.      Reagan’s economic policies seemed to be vindicated when the economy recovered in 1983

                                                             ii.      Yuppies –

1.      Were young, urban professionals; numbered 1.5 million

2.      They wore Rolex watches, drove BMW cars, and consumed many expensive goods

3.      Showcased the values of materialism and the pursuit of wealth

d.      Reality of Reaganomics

                                                               i.      However, for the first time in the century, income gaps widened between the rich and poor:

1.      The poor got poorer

2.      The rich got richer

3.      The middle class was stagnant

                                                             ii.      Massive military expenditures could’ve caused the prosperity of the 80s; Reagan spent $2 trillion on defense

                                                            iii.      Budget deficits ran to $200 billion per year from 1983-1989

                                                           iv.      Massive government borrowing to pay for the deficit kept interest rates high and high interest rates elevated the value of the dollar abroad

                                                             v.      As a result, the American international trade deficit reached a record $152 billion in 1987

IV.              Reagan Renews the Cold War

a.       Reagan’s Strategy With the Soviets

                                                               i.      Thought that the Soviet Union was the “focus of evil in the modern world”

                                                             ii.      Believed in negotiating with the Soviets only from a position of overwhelming strength.  He wanted to do this by creating a new and expensive arms race

                                                            iii.      The American economy, theoretically, could better bear this new financial burden than could the creaking Soviet system.  Eventually, when they were out of money, they’d have to come to the bargaining table with Reagan

b.      Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI)

                                                               i.      In March 1983, he announced the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), popularly known as Star Wars.  The plan called for orbiting battle stations in space that could fire laser beams to vaporize intercontinental missiles

                                                             ii.      Most scientists considered this an impossible goal, but it fit with Reagan’s arms race strategy with the Soviets

c.       Solidarity

                                                               i.      In late 1981, the government of Poland organized into a massive union called “Solidarity”

                                                             ii.      The government of Poland put martial law on the country

                                                            iii.      Reagan believed that the Soviets were behind this, and he imposed economic sanctions on Poland and the USSR

d.      Increasing Tensions

                                                               i.      1982-1985

1.      Three Soviet Kremlins died

                                                             ii.      September 1983

1.      The Soviets shot down a Korean passenger airliner that had inexplicably violated Soviet airspace

2.      Hundreds of civilians, including Americans, lost their lives

                                                            iii.      End of 1983

1.      All arms-control negotiations with the Soviets were broken off

                                                           iv.      1984

1.      The Soviets and Soviet-bloc athletes boycotted the Olympic Games in Los Angeles

V.                 Troubles Abroad

a.       Trouble With Israel

                                                               i.      Israel continued to allow new settlements to be established on Jordan River’s West Bank.  This strained relations with the U.S.

                                                             ii.      In June 1982, Israel invaded Lebanon to suppress the guerilla bases from which Palestinian fighters harassed Israel

                                                            iii.      The Palestinians were subdued, but Lebanon was in chaos, especially after having been in a civil war for several years

                                                           iv.      In 1983, President Reagan sent American troops as a peace-keeping force, but their presence didn’t bring peace

                                                             v.      In October 1983, a suicide bomber crashed an explosives-laden truck into a U.S. Marine barrack that killed more than 200 marines

                                                           vi.      Although this did nothing to sully Reagan’s reputation, he withdrew the remaining American troops shortly thereafter

b.      Trouble With Nicaragua

                                                               i.      A revolution (the people who led the revolution were known as the “Sandinistas”) deposed the dictator of Nicaragua in 1979

                                                             ii.      Carter ignored the fact that they were anti-American and tried to establish good relations with them

                                                            iii.      Reagan didn’t support having good relations with them and he accused the Sandinistas of turning their country into a base for Soviet and Cuban military operations for all of Central America

                                                           iv.      After taking photographs from high-flying planes, the administration claimed that Nicaraguan leftists were shipping weapons to revolutionary forces in El Salvador, which had been torn by violence since a coup in 1979

