History

LAUNCHING A NEW DOMESTIC POLICY In practice, Clinton’s centrism demanded choices that sometimes elicited vehement emotions . The president’s first policy initiative was designed to meet the demands of gays, who, claiming a group status as victims of discrimination, had CHAPTER 15: BRIDGE TO THE 21ST CENTURY OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY 325 become an important […]

THE 1992 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION As the 1992 presidential elec- tion approached, Americans found themselves in a world transformed in ways almost unimaginable four years earlier . The familiar land- marks of the Cold War—from the CHAPTER 15: BRIDGE TO THE 21ST CENTURY “As we look ahead into the next century, leaders will be those who

THE GULF WAR The euphoria caused by the draw- ing down of the Cold War was dramatically overshadowed by the August 2, 1990, invasion of the small nation of Kuwait by Iraq . Iraq, under Saddam Hussein, and Iran, under its Islamic fundamentalist regime, had emerged as the two major military powers in the oil-rich

END TO THE COLD WAR When Bush became president, the Soviet empire was on the verge of collapse . Gorbachev’s efforts to open up the USSR’s economy ap- peared to be floundering . In 1989, the Communist governments in one Eastern European country af- ter another simply collapsed, after it became clear that Russian troops

BUDGETS AND DEFICITS Bush administration efforts to gain control over the federal budget deficit, however, were more problem- atic . One source of the difficulty was the savings and loan crisis . Savings banks — formerly tightly regulated, low-interest safe havens for ordinary people — had been deregulated, al- lowing these institutions to com- pete

THE PRESIDENCY OF GEORGE H. W. BUSH President Reagan enjoyed unusu- ally high popularity at the end of his second term in office, but under the terms of the U .S . Constitution he could not run again in 1988 . The Republican nomination went to Vice President George Herbert Walker Bush, who was elected

U.S.-SOVIET RELATIONS In relations with the Soviet Union, President Reagan’s declared policy was one of peace through strength . He was determined to stand firm against the country he would in 1983 call an “evil empire .” Two early events increased U .S .-Soviet tensions: the suppression of the Soli- darity labor movement in Poland

FOREIGN AFFAIRS In foreign policy, Reagan sought a more assertive role for the nation, and Central America provided an early test . The United States pro- vided El Salvador with a program of economic aid and military training when a guerrilla insurgency threat- ened to topple its government . It also actively encouraged the transition

THE ECONOMY IN THE 1980s President Reagan’s domestic pro- gram was rooted in his belief that the nation would prosper if the power of the private economic sector was un- leashed . The guiding theory behind it, “supply side” economics, held that a greater supply of goods and services, made possible by measures to increase

CONSERVATISM AND THE RISE OF RONALD REAGAN For many Americans, the eco- nomic, social, and political trends of the previous two decades — crime and racial polarization in many ur- ban centers, challenges to traditional values, the economic downturn and inflation of the Carter years — en- gendered a mood of disillusionment . It also