Transcript Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush

Ronald Reagan and George
H.W. Bush
Election of 1980
• 1980: public weary of Jimmy Carter
• Reagan advocates “supply-side”
economics – help economy by cutting
taxes
• Problem: spending was not cut at the
same time
• Result: government deficits
Reagan Doctrine
• Supply aid to anti-communist rebels
in Afghanistan (mujahedeen), Angola,
and Nicaragua – the Contras
Iran Contra Scandal
• Congress made illegal giving aid to
the Contras, Reagan signed law
• Members of Reagan’s staff sell arms
to the Iranian government and give
the money to the Contras
• Contras also received money through
drug trafficking
George H.W. Bush
• End of the Cold War (1989-1991)
• Eastern European countries throw off
communist rule
• Soviet Union collapses under
Gorbachev
George H.W. Bush
Persian Gulf War aka the Gulf War
• Saddam Hussein invades Kuwait, 1990
• Bush persuades UN to send coalition of 28
nations to invade Iraq
• Operation Desert Storm 1991 frees
Kuwait
• Military of Hussein severely restricted
• US operates “no-fly zone” over northern
Iraq