                                                             v.      Reagan sent military “advisers” and cover aid (the CIA mined harbors) to prop up the pro-American government of El Salvador

c.       Grenada

                                                               i.      In October 1983, Reagan dispatched an invasion force to the island of Grenada, where a military coup had killed the prime minister and brought Marxists to power

                                                             ii.      American troops swiftly overran the island and ousted the insurgents

VI.              Round Two For Reagan

a.       Republican Nomination

                                                               i.      Reagan won it because of his strong stature abroad and sound economy at home

b.      Democratic Nomination

                                                               i.      Was Walter Mondale, who named Congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro his running-mate.  This would be the first women ever to appear on a major-party presidential ticket

                                                             ii.      However, Mondale had served in the deeply discredited Carter administration

c.       Results of the Election of 1984

                                                               i.      Reagan won:

1.      52.6 million-36.5 million

2.      525-13

d.      Mikhail Gorbachev

                                                               i.      Was the new, charismatic leader of the Soviet Union in 1985

                                                             ii.      He was personable, energetic, imaginative, and committed to radical reforms in the Soviet Union

                                                            iii.      He announced two policies:

1.      Glasnost –

a.       Means “openness”

b.      Aimed to introduce free speech and some other liberties

2.      Perestroika –

a.       Means “restructuring”

b.      Was intended to revive the Soviet economy by adopting many of the free-market practices of the capitalist West

                                                           iv.      He also removed the Soviet troops from Afghanistan

e.       The Summit Conferences

                                                               i.      Both policies required that the Soviet Union shrink the size of its military operations and redirect its energies to the economy.  So that meant they needed to end the Cold War

                                                             ii.      First Summit Meeting

1.      April 1985

2.      The Soviet Union pushed to eliminate intermediate-range nuclear forces (INF) or missiles

                                                            iii.      Second Summit Meeting

1.      October 1986

2.      Was a stalemate

                                                           iv.      Third Summit Meeting

1.      December 1987

2.      Both signed the INF treaty, banning all intermediate-range nuclear missiles from Europe

                                                             v.      Fourth Summit Meeting

1.      May 1988

2.      Reagan praised Gorbachev

f.        Reagan and the Philippines and Libya

                                                               i.      Philippines – Reagan backed the ousting of dictator Ferdinand Marcos

                                                             ii.      Libya – Reagan ordered an air raid against Libya in retaliation for alleged Libyan sponsorship of terrorist attacks

VII.            The Iran-Contra Affair

a.       Secret Dealings

                                                               i.      The president repeatedly requested that Congress provide military aid to the contra rebels fighting against the left-wing Sandinista regime

                                                             ii.      Congress repeatedly refused, and the administration grew increasingly frustrated and obsessed in its search for a means to help the contras

                                                            iii.      In 1985, American diplomats secretly arranged arms sales to the Iranians in return for Iranian aid in obtaining the release of American hostages held by Middle Eastern terrorists

                                                           iv.      Money from the payment for the arms was diverted to the contras

                                                             v.      This action violated a congressional ban on military aid to the Nicaraguan rebels and Reagan’s vow that he would never negotiate with terrorists

b.      The Secret Dealings Are Broken To the Public

                                                               i.      News of the secret dealings broke in November 1986

                                                             ii.      President Reagan claimed he was innocent of wrongdoing and ignorant about the activities of his subordinates

                                                            iii.      A congressional committee concluded that “if the president did not know what his national security advisers were doing, he should have”

                                                           iv.      Reagan said that

c.       Results of the Iran-Contra Affair

                                                               i.      Cast a shadow over Reagan’s record in foreign policy

                                                             ii.      Out of the several Iran-contra investigations, a picture emerged of Reagan as a lazy and senile president who napped through meetings and paid little or no attention to the details of policy

                                                            iii.      Critics claimed he acted his way through the presidency without understanding his role

