LECTURE #25:
THE NEW WORLD ORDER &
THE BRIDGE TO
THE 21st CENTURY
(1991-2000)
Derrick J. Johnson, MPA, JD
Advanced Placement United States History,
School for Advanced Studies
The George H.W. Bush Presidency
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President George Herbert Walker Bush
Born: June 12, 1924
Term in Office: (1989-1993)
Political Party: Republican
The George H.W. Bush Presidency
The Bush Cabinet
Office
Name
Term
President
Vice President
George H. W. Bush
Dan Quayle
1989–1993
1989–1993
Secretary of State
James Baker
Lawrence Eagleburger
1989–1992
1992–1993
Secretary of Treasury
Nicholas Brady
1989–1993
Secretary of Defense
Dick Cheney
1989–1993
Attorney General
Dick Thornburgh
William Barr
1989–1991
1991–1993
Secretary of the Interior
Manuel Lujan
1989–1993
Secretary of Agriculture
Clayton Yeutter
Edward Madigan
1989–1991
1991–1993
Secretary of Commerce
Robert Mosbacher
Barbara Hackman Franklin
1989–1992
1992–1993
Secretary of Labor
Elizabeth Dole
Lynn Martin
1989–1990
1991–1993
Secretary of Health and
Human Services
Louis Sullivan
1989–1993
Secretary of Education
Lauro Cavazos
Lamar Alexander
1989–1990
1990–1993
Secretary of Housing and
Urban Development
Jack Kemp
1989–1993
Secretary of Transportation
Samuel Skinner
Andrew Card
1989–1992
1992–1993
Secretary of Energy
James Watkins
1989–1993
Secretary of Veterans Affairs
Ed Derwinski
1989–1993
Chief of Staff
John H. Sununu
Samuel Skinner
James Baker
1989–1991
1991–1992
1992–1993
Administrator of the
Environmental Protection Agency
William Reilly
1989–1993
Director of the Office of
Management and Budget
Richard Darman
1989–1993
Director of the Office of
National Drug Control Policy
Bob Martinez
1993–1993
United States Trade Representative
Carla Anderson Hills
1989–1993
The George H.W. Bush Presidency
Supreme Court Appointments by President Bush
David H. Souter – 1990
Clarence Thomas - 1991
The End of the Cold War
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President Bush came into office on the verge of a new world order. In
1989, it seemed that Democracy was reviving in previously communist
hot-spots:
 In China, thousands of democratic-seeking students protested in
Tiananmen Square but were brutally crushed by Chinese tanks and
armed forces.
 In Eastern Europe, Communist regimes fell in Poland (which saw
Solidarity rise again), Hungary, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, and
Romania.
 In Germany, the Berlin Wall came tumbling down.
The End of the Cold War
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In 1990, Boris Yeltsin stopped a military coup that tried to dislodge
Gorbachev, then took over Russia when the Soviet Union fell and
disintegrated into the Commonwealth of Independent States, of which Russia
was the largest member, thus ending the Cold War.
This shocked experts who had predicted that the Cold War could only end
violently.
Problems remained, for who would take over the USSR’s nuclear stockpiles
or its seat in the UN Security Council (eventually, Russia did).
In 1993, Bush signed the START II accord with Yeltsin, pledging both
nations to reduce their long-range nuclear arsenals by two-thirds within ten
years.
The End of the Cold War
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Trouble was still present when the Chechnyen minority in Russia tried
to declare independence and was resisted by Russia; that incident
hasn’t been resolved yet.
Europe found itself quite unstable when the economically weak former
communist countries re-integrated with it.
America now had no rival to guard against, and it was possible that it
would revert back to its isolationist policies; also, military spending had
soaked up so much money that upon the end of the Cold War, the
Pentagon closed 34 military bases, canceled a $52 billion order for a
navy attack plane, and forced scores of Californian defense plants to
shut their doors.
However, in 1990, South Africa freed Nelson Mandela, then elected
him president four years later; free elections removed the Sandinistas
in Nicaragua in 1990, and in 1992, peace came to Ecuador at last.
