George H.W. Bush MAIN IDEA: In 1988 Reagan’s vice president, George H.W. Bush, won election to a term that saw dramatic changes in the world.

The Opening of the USSR For 70 years, citizens of the Soviet Union had no freedom of speech or religion and dissent was harshly punished Gorbachev began opening Soviet society through glasnost a policy giving citizens free speech, including the right to criticize the government. Perestroika: restructured the economy to allow more competition and cut down on corruption

The Soviet Empire Collapses The fall of the Berlin Wall/End of the Soviet Union November 9, 1989: Berlin Wall torn down 1990: East and West Germany reunited By late 1991 the Soviet Union collapsed & Gorbachev resigns President Yeltsin of Russia signs Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (START) with US.

The Economy of the late 1980s Financial Deregulation & the Savings & Loan Crisis Deregulation of the savings and loan industry caused companies to loan out more money than they should to people who could not pay it back The US taxpayer eventually had to bail out the industry for $152 billion The savings and loan crisis forced Bush to break his ‘no new taxes’ pledge The tax hike did not do enough to help the economy (deficit rose to $271 billion in 1992) Unemployment and poverty rose and Bush lost his re-election bid

Persian Gulf War August 1990: Saddam Hussein of Iraq invades Kuwait UN imposes sanctions and demands Hussein pull out of Kuwait by Jan 15, 1991 Saddam remained defiant; UN troops (including US) attack and push Iraq out of Kuwait by the end of February Called Operation Desert Storm