                                                           iv.      However, Reagan remained one of the most popular and beloved presidents

                                                             v.      The congressional hearings led to the convictions of Oliver North, Robert McFarlane, and John Poindexter

                                                           vi.      For many, the hearings echoed the Watergate scandal; Americans became increasingly skeptical of their government

VIII.         Reagan’s Economic Legacy

a.       National Debt

                                                               i.      Eased many regulatory rules

                                                             ii.      Pushed major tax reform bills through Congress

                                                            iii.      Did not achieve a balanced budget

                                                           iv.      The combination of tax reduction and huge military spending made a $200 billion dollar a year deficit

                                                             v.      Added $2 trillion to the national debt (more than all predecessors combined)

                                                           vi.      Because so much of the debt was financed by foreign lenders, especially the Japanese, it ensured future generations that they would have to lower their standard of living or work harder than their parents (or both) to pay off the debt

b.      Slow Growth of Government

                                                               i.      Reagan made new social spending practically and politically impossible for the foreseeable future, so the deficits helped to achieve that purpose.  It contained the welfare state

c.       Lack of Equitable Distribution of Income

                                                               i.      In the early 1990s, the median household income declined from:

1.      1989 - $33,500

2.      1993 - $31,000

                                                             ii.      This could be attributed to Reagan and his economic policies

IX.              The Religious Right

a.       Reverend Jerry Falwell

                                                               i.      A coalition of conservative, evangelical Christians became known as the Religious Right

                                                             ii.      In 1979, Reverend Jerry Falwell founded a political organization called the Moral Majority, which registered between 2-3 million voters

                                                            iii.      He preached against:

1.      Sexual permissiveness

2.      Abortion

3.      Feminism

4.      Gay rights

                                                           iv.      Using radio, direct-mail marketing, and TV, “televangelists” reached huge audiences in the 1980s and collected million of dollars for conservative causes

b.      Movement Conservatives

                                                               i.      The Religious Right of the 1980s was an answer to 60s radicalism

                                                             ii.      Like advocates of multiculturalism and affirmative action, the Religious Right identified themselves with Christian or pro-life voters

                                                            iii.      Protesters in the 1960s blocked entrances to draft offices; protesters in the 1980s blocked entrances to abortion clinics

                                                           iv.      They articulated their positions in a language of rights and entitlements, as in the “right-to-life” (or anti-abortion) movement

c.       End of the Religious Right?

                                                               i.      As the decade ended, several leaders got into trouble

                                                             ii.      However, it didn’t diminish conservative Christians political clout

X.                 Conservatism in the Courts

a.       Culture War

                                                               i.      Appointed a near-majority of all sitting judges in the Supreme Court, including 3 conservatives

                                                             ii.      Nominated Sandra Day O’Connor, who became the first woman to be on the Supreme Court, on September 1981

b.      Rolling Back Affirmative Action

                                                               i.      Ruled that:

1.      Union rules about job seniority could outweigh affirmative action

2.      Made it more difficult to prove that an employer practiced racial discrimination in hiring

3.      Made it easier for white males to argue that they were the victims of reverse discrimination  by employers who followed affirmative-action practices

c.       Rolling Back Abortion Rights

                                                               i.      Webster v. Reproductive Health Services (1989)

1.      Approved a Missouri law that imposed certain restrictions on abortion

2.      Made it possible for State to make laws regarding abortion

                                                             ii.      Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992)

1.      The Court held that Pennsylvania could not compel a wife to notify her husband about an abortion, but could require a minor child to notify parents

2.      Made it possible for States to restrict access to abortion as long as they did not place an “undue burden” on the woman

XI.              Referendum On Reaganism in 1988

a.       Democrats Fight Back

                                                               i.      Democrats gained control of the Senate in November 1986

                                                             ii.      Rejected Robert Bork, an ultraconservative, as a nominee for the Supreme Court

                                                            iii.      To discredit Reagan, they used:

