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=__The Election of 1988__= Republican Vice President George H.W Bush was the obvious choice to succeed current President Ronald Reagan. Bush had loyally supported the President for 8 years. He chose a running mate that was a largely unknown conservative from Indian. The Democratic party found several candidates who were eager to challenge Bush in the political race. Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis and Reverend Jesse Jackson were the leaders of this group. Jesse Jackson won wide support from African Americans and even from some liberal Democrats. Bush received 53% of the vote to Dukakis's 46%. Bush had 426 electoral votes to Dukakis's 111. However, the Democrats still held a majority in both houses of congress. =__The New President__= Bush won a medal for bravery as a pilot in World War II. After the war was over, he left his home state for Texas. In Texas, he started a successful oil business. Bush's past included serving as a member of Congress, serving as an ambassador, and serving as the director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Bush wanted to continue where Reagan left off, and he promised a "kinder, gentler nation". =__Drugs, Education, and the Environment__= During George H.W Bush's 1988 campaign, he spoke out strongly on the need to control the growing problem of illegal drugs spreading. He appointed a special "drug czar", which was William Bennett, who would oversee the war on drugs. Bennett resigned in 1990, saying that drug use had begun to drop in some populations. A former governor of Florida, Bob Martinez, replaced him. President Bush also wanted to make a new course for the environment and education. During the Reagan administration, the government had cut back on both programs. Bush appointed a strong protector of the environment, William Reilly to be the leader of the Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA. He signed a law in 1990 that set tougher standards to reduce air pollution. These were the 1st laws to be passed since the Carter administration. Another big threat in the country was nuclear waste. When Bush came into office, he shut down 17 military plants that had manufactured nuclear weapons. Investigations of these plants showed that they had dumped dangerous nuclear waste or they were unsafe. An estimate of $200 billion might be needed to clean up and repair the plants. =__The Savings and Loan Crisis__= A line of savings bank failures but even greater pressure on the nation's already bad finances. These were known as savings and loan institutions, or S&Ls had financed mortgages or loans for Americans buying homes for a long time. Interest rates started to soar, which struck savings banks with long term mortgages that were low interest. Reagan tried to give S&Ls more freedom from the government during his term. Many savings banks sold off their mortgages and used this money to make some high risk loans. Other banks invested in junk bonds, which were risky securities that supposedly payed high interests. Some S&Ls were able to make huge profits. =__The Elections of 1990__= A new budget agreement reduced the federal deficit more than an legislation during Reagan's campaign. Many Americans saw Congress was unwilling to make difficult choices on things such as raising taxes or cutting programs. Americans also saw a President that seemed unable to direct a solution the the budget crisis. They saw billions of dollars wasted because they needed to bail out savings and loans institutions because they were mismanaged. During the election of 1990, Congress members found voters very angry. In 14 different states, voters elected governors from a different party from those that were in office. Many voters reelected most members of Congress, but with hardly any enthusiasm. In most states, less than 4 out of 10 voters went to the pols. Political leaders faced and angry public with the country's economy heading to a recession. =__Flags and the Supreme Court__= Early in Bush's administration, he was angered by a decision made by a Supreme Court. In 1989, the Court took down a Texas law that made burning the American flag a crime. The justices ruled that burning the American flag in protest was just a form of free speech, and shouldn't be illegal. This was protected by the 1st Amendment of the Constitution. Bush called for a new amendment that would allow the states to make defacing the flag illegal. This issue started a very heated debate. People who supported the amendment said that burning a beloved national symbol was not a form of free speech, but that it was an insult to the nation as a whole. Opposers replied to this by saying that it was more important to protect basic freedoms than protect symbols. A conservative Senator from New Hampshire, Gordon Humphrey, said that he didn't like tampering with the Bill of Rights. The amendment was defeated in Congress. Defacing the flag was just 1 of many issues that the Supreme Court faced. =__A World in Transition__= Back in 1947, George Kennan warned President Truman that the U.S must act firmly to control Soviet aggression. More then 40 years later, the 85 year old Kennan told Congress that "The time for that sort of thing has clearly passed.". One of the creators of cold war policy was now announcing that the Cold War was finally over.

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