The Invasion of Panama
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In December of 1989, U.S. troops were used to invade Panama
to remove autocratic General Manuel Noriega. The alleged
purpose was to stop Noriega from using his country as a drug
pipeline to the U.S.
After defeating Noriega, Bush ordered U.S. troops to stay in
Panama until free elections were held.
The Persian Gulf War
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On August 2, 1990, Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein invaded oil-rich
Kuwait with 100,000 men, hoping to annex it as a 19th province
and use its oil fields to replenish debts incurred during the IraqIran War, a war which oddly saw the U.S. supporting Hussein
despite his bad reputation.
Saddam attacked swiftly, but the UN responded just as swiftly,
placing economic embargoes on the aggressor and preparing for
military punishment.
Fighting “Operation Desert Storm”
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Some 539,000 U.S. military force members joined 270,000 troops
from 28 other countries to attack Iraq in a war, which began on
January 12, 1991, when Congress declared it.
On January 16, the U.S. and U.N. unleashed a hellish air war
against Iraq for 37 days.
Iraq responded by launching several ultimately ineffective “scud”
missiles at Saudi Arabia and Israel, but it had far darker strategies
available, such as biological and chemical weapons and strong
desert fortifications with oil-filled moats that could be lit afire if
the enemy got to close.
American General Norman Schwarzkopf took nothing for
granted, strategizing to suffocate Iraqis with an onslaught of air
bombing raids and then rush them with troops.
Fighting “Operation Desert Storm”
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On February 23, “Operation Desert Storm” began with an
overwhelming land attack that lasted four days, saw really little
casualties, and ended with Saddam conceding defeat.
American cheered the war’s rapid end and well-fought duration,
relieved that this had not turned into another Vietnam.
However, Saddam Hussein remained in power and Bush enjoyed
a 90% approval rating.
Bush’s Domestic Policy
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Bush had been born into a rich family, but he was committed to public
service and vowed to sculpt “a kindler, gentler America.” He also called
himself to be the “education president.”
However, the only major domestic policy initiative that Bush signed into law
was the Americans with Disabilities Act (1990), which prohibited
discrimination against citizens with physical and mental disabilities in hiring,
transportation and public accommodations. Outside of this accomplishment,
Bush did very little domestically.
Thousands of Republicans felt betrayed when, in 1990, Bush violated his
campaign pledge of “no new taxes” by agreeing to accept a proposed $133
billion tax bill.
Bush’s Domestic Policy
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Most damaging of all for Bush’s re-election prospects was a
recession starting in 1990 that ended the Reagan era of
prosperity, increased unemployment, and decreased family
income.
When it was revealed that many House members had written bad
checks from a private House “bank,” public confidence lessened
even more.
The 27th Amendment banned congressional pay raises from
taking effect until an election had seated a new session of
Congress, an idea first proposed by James Madison in 1789.
The Thomas Confirmation Hearings
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The president’s nomination of Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court to
replace Thurgood Marshall proved to be very controversial when, in early
October 1991, Anita Hill charged Thomas with sexual harassment.
Thomas’ controversial conservative views and allegations of sexual
harassment led to objections by many minority and women organizations.
Ultimately, Thomas was confirmed by the narrowest margin for a Supreme
Court nominee. Even though Thomas was still selected to be on the Court,
Hill’s case publicized sexual harassment and tightened tolerance of it
(Oregon’s Senator Robert Packwood had to step down in 1995 after a case of
sexual harassment).
The Election of 1992
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President Bush was re-nominated by the Republicans for a second term. After a
long career in public service, Bush seemed tired and out of touch with the public.
Bush had watched his 90% approval rate dwindle to 32% in 1992, largely due o
the economy.
Among the Democrats, the youthful governor of Arkansas, Bill Clinton, emerged
from the primaries as his party’s leader.
Clinton was the first member of the Baby Boomer Generation to be nominated
for president and he fashioned himself as a “New Democrat” who focused on
economic issues. His strategy was to remind the public that it was “the economy
stupid!”
