US Presidents For Dummies

by Marcus Stadelmann

  The union’s actions were illegal under federal law. But instead of negotiating, as the union leaders expected, Reagan fired all 13,000 air traffic controllers, hired replacements, and disbanded the union. Reagan refused to rehire the controllers even after major labor leaders in the United States asked him to do so. No other union challenged Reagan during the rest of his presidency.

  Implementing conservative social policies

  Reagan changed U.S. social policies — a promise made during his campaign. The emphasis on civil rights stopped. Reagan attempted to curtail affirmative action and stop court-ordered busing, where white students were bused to inner city schools and black students to affluent suburban schools.

  Federal affirmative action, which set aside government contracts for minorities, was stopped in 1981. In addition, Reagan’s administration supported lawsuits challenging the legality of affirmative action.

  Packing the Supreme Court

  Reagan knew that to be successful he had to have the support of the Supreme Court, so he appointed conservatives to the bench. His first selection was Sandra Day O’Connor, a conservative judge from Arizona and the first woman on the Supreme Court. She was confirmed by the U.S. Senate easily.

  Reagan then appointed Antonin Scalia, a conservative Catholic who became one of the most conservative members on the court. Reagan elevated William Rehnquist to Chief Justice, and conservatives controlled the Supreme Court. However, to Reagan’s great disappointment, the conservative court did not roll back affirmative action or end the practice of abortion.

  Reestablishing U.S. World Domination

  Before Reagan took office, U.S. prestige and power had suffered greatly. The Soviet Union used the Carter years to expand and rearm. After Cuba, a second country in Latin America, Nicaragua, went communist and was destabilizing its neighbor, El Salvador. Reagan was especially concerned with growing Soviet power in Latin America. The United States was perceived as weak, while Soviet power was growing.

  Influencing events around the globe

  Reagan took decisive action on the foreign policy front, especially in the cause of wiping out communism. Some of the more notable events are

  The Reagan Doctrine: This doctrine pledged economic and military aid to any movement fighting communism. Under the doctrine, the United States gave aid to rebels fighting communism in Angola and Nicaragua.

  Central America: The United States cut off support from the socialist government of Nicaragua in 1981. After Nicaragua signed a pact with the Soviet Union, the United States gave support to the anticommunist forces in Nicaragua, known as the Contras. In addition, Reagan started to support the right wing government in El Salvador, which was fighting a communist uprising sponsored by Nicaragua.

  Grenada: In 1983, Reagan invaded the Caribbean island of Grenada. The island had gone communist after a pro-American government was overthrown. Cuban military advisors were present to help build up the infrastructure of the island. Because Reagan feared another Soviet ally in Latin America, he invaded and liberated the island nation.

  Lebanon: In 1982, Reagan sent marines to Lebanon to protect a new Christian government. A suicide bomber attacked the headquarters of the marines, killing 241 marines. Reagan withdrew the marines in 1984.

  Afghanistan: The United States began supporting the Afghan freedom fighters, or mujahidin, opposing the Soviet Union, supplying them with stinger missiles, which gave the Afghans the ability to shoot down Soviet aircraft and take away the Soviet’s air superiority.

  Libya: In 1986, a Muslim terrorist killed a U.S. soldier in a dance hall in Berlin, Germany. Reagan blamed Libya and its leader Muammar Qaddafi. He initiated an air strike against Libya.

  SDI: In 1983, Reagan proposed the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), also referred to as “Star Wars,” an antiballistic missile system designed to shoot down incoming nuclear missiles before they hit the United States. In theory, the system would protect the country from nuclear attack, thus restoring U.S. superiority in the nuclear arms race. Billions of dollars were spent on it before President George Bush abandoned it.

  Massive rearmament: Reagan poured billions of dollars into defense to restore U.S. military might. The Soviet Union tried to match the strength of the U.S. military, but couldn’t. By 1986, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev decided that it was time to end the arms race, and arms control negotiations took place.

  Dealing with the Soviets

  In 