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- Governor Michael Dukakis and the reverend Jesse Jackson led the group. - Jackson fared even better in 1988 thn he did in 1984. - Bush and Dukakis competed for the best coverage on the short " sound bites" of evening news programs.**
 * The Election of 1988
 * - George H.W Bush was elected president in 1988.

- Bush brought a wide range of experience to the white house. - Bush had served as a member of congress, as an ambassador, and as the director of the central intelligence agency. - In his inaugural address, Bush hinted that he would not simply follow the old ideas and attitudes of the Reagan era. - Bush declared to critics "A new breeze is blowing" - Bush promised a "Kinder, gentler nation"
 * **The New President**

- Bush appointed William Bennett to be a special "drug czar" to overuse the nation's war on drugs. - The President also promised to chart a new course for the environment and education. - The president also appointed a strong defender of the environment, William Reilly, to head the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) - When President Bush took office, 17 military plants that had manufactured nuclear weapons were closed. -The Energy Department estimated that the cost of cleaning up and repairing the plants might rise to 200 billion.**
 * Drugs, Education, & The environment
 * - During the 1988 campaign, George Bush had spoken out strongly on the need to control the spread of illegal drugs.

- A rash of savings bank failures put even more pressure on the nations finances. - These savings and loan institutions, known as S&Ls - S&Ls had long financed mortgages, or loans, for Americans buying homes. - Many S&Ls were on the verge of going out of business. - The Reagan administration had led a campaign to deregulate S&Ls. - A number of S&Ls went bankrupt because the loans they made were repaid. - The Bush administration set up a federal agency to take over the failed banks. - Many people blamed Reagan administration for the collapse.
 * **The Savings and Loan Crisis**

- To reduce it, Congress and the President needed either to cut spending or raise more money. - During the 1988 campaign George Bush firmly pledged not to raise taxes. - Through most of 1990, Congress and the President struggled over a budget that lowered the deficit. - "Capital gains" tax cut would stimulate the economy. - Democrats objected that the measure would mainly benefit rich investors. - Congress and the President finally reached a budget agreement that would cut the deficit by nearly $500 billion over 5 years. - The plan increased taxes on cigarettes, alcohol, and gasoline. It also cut spending in many areas.**
 * Reducing the Deficit
 * - The savings and loan crisis added to the growing deficit in the federal budget.

- In 1989, the court struck down a Texas law that made burning the American flag a crime. - The justifies ruled that the burning the flag protest was a form of freedom of speech, As such i was protected by the 1st amendment to the constitution. - Bush called for a new amendment that would allow the states to outlaw defacing the flag. - Supporters of the amendment argued that burning a flag was not freedom of speech but was a insult to the nation.
 * **Flags and the Supreme Court**

- In 1989 and 1990, however the Eastern bloc changed radically. - Communists governments collapsed. Dissenters, once treated as enemies of the state, began to come into power. - In 1981, the polish government had outlawed solidarity, an independent labor union - In 1989, the communists government allowed solidarity candidates to run for the polish parliaments.** A wall comes down! - Communists East Germany had built the wall in 1961 to prevent its citizens from fleeing to the west. - Since that time, the wall's cinder blocks barbed wire had symbolized cold war hostility. -
 * The End of the Cold War
 * - Since the end of world war 2, soviet dominated governments had controlled the nations of Eastern Europe.