H. Ross Perot, Texas billionaire, entered the race as well as an independent. Perot
was able to use his own money to finance his campaign.
The Election of 1992
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The Democrats tried a new approach, promoting growth, strong defense, and
anticrime policies while campaigning to stimulate the economy, while the
Republicans dwelt on “family values.”
Despite a tough campaign, Clinton emerged victorious with 370 electoral
votes (44,909,806 popular votes) to Bush’s 168 electoral votes (39,104,550
popular votes) and Perot’s 0 electoral votes (19,743,821 popular votes).
Clinton, along with his running mate Sen. Albert Gore, Jr., was able to run
well in the South and recapture the majority of the elderly and blue collar
workers from the Republicans.
The William J. Clinton Presidency
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President William Jefferson “Bill” Clinton
Born: August 19, 1946
Term in Office: (1993-2001)
Political Party: Democrat
The William J. Clinton Presidency
The Clinton Cabinet
Office
Name
Term
President
Bill Clinton
Al Gore
1993–2001
1993–2001
Warren Christopher
1993–1997
Madeleine Albright
1997–2001
Lloyd Bentsen
Robert Rubin
1993–1994
1995–1999
Lawrence Summers
1999–2001
Secretary of Defense
Les Aspin
William Perry
William Cohen
1993–1994
1994–1997
1997–2001
Attorney General
Janet Reno
1993–2001
Secretary of the Interior
Bruce Babbitt
1993–2001
Secretary of Agriculture
Mike Espy
Daniel Glickman
1993–1994
1995–2001
Secretary of Commerce
Ron Brown
Mickey Kantor
William Daley
Norman Mineta
1993–1996
1996–1997
1997–2000
2000–2001
Secretary of Labor
Robert Reich
Alexis Herman
1993–1997
1997–2001
Secretary of Health and
Human Services
Donna Shalala
1993–2001
Secretary of Education
Richard Riley
1993–2001
Henry Cisneros
1993–1997
Andrew Cuomo
1997–2001
Secretary of Transportation
Federico Peña
Rodney Slater
1993–1997
1997–2001
Secretary of Energy
Hazel O'Leary
Federico Peña
Bill Richardson
1993–1997
1997–1998
1998–2001
Jesse Brown
Togo West
1993–1997
1998–2000
Hershel W. Gober, act.
2000–2001
Chief of Staff
Mack McLarty
Leon Panetta
Erskine Bowles
John Podesta
1993–1994
1994–1997
1997–1998
1998–2001
Administrator of the
Environmental Protection Agency
Carol Browner
1993–2001
Director of the Office of
Management and Budget
Leon Panetta
Alice Rivlin
Franklin Raines
Jacob Lew
1993–1994
1994–1996
1996–1998
1998–2001
Lee Brown
1993–1995
Barry McCaffrey
1996–2001
Mickey Kantor
1993–1997
Charlene Barshefsky
1997–2001
Vice President
Secretary of State
Secretary of Treasury
Secretary of Housing and
Urban Development
Secretary of Veterans Affairs
Director of the Office of
National Drug Control Policy
United States Trade Representative
The William J. Clinton Presidency
Supreme Court Appointments by President Clinton
Ruth Bader Ginsburg – 1993
Stephen Breyer – 1994
The Clinton Years Begins
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Clinton began his presidency with the Democrats in control of both the
House and the Senate as well as the White House.
One of Clinton’s biggest campaign promises was to have a “cabinet that looks
like America. Congress and the presidential cabinet were filled with minorities
and more women, including the first female attorney general ever, Janet Reno,
Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala, and Ruth Bader
Ginsburg in the Supreme Court.
Upon entering office, Clinton called for accepting homosexuals in the armed
forces but finally had to settle for a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy that
unofficially accepted gays and lesbians.
The Clinton Years Begins
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Clinton also appointed his wife, Hillary, to revamp the nation’s health and
medical care system, and when it was revealed in October 1993, critics blasted
it as cumbersome, confusing, and stupid, thus suddenly making Hillary
Rodham Clinton a liability when before, she had been a full, equal political
partner of her husband.
