- Bush ran for office as a kinder, gentler president who would continue his predecessor's policies, but with a more compassionate outlook.

- "Read my lips: no new taxes" - a pledge eventually abandoned under the continuing growth deficit.

More environmentally friendly than Reagan, Bush's domestic achievements included a strengthened Clean Air Act, and civil rights legislation.

- On the foreign policy front, Bush ordered an invasion of Panama to seize the dictator of that country on drug charges, created and led an international coalition of armed forces to oppose Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, and presided over the US's response to the breakup of the Soviet Bloc and the dissolving of the USSR into many separate nations.

- Faced by a recession near the end of his term, President Bush's foreign policy achievements were disregarded by a disillusioned US electorate.

During his term...

- Berlin Wall fell, Soviet Union no longer existed, the government of China had killed hundreds of its own citizens on Tienanmen Square, the US had invaded Panama, and sent hundreds of thousands of troops to the Middle East to fight in a war against Iraq. 

- A major accomplishment of the Bush Administration was the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act. The Act extended some of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to people with disabilities. It prohibited discrimination and required reasonable accommodations in the workplace, as well as expanding public accessibility.

- Bush was not always supportive of civil rights legislation. Bush twice vetoed family and medical leave bills because he did not believe that the federal government should mandate companies to provide a specific benefit. The decision to support ADA and oppose family and medical leave mandates and a civil rights bill was thought by many to show inconsistency in government intrusion in the workplace.

- Bush was more active environmentally than Reagan was. In June 1990, he proposed major amendment to the 1963 Clean Air Act to specifically reduce pollution in three areas: - acid rain, urban air pollution, and toxic emissions

- Omnibus Budget Act of 1990 - cut expenditures and raised taxes.

"Despite the reality of the fiscal and political situation, Bush was harshly criticized by members of his own party for compromising with Democrats on the Omnibus Budget Act of 1990 that cut expenditures and raised taxes" (Berliner 420).

"The S&L crisis, along with several crashes in real estate prices, should have been an indicator that the economy was not as healthy when Bush entered the Oval Office as it may have seemed" (Berliner 421).

"The dismissals [referring to Reagan's firing of striking controllers] sent a message that the administration would, indeed, be less friendly to unions and emboldened corporations to negotiate from a position of power."

"He felt that the government should be less involved in how people lived and worked."

"It was a period of major changes in a world for a president who approached the responsibility of the office with a pragmatic and deliberate style."

2. lower taxes

3. balance the budget

4. reduce the size and scope of the federal government

solution to our problem; government is the problem"

- Reagan followed a theory called supply-side economics ----- taxing the wealthy and business less, they will invest more capital------investment will stimulate productivity, growth and employment

- Reagan's supply-side program was part;y based on the Laffer curve: the idea that increased tax revenues could occur with a decrease in tax rates

- Reaganomics were intended to grow the economy and, in doing so, reduce unemployment

- For the rest of Reagan's presidency the GDP grew by a modest 3 to 4%

- As the economy grew, unemployment did too

- Federal Reserve Bank tried to bring down inflation that had plagued the last two years of Carter administration

- A significant problem facing the United States during the Reagan years was the Social Security System

- Another way Reagan wanted to reduce the size of government was to reduce regulations

- He felt that the government should be less involved in how people lived and work