1.      Signs of economic trouble

2.      Iran-contra scandal

3.      Alleged unethical behavior by Reagan’s advisors

b.      Savings and Loan Scandal and Black Monday

                                                               i.      The growing federal budget deficit and the international trade deficit hurt the economy

                                                             ii.      The savings and loan industry found themselves holding near-worthless loans they had unwisely given to Third World countries, especially in Latin America

                                                            iii.      In 1984, it took federal assistance to save Continental Illinois Bank (one of the nation’s biggest banks) from bankruptcy.  More banks and savings institutions were folding than at any time since the Great Depression.  A wave of mergers, acquisitions, and buyouts occurred in Wall Street

                                                           iv.      On October 19, 1987, Black Monday occurred the stock-market plunged 508 points – the largest one-day decline in history

                                                             v.      The federal government guaranteed deposits up to $100,000 and a $166 billion rescue appropriation was made

                                                           vi.      The “scandal” is representative of the effects of poor government regulation

c.       Democratic Nomination

                                                               i.      Seven Democrats (called the Seven Dwarfs) hoped to cash in on the economic scare by winning the presidency.  Some of them were:

1.      Gary Hart – Senator from Colorado (dropped out after charges of sexual misconduct)

2.      Jesse Jackson – a rousing speechmaker and minister

3.      Michael Dukakis – Governor of MA

                                                             ii.      Dukakis was finally nominated as the Democratic candidate

d.      Republican Nomination

                                                               i.      Nominated Reagan’s vice-president, George H.W. Bush

                                                             ii.      He ran on the Reagan record of:

1.      Tax cuts

2.      Strong defense policies

3.      Toughness on crime

4.      Opposition to abortion

5.      Economic expansion

e.       Results of the Election of 1988

                                                               i.      Dukakis couldn’t exploit the weaknesses of the Republicans and came across as devoid of emotion and not very smart

                                                             ii.      Bush won:

1.      48 million-41 million

2.      426-111

XII.            George H.W. Bush and the End of the Cold War

a.       Characteristics of George H.W. Bush

                                                               i.      His father served as a U.S. Senator from Connecticut

                                                             ii.      Was educated at Yale

                                                            iii.      Served in WWII

                                                           iv.      Amassed a modest fortune in the oil business in TX

                                                             v.      Served as a congressman

                                                           vi.      Was emissary to China

                                                          vii.      Ambassador to the UN

                                                        viii.      Director of the CIA

                                                           ix.      Vice president

b.      China

                                                               i.      In 1989, hundreds of thousands of pro-democracy demonstrators gathered in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square

                                                             ii.      In June, China’s autocratic rulers brutally crushed the pro-democracy movement with tanks that rolled over the crowds and machine-gunners that killed hundreds of protesters

                                                            iii.      World opinion condemned the bloody suppression of the pro-democracy demonstrators

                                                           iv.      Despite demands in Congress for restrictions on trade with China, the president insisted on maintaining normal relations

c.       The Fall of Communism

                                                               i.      August 1989

1.      The Solidarity movement in Poland toppled Poland’s communist government

                                                             ii.      September-November 1989

1.      The communist regimes collapsed in Hungary, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, and Romania

                                                            iii.      December 1989

1.      The Berlin Wall fell

2.      This marked the beginning of the end of the Cold War

                                                           iv.      October 1990

1.      Germany reunited

                                                             v.      August 1991

1.      Mikahil Gorbachev’s policies of glasnost and perestroika caused the old-guard communists to want to preserve the system

2.      They tried a military coup, but it was foiled with the help of Russian Republic president Boris Yeltsin (one of the republics in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, or USSR)

                                                           vi.      December 1991

1.      Gorbachev resigned as Soviet president

2.      The Soviet Union had dissolved into 15 republics loosely confederated in the Commonwealth of Independent State (CIS), with Russia the most powerful state and Yeltsin the dominant leader

3.      To varying degrees, all the new governments in the CIS repudiated communism and embraced democratic reforms and free-market economies

d.      Results of the Fall of the Soviet Union

                                                               i.      The demise of the Soviet Union was a complete end to the Cold War

                                                             ii.      No more tension over nuclear war between the U.S. and Russia

                                                            iii.      It also marked the virtual end of communism world-wide

                                                           iv.      Democracy now had no more ideological battles left to fight

e.       Probing Questions About the Fall of the USSR

                                                               i.      Who would honor treaties with the U.S.?

