George Bush and the Persian Gulf War 1991 George Bush

Bush’s Presidency Ronald Reagan’s Vice-President won a major election in 1988. Bush vowed to continue the economic policies of Reagan, by cutting the deficit without raising taxes. Bush was unable to keep his promise, by 1990, he and congress could not decide which programs to cut in order to avoid tax raises. In the end he was forced to raise taxes to save programs. As taxes rose, the economy slowed forcing business to cut positions. This led to greater unemployment and eventually a recession. Banks also ran into problems, since regulation of banks decreased, banks could make more risky loans and many of these loans were unable to be paid back. As President, Bush and Reagan elected many new conservatives to the Supreme Court. These conservatives limited rights of suspected criminals, made it harder to win cases of job discrimination, and cut down bus systems that had been used to increase racial integration in public schools.

The Middle East

War with Iraq In August, 1990, Saddam Hussein, the dictator of Iraq, sent 100,000 troops to invade oil-rich Kuwait. President Bush feared that this invasion was part of a larger plan to control all oil in the region. To prevent further Iraqi aggression, Bush sent American troops to Saudi Arabia. He also convinced the United Nations to boycott trade with Iraq.

Persian Gulf War Saddam Hussein continued to ignore requests by the United States and the United Nations to withdraw from Kuwait and on January 15, 1991 troops from 28 nations attacked Iraq. Although the war only lasted six weeks, the UN boycott against Iraq continued in trying to convince Iraq to stop using chemical weapons. The United States and Iraq would see conflict again both in 1998 and after September, 11.