In July, 1994, Clinton persuaded Congress to pass a $30 billion anticrime bill,
which bolds well with many conservatives.
Clinton’s Domestic Issues & Events
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The first few years of the Clinton presidency were marred with many threats
at home. The included the following:
 A radical Muslim group bombed the World Trade Center in New York,
killing six.
 A terrorist Timothy McVeigh, had bombed the federal building in
Oklahoma in 1995, taking 169 lives.
 A fiery standoff at Waco, Texas, between the government and the Branch
Davidians ended in a huge fire that killed men, women, and children.
By this time, few Americans trusted the government, the reverse of the WWII
generation.
Clinton’s Domestic Issues & Events
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Political reporter Joe Klein wrote Primary Colors, mirroring some of Clinton’s
personal life (womanizing).
Clinton also ran into trouble with his failed real estate investment in the
Whitewater Land Corporation.
In 1993, White House Counsel Vincent Foster, Jr. apparently committed
suicide, perhaps overstressed.
Republican Revolution
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In 1994, Newt Gingrich led Republicans on a sweeping attack of Clinton’s
liberal failures with a conservative “Contract with America,” and that year,
Republicans won all incumbent seats as well as eight more seats in the Senate
and 53 more seats in the House, where Gingrich became the new Speaker of
the House.
However, the Republicans went too far, imposing federal laws that put new
obligations on state and local governments without providing new revenues
and forcing Clinton to sign a welfare-reform bill that made deep cuts in
welfare grants.
Clinton tried to fight back, but gradually, the American public grew tired of
Republican conservatism, such as Gingrich’s suggestion of sending children
of welfare families to orphanages, and of its incompetence, such as the 1995
shut down of Congress due to a lack of a sufficient budget package.
Clinton’s Foreign Policy
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Clinton had a rather full plate with the foreign policy endeavors
of his presidency.
Clinton sent troops to Somalia (where some were killed),
withdrew them, and he worked to bring peace to Northern
Ireland.
After denouncing China’s abuses of human rights and
threatening to punish China before he became president, Clinton
as president decided to expand trade relations with China.
Clinton also committed American troops to NATO to keep the
peace in the former Yugoslavia and sent 20,000 troops to return
Jean-Bertrand Aristide to power in Haiti.
Clinton’s Foreign Policy
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He resolutely supported the North American Free Trade
Agreement (NAFTA) that made a free-trade zone surrounding
Mexico, Canada, and the U.S., then helped form the World
Trade Organization, the successor to the General Agreement on
Tariffs and Trade (GATT), and also provided $20 billion to
Mexico in 1995 to help its faltering economy.
Finally, Clinton also presided over historic reconciliation meeting
in 1993 between Israel’s Yitzhak Rabin and Palestinian Yasir
Arafat at the White House, but two years later, Rabin was
assassinated, thus ending hopes for peace in the Middle East.
Balanced Budget
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In 1996, Clinton was successful in reaching a compromise with congressional
Republicans. The spending cuts and tax increases made during Clinton’s first
term, plus the record growth of the economy, lead to the elimination of the
federal deficit in 1998.
Clinton’s Administration produced for the first time since 1969 a federal
surplus.
The Election of 1996
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Bill Clinton was re-nominated by the Democrats for a second term. His
Republican opponent was Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole of Kansas.
Clinton also faced H. Ross Perot for a second time with his new Reform
Party.
Dole’s campaign, which proposed a 15% tax cut, never captured voter’s
imagination. Turnout dropped below 50% of eligible voters.
The Election of 1996
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However, once again, Clinton emerged victorious with 379 electoral votes
(47,401,185 popular votes) to Dole’s 159 electoral votes (39,197,469 popular
votes) and Perot’s 0 electoral votes (8,085,294 popular votes).
The Culture of the 1990s
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The 1990s was a decade where the nation rejected the yuppie & new wave
culture of the 1980s in favor of a “free for all” cultural style.
In terms of music, we saw the advent of alternative music like Nirvana, Pearl
Jam and Sound Garden, while we also embraced pop stars like Mariah Carey,
the Spice Girls and Britney Spears. Rap music developed into an east coast
verse west coast show down between Biggie Smalls and Tupac Shakur.
The Culture of the 1990s
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In the film industry, we saw the advent of mega hits like Star Wars: Episode I –
The Phantom Menace, Independence Day, Pulp Fiction and The Titanic.
In terms of fashion, side burns and curtain style haircuts became fashionable.
Also, the Grunge hype at the beginning of the decade popularized the flannel
shirts among both sexes during the 1990s.
The Impeachment of Bill Clinton
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From the early days of the Clinton presidency, Clinton, his wife, cabinet
members and their associates were under investigation by Congress and
special prosecutors. After long and expensive investigations, the Clintons
were not charged with illegalities in the Whitewater real estate deal,
“Travelgate” firings or the political use of FBI files.
However, independent prosecutor Kenneth W. Starr charged that Clinton,
during his deposition in a civil suit about sexual harassment while governor of
Arkansas, had lied about his relations with a young woman, Monica Lewinsky,
who served as a White House intern.
The Impeachment of Bill Clinton
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In December of 1998, the House voted to impeach the president on two
counts, perjury and obstruction of justice. Clinton became the third president
to be the subject of impeachment (Andrew Johnson and Richard Nixon were
both under impeachment hearings by the House Judiciary Committee) and
the second to actually be impeached (Nixon resigned before he could
formally be impeached).
Even though many in Congress (Democrats & Republicans) condemned
Clinton’s personal behavior, most members of the public did not support
removing Clinton from office. After all was said and done, neither article of
impeachment managed to get a majority of Senator’s votes for removal, much
less the mandated two-thirds.
Clinton would finish his term with a black mark on his presidency, but also
with high approval ratings.
The Election of 2000
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Vice President Al Gore easily gained the Democratic nomination and he also
made history by selecting the first Jewish American running mate, Senator Joe
Lieberman, to run on a major party ticket.
The Republicans saw a fierce battle between maverick Senator John McCain
and Texas Governor George W. Bush (the son of former President George
H.W. Bush). Ultimately, Bush won the Republican nomination and selected
Dick Cheney as his running mate.
Other candidates included Ralph Nader (Green Party) and Pat Buchanan
(Reform Party).
The campaign was a tightly fought campaign. Gore ran as a champion for
“working families” and Bush ran as the “compassionate conservative.”
The Election of 2000
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On election night, most of the networks called Florida’s electoral votes for
Gore, but eventually retracted the call. Later, they called it for Bush and
announced that he had won the race. But hours later, they retracted the call
for Bush and announced that the race in Florida was too close to call.
Bush only led by 537 popular votes, and due to ballot irregularities, the
Democrats demanded a hand recount in Palm Beach, Broward and MiamiDade counties. The Florida Supreme Court ordered a hand recount of all of
the votes throughout the state.
However, the U.S. Supreme Court overruled them in a split 5-4 decision that
matched the party loyalty of the justices. In Bush v. Gore (2000), the majority
ruled that the varying standards in Florida’s recount violated the equal
protection clause.
The Election of 2000
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After a long protracted dispute. Gore publicly accepted the decision of the
U.S. Supreme Court. Bush was awarded Florida’s electoral vote which gave
him a total of 271 electoral votes to Gore’s 266 electoral votes. Despite the
fact that Gore had won the popular vote with 50,999,897 to Bush’s
50,456,002 popular votes, Bush was awarded the presidency.
Bush, along with his father George H.W. Bush, became the second father and
son duo to become president (John Adams and John Quincy Adams were the
first duo).
The Election of 2000
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The presidential election of 2000 was the closest since 1876, and the first to
be settled by the U.S. Supreme Court. As a result, many passions ran deep in
the aftermath.
George W. Bush would have to find a way to unite a deeply divided country
in order to face the challenges of the 21st Century.
THE END OF LECTURE #25