                                                             ii.      Which of the successor states would take command of the Soviet nuclear arsenal?

                                                            iii.      Would its nuclear weapons be traded on the black market?

f.        START

                                                               i.      In early 1993, Bush and Yeltsin agreed to this treaty, which committed both powers to reduce their long-range nuclear arsenals by 2/3 within 10 years

                                                             ii.      This eased tensions (over the questions above) between the U.S. and Russia

g.       Ethnic Clashes

                                                               i.      Chechnya

1.      In 1991, a Chechnyan minority tried to declare their independence from Russia

2.      This prompted President Yeltsin to send in Russian troops

3.      They still have problems with the Chechnyans to this day

                                                             ii.      Yugoslavia

1.      Ethnicities in Yugoslavia began declaring their independence

2.      This caused ethnic clashes and genocide that lingered into the late 1990s

                                                            iii.      Communism had contained ethnicities in Eastern Europe, but now with the fall of communism, they were free to move about.  Refugees from those regions flooded into Western Europe

                                                           iv.      As a result, the Western European economies strained by absorbing these technologically backward peoples

h.       American Questions After the End of the Cold War

                                                               i.      With the Soviet threat now gone, would the U.S. revert to its traditional isolationism?

                                                             ii.      What principles would guide American diplomacy now that “anticommunism” had lost its relevance?

i.         American Economic and Military Change

                                                               i.      Huge economic sectors, such as aerospace, were heavily sustained by military contracts.  In 1991, the Pentagon canceled a $52 billion contract for navy attack planes

                                                             ii.      34 military bases also closed

                                                            iii.      Defense plants shut down and unemployment soared; more closings and cancellations followed

j.        Peace

                                                               i.      South Africa

1.      In 1990, apartied ended

2.      It freed African leader Nelson Mandela, who had served 27 years in prison for conspiring to overthrow the government

3.      Four years later, he was elected South Africa’s president

                                                             ii.      Nicaragua

1.      In February 1990, free elections in Nicaragua removed the leftist Sandinistas from power

                                                            iii.      El Salvador

1.      In 1992, peace came after the civil war that was raging in this country

XIII.         The Persian Gulf Crisis

a.       Panama

                                                               i.      In December 1989, Bush sent airborne troops to capture dictator and drug lord Manuel Noriega

b.      Why Iraq Aggression?

                                                               i.      Saddam Hussein, the brutal dictator of Iraq, sent his armies to overrun Kuwait.  He did this because he:

1.      Wanted their oil to pay their bills because they were financially exhausted after an 8-year war with Iran.  The war had ended in a stalemate

2.      Wanted control over the entire Persian Gulf region

3.      Wanted control of the world’s oil

4.      Wanted to get rid of the Arabs’ enemy, Israel

c.       U.S. Support of Iraq

                                                               i.      Although the U.S. knew of Saddam’s brutality in the 1980s, they still supplied him with weapons  against Islamic-fundamentalist Iran

                                                             ii.      He had been widely known as a thug and assassin who intimidated his underlings by showing them the bodies of his executed adversaries hanging on meat hooks

d.      Saddam Invades Kuwait

                                                               i.      August 2, 1990

1.      Saddam sent his army to Kuwait

                                                             ii.      August 3, 1990

1.      The UN Security Council unanimously condemned the invasion and demanded the immediate withdrawal of Iraq’s troops.  An economic embargo was also put on Iraq

                                                            iii.      November 1990

1.      The Security Council issued an ultimatum for Saddam to leave Kuwait by January 15, 1991, or UN forces would “use all necessary means” to expel his troops

                                                           iv.      November 1990-January 1990

1.      The U.S. amassed 539,000 troops in the Persian Gulf region

2.      They were joined by nearly 270,000 troops from 28 other countries

                                                             v.      January 12, 1991

1.      Congress approved the use of force in Iraq

                                                           vi.      January 16, 1991

1.      The U.S. and UN unleashed an air attack against Iraq for 37 days.  They used high-technology, precision-targeting modern warfare

2.      Iraq fired several “Scud” short-range ballistic missiles against military and civilian targets in Saudi Arabia and Israel.  These missile attacks claimed several lives, but did no significant military damage

                                                          vii.      February 23, 1991

1.      Operation Desert Storm, the land invasion, began

                                                        viii.      February 27, 1991

1.      Saddam agrees to a cease-fire and Kuwait was liberated

e.       During the War

                                                               i.      The allied commander, General Norman Schwarzkopf, took nothing for granted (he wanted to soften Iraq through bombing, then do a sweeping, quick ground invasion)

                                                             ii.      Saddam had chemical and biological weapons, including poison gas and anthrax

                                                            iii.      He also used ecological warfare, as he released a gigantic oil slick in the Persian Gulf to forestall an amphibious assault and ignited hundreds of oil-well fires, whose plumes covered the ground from aerial view

f.        Aftermath of the War

                                                               i.      Saddam survived the war and continued to be the dictator of Iraq.  America’s allies had agreed only to the liberation of Kuwait, not to regime change in Iraq

                                                             ii.      The U.S. found itself even more deeply ensnared in the region’s web of hatreds and conflicts

XIV.         Bush on the Home Front

a.       New Legislation

                                                               i.      American With Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA)

1.      Prohibited discrimination against 43 million U.S. citizens who have physical and mental disabilities

                                                             ii.      Water Projects Bill

1.      Put the interests of the environment ahead of agriculture

2.      Made water more available to cities

b.      Social Issues

                                                               i.      Bush’s Department of Education challenged the legality of college scholarships targeted for racial minorities

                                                             ii.      Bush repeatedly threatened to veto civil rights legislation that would make it easier for employees to prove discrimination in hiring practices

c.       Clarence Thomas

                                                               i.      In 1991, Bush nominated a conservative, Clarence Thomas, to the Supreme Court

                                                             ii.      Although an African American, he opposed affirmative action and was opposed by the NAACP

                                                            iii.      Because of his controversial views on abortion and affirmative action, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 7-7 on him and left it up to the full Senate to decide on whether to affirm or reject his appointment

                                                           iv.      Then, a press leak revealed that Anita Hill, a law professor at the University of Oklahoma, had accused Thomas of sexual harassment

                                                             v.      The Senate Judiciary Committee was forced to reopen its hearings, which were televised.  All the graphic sexual detail was out in the open

                                                           vi.      In the end, the Senate voted 52-48 to confirm Thomas’ appointment

                                                          vii.      Some applauded Hill for focusing the nation’s attention on the issues of sexual harassment, while Thomas maintained that it was a “high-tech lynching for uppity blacks…”

d.      Women and the President

                                                               i.      Didn’t like how the all-male committee handled the Thomas hearings

                                                             ii.      Didn’t like the President’s antiabortion stand

                                                            iii.      A “gender gap” opened between the two political parties as more women increasingly voted with the Democrats

e.       Economy

                                                               i.      By 1992, the unemployment rate was over 7% and over 10% in the key State of CA (because of all their electoral college votes)

                                                             ii.      The federal budget deficit topped $250 billion each year

                                                            iii.      In 1990, Bush agreed to increase taxes to generate $133 billion, reneging on his campaign promise not to raise taxes