Reagan Years
The Republican nominee in the 1980 presidential election was the former actor and
governor of California, Ronald Reagan. He campaigned for the presidency on a largely
conservative platform. Reagan claimed that past "liberal" policies of excessive taxation
and governmental regulation by Democrats had stifled businesses as well as individuals.
He also claimed that "liberal, big-government" policies of Democrats had contributed to
the unemployment and inflation problems of the 1970s. Reagan promised that, if elected,
he would "get the government off the backs of the people" and restore economic freedom.
Reagan also attacked President Carter's defense policies. Claiming that Carter's return of
the Panama Canal and the national humiliation of the Iran hostage crisis demonstrated
America's growing weakness -- candidate Reagan promised to make America strong
again. Many Americans were attracted to Reagan's conservative message. He defeated
Carter by a wide margin.
Once in office, Reagan was true to his campaign promises. With the support of
Republicans and conservative Democrats in Congress, he eased some regulations on
businesses and cut taxes. Some federal social programs were also cut. Military
expenditures, however, were not cut. Instead, Reagan led the most expensive peacetime
military buildup in the nation's history.
President Reagan was also determined to halt and, if possible, reverse the spread of
communism. Early in his administration, he ordered a military invasion of the Caribbean
island nation of Grenada. This resulted in the toppling of that nation's communist
government. Reagan also successfully increased military aid to El Salvador in an effort
to halt the communist rebellion in that nation. Meanwhile, the Reagan administration
sought to end communist rule in Nicaragua by financing anti-communist rebels, called
Contras. But Congress ended this pro-Contra effort when it learned of illegal efforts by
the CIA and others to assist the Contras.
REAGAN AND GORBACHEV BEGIN TALKS TO REDUCE NUCLEAR WEAPONS
STOCKPILES IN THE U.S. AND U.S.S.R.
Meanwhile, President Reagan's hard-line attitude toward the Soviet Union produced
some important results. In 1983 he proposed that the U.S. build a system of space
satellites that would protect America from a guided-missile attack by the Soviet Union or
any other enemy. Though this program, called the Strategic Defense Initiative ("Star
Wars"), would be one of the most complex and expensive programs ever attempted by
the U.S., many Americans supported the idea. The Soviets, however, were alarmed by
Reagan's Star Wars proposal. In 1985 the new Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, found
himself in a dilemma. If the Soviet Union tried to build its own expensive Star Wars
system, it would put an unbearable strain on the country's already weak economy. But if
the Soviets did not build its own anti-missile defenses, the American Star Wars system
would give the U.S. a tremendous advantage in any war. Gorbachev decided to solve this
problem by proposing a bold plan.
He suggested that the U.S. and U.S.S.R. drastically reduce their stockpiles of nuclear
weapons. This would make the building of a Star Wars system unnecessary. President
Reagan, who also wanted to reduce the number of offensive weapons, began to negotiate
with Gorbachev towards a reduction of both U.S. and U.S.S.R. nuclear weapons.
Meanwhile, Gorbachev announced that the Soviet government would end its strict control
over its people. Gorbachev said that Soviet citizens would be given greater economic
and personal freedom. Americans were pleasantly surprised at Gorbachev's ideas. He
was greeted by cheering crowds when he visited the U.S. Many hoped that the cold war
was finally coming to an end. Many Americans gave Reagan's policies credit for forcing
changes within the Soviet Union.
BUSH CONTINUES THE POLICIES OF REAGAN
America's initial judgment of the Reagan years was revealed in the results of the
presidential election of 1988. The Republican nominee, George Bush (who had been
vice-president under Reagan), promised that he would continue the conservative policies
of the Reagan years. Bush easily defeated his Democratic opponent, Michael Dukakis,
who the Republicans labeled as a big-spending liberal. Many observers also saw the
election as a sign that Reagan had made conservatism the dominant force in America.
During his presidency (1989-1993), George Bush's domestic policies were quite
conservative. Like Reagan, Bush rejected a call for "big-government" solutions to social
problems, and he tried to further reduce government regulations on businesses. When the
U.S. slid into an economic recession in 1992, Bush did not take strong federal actions to
revive the economy.
Though President Bush followed a rather "hands-off" approach to domestic problems,
he was extremely active when it came to foreign affairs. In late 1989 he ordered U.S.
forces to invade Panama and arrest its dictatorial ruler, Manuel Noriega. Bush claimed
Noriega violated U.S. law by conspiring with others to smuggle drugs into the United
States. In 1990 Bush again responded with action after Iraq launched a surprise attack on
its oil-rich neighbor, Kuwait. Fearing that Iraq's leader, Saddam Hussein, might also try
to conquer Saudi Arabia, Bush sent troops there to block any further attacks. Bush then
played a leading role in convincing the United Nations to authorize member nations to
use military power, if necessary, to liberate Kuwait from Iraqi control. In early 1991 a
United Nations force, composed mainly of American units, quickly drove the Iraqis out
of Kuwait.
THE COLD WAR COMES TO AN END
Meanwhile, the Bush years witnessed one of the most important developments of the
20th century -- communist governments in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union
collapsed and the cold war came to an end. During the late 1980s people in Eastern
Europe and the Soviet Union used their newly granted freedom of speech (a freedom
granted by Gorbachev) to speak out against communist rule. Soon anti-communist
demonstrations became so large that communist authorities could no longer control them.
Communist governments gave into the demonstrators' demand for democratic elections.
In one Eastern European country after another, communist governments were voted out
of power and replaced with people who promised democratic and free-market reforms.
Anti-communists gained control of East Germany and then cooperated with West
Germans to reunite the two parts into a single nation in 1990. Both the U.S. and the
U.S.S.R. gave the reunification of Germany their blessing. This cooperation, as well as
friendly negotiations between the U.S. and Soviet Union during 1990, caused many
people to regard that year as the end of the cold war.
The following year, communist rule ended in the Soviet Union as anti-communist
leaders in several republics (like Russia's Boris Yeltsin) called upon their republics to
secede from the Soviet Union. By late 1991 it became clear that most, if not all, of the
Soviet republics were going to leave the Soviet Union. Mikhail Gorbachev resigned as
leader of the rapidly collapsing Soviet Union. By the end of 1991 the Soviet Union has
ceased to exist.
BUSH LOSES THE 1992 ELECTION TO CLINTON AS A RESULT OF GROWING
DOMESTIC PROBLEMS
Americans gave President Bush high marks for his handling of foreign affairs. But
during 1991 and 1992 many people began to criticize Bush for his handling of domestic
problems. During the presidential campaign of 1992 the nominee of the Democratic
Party, Bill Clinton, claimed that Bush had ignored the needs of average Americans.
Meanwhile, an independent presidential candidate, Ross Perot, charged that both Bush
and his predecessor, Ronald Reagan, had allowed the government's debt to rise from $1
trillion to $4 trillion. These charges caused Bush's popularity to drop even more.
Meanwhile, Clinton proposed a plan to pay off the national debt by raising taxes on
the rich. He also promised voters that he would reform the nation's health-care system so
that all Americans would be covered. Bush claimed that Clinton's ideas were far too
liberal and that his "tax-and-spend" proposals would lead to high taxes for all and greater
government regulation of businesses. But Americans were ready for a change. In
November 1992 voters elected Bill Clinton as America's 42nd president.