Persian Gulf War and the
Clinton Years
Goal 12
Essential Idea

In the 1990s, the U.S. defeated Iraq in the
Persian Gulf War and President Clinton
helped restore the economy.
Bush Elected President
In 1988, George Bush,
who had been Regan’s
VP, ran for president and
won. President Bush
faced many post-Cold
War challenges,
especially in the Middle
East.
Saddam Hussein Invades Kuwait
In 1990, the dictator of Iraq,
Saddam Hussein, invaded his
oil-rich neighbor, Kuwait. The
American government feared
that this invasion was the first
step in an attempt to capture
Saudi Arabia, which is also rich
in oil.
Bush Demands Iraq Back Off

With the backing of
the United Nations,
the United States
demanded that Iraq
withdraw its troops.
When Iraq refused,
Bush authorized the
use of force.
Operation Desert Storm
Operation Desert
Storm- beginning in
January of 1991, the
United States (and
allies) launched a
massive attack. Dozens
of cruise missiles and
thousands of laserguided bombs fell on
Iraq. After six weeks of
bombing, a massive
land attack was
launched.
Persian Gulf War
Waves of tanks smashed through Iraqi lines. After just 100 hours, thousands
of Iraqi troops were dead and the United States lost less than 300 . Bush
declared that Kuwait was liberated , and United States troops returned home.
Bush Loses Popularity

Despite the success in the Persian Gulf
War, Bush faced many domestic
challenges. Following the end of the Cold
War, America went into a recession. Many
people lost jobs and the national debt was
still high.
Bush Loses Popularity

When campaigning for
president in 1988, Bush
had promised “no new
taxes”. The economic
problems forced him to
break his promise, which
made him unpopular.
Election of 1992

Democratic candidate Bill Clinton challenged Bush in the 1992
election. Clinton was a moderate Democrat, meaning he was
less liberal. Some people disliked both Bush and Clinton.
Election of 1992

The largest third party candidate in
history, Ross Perot, became popular.
However, Clinton won the election. Some
people believe that Bush would have won
if Perot had not taken votes from him
(Clinton won with only 43% of the vote).




How much of the popular vote did Clinton get?
How much of the popular vote did Clinton get?
How much of the popular vote did Ross Perot get? Electoral vote?
Who might have won if Perot had not run?
Clinton Raises Taxes
Clinton’s first priority was to
fix the economy, and felt that
the budget deficit, which had
grown under Regan and Bush,
was the problem. In
response, he raised taxes and
cut spending.
Clinton and Healthcare
Clinton also proposed universal healthcare, and he put
his wife, Hilary Clinton, in charge of creating a health
care plan. However, he could not get enough support
in congress for the idea, and it was never even voted
on.

NAFTA
Clinton believed that international trade (between countries)
was a way to help the economy. In 1994, he helped create
NAFTA (The North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement), which
meant that the United States, Mexico, and Canadawould have
“free trade”.
Pros and Cons of NAFTA

In other words, we would not have tarifs. Many jobs
were lost to Mexico (outsourcing), where its cheaper to
run a factory, but it also caused American workers to get
more skilled jobs.
“Contract with America”
In 1994, many of Clinton’s economic policies had made him
unpopular. The Republican leader, Newt Gingrich, established a
“Contract with America”, which would lower taxes and reform
welfare programs. As a result, Republicans in Congress won the
majority of seats in the 1994 election.
Clinton Reelected
Despite his higher taxes,
Clinton took credit when the
economy started to boom.
Once again, Perot took votes
away from the Republican
challenger, Bob Dole, and
Clinton won the election in
1996. In the end, America
experienced one of its longest
period of economic growth
ever under Clinton.
Under which presidents was there a budget deficit?
Under which president did we have a budget surplus?
Which president was the first to be famous for having a budget deficit?
Middle East Tension
In 1993, tensions were high once again between
Israel and Palestine. Under direction of Clinton,
the two sides met to discuss peace.
Yasser Arafat and the PLO

The Palestine Liberation
Organziation, or the PLO,
was headed by Yasser
Arafat. Although the two
leaders came to some
agreements, peace in the
Middle East has not yet
been established.
Tension in the Balkans

During the 1990s, the
southeastern European
country of Bosnia experienced
a civil war. During this time,
Serbs began “ethnic
cleansing”, meaning they
tried to get rid of other ethnic
groups.
Bombing Bosnia

In some cases, they would
kill Muslims rather than
move them. Clinton
convinced NATO that
military action was needed,
and in 1996 troops entered
the area to restore peace.
Kosovo
In 1998, there was
fighting between two
ethnic groups, Serbs
and Albanians, in the
Serbian province of
Kosovo. Once again,
Clinton convinced
NATO to intervene
and military force
was used to restore
peace.
Challenger Disaster
In the 1980s, space
exploration had continued in
the form of space shuttles.

Challenger Disaster- in 1986,
the Challenger space shuttle
exploded shortly after take off
on live television.
The Rise of Technology

Also, beginning in the 1980s,
computers started to become a
household item. Today,
computers are used in cell
phones as well. The internet
became popular, and has now
transformed the way we
communicate.