Download Persian Gulf War

1991
George Bush
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Ronald Reagan’s Vice-President won a major election in 1988.
Bush vowed to continue the economic policies of Reagan, by
cutting the deficit without raising taxes.
Bush was unable to keep his promise, by 1990, he and congress
could not decide which programs to cut in order to avoid tax
raises. In the end he was forced to raise taxes to save programs.
As taxes rose, the economy slowed forcing business to cut
positions. This led to greater unemployment and eventually a
recession. Banks also ran into problems, since regulation of banks
decreased, banks could make more risky loans and many of these
loans were unable to be paid back.
As President, Bush and Reagan elected many new conservatives
to the Supreme Court. These conservatives limited rights of
suspected criminals, made it harder to win cases of job
discrimination, and cut down bus systems that had been used to
increase racial integration in public schools.
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In August, 1990, Saddam
Hussein, the dictator of
Iraq, sent 100,000 troops to
invade oil-rich Kuwait.
President Bush feared that
this invasion was part of a
larger plan to control all
oil in the region.
To prevent further Iraqi
aggression, Bush sent
American troops to Saudi
Arabia. He also
convinced the United
Nations to boycott trade
with Iraq.
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Saddam Hussein continued
to ignore requests by the
United States and the United
Nations to withdraw from
Kuwait and on January 15,
1991 troops from 28 nations
attacked Iraq.
Although the war only lasted
six weeks, the UN boycott
against Iraq continued in
trying to convince Iraq to
stop using chemical
weapons. The United States
and Iraq would see conflict
again both in 1998 and after
September, 11.