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Chapter 24 Section 3

The Election of 1988
-People wanted George Bush to be the successor of Ronald Reagan. Senator Robert Dole challenged Bush because of his low profile. Their were many Democrats that wanted to challenge Bush. The Governor Michael Dukakis and Reverend Jesse Jackson were the leaders of that group. Jackson did better in 1988 than he did in 1984. Had much support from the African Americans. In the end the Democrats choose Dukakis. Bush won over Dole and Dukakis won over Jackson. The election was widely publicized. Their were many negative ad against their opposing candidate. On election the voters leaned toward the Republicans because of the era with Reagan. Bush had 53% popular vote. 

The New President
-Bush won. He had much experience in the White House. He was a war hero in WWII. Had a successful oil business in Texas, served as a member of Congress, ambassador, and director of the CIA. At his inaugural address Bush hinted he wouldn't follow in Reagan's footsteps. Bush promised a "kinder, gentler nation". still continuing Reagan's policies and worked with the Democrats more.

Drugs, Education, and the Environment
-Bush was strongly against drugs. Expressed the need of control of illegal drugs. Because of this he appointed William Bennett "drug czar" to oversee the nations war on drugs. But since the deficit we couldn't spend as much as we wanted to on the programs. In 1990 Bob Martinez replaced him. He cracked down on environmental and educational policies stressing the states and school would raise money to meet the required standards. Government had tougher environmental policies to cut air pollution. William Reilly was in charge. Nuclear waste they found was a big problem. No solution has been found yet to reduce harm to the environment.

The Savings and Loan Crisis
-The S&L's were in a crisis. Because they could not attract enough new depositors S&L's were about to go out of business. Put Reagan put high interest and let depositors take more risk they were able to keep up the business but only if the housing market stayed strong. Falling energy prices sent the real estate prices dangerously low. Many S&L's went out of business. Bush set up federal agency to take over failed banks. Saving these banks would cost $600 billion dollars over the next 10 years. Many blamed Reagan and shady bank officers. Because of the failing of S&L's the nations banking system weakened in general.

Reducing the Deficit
-Because the S&L's were failing the national deficit deepened. To lessen the deficit we either needed to cut spending or raise more money. At first Bush didn't want to raise taxes. But there were no new solutions. So Bush hinted that were were to be tax raises but there would be also tax cuts for investors that sold their stock and bonds at profit. He said the tax cuts would stimulate the economy. The plan would cut the deficit nearly by $500 billion dollars. Increased taxes on cigarettes, alcohol, and gasoline.

The Elections of 1990
-Bush was able to cut deficit better than any legislation during Reagan years. But they were swayed but Congress was unwilling to make difficult choices on raising taxes or cutting programs. They weren't sure the President was able to direct difficult choices. Because of this voters reelected Congress grudgingly. Only 4 out of 10 people actually went to the polls. Leaders faced an angry public.

Flags and the Supreme Court
-Bush in the early years did not approve the Supreme Court decisions. In 1989 the struck down the bill that would make defacing the flag illegal. Issue stirred debate about protecting the 1st Amendment and the defacing of the flag as a insult. Because Congress didn't want to mess with the Bill of Rights the Amendment was defeated. In July of 1990 William Brennan was retiring. He was the leader of the liberal wing. David Souter took his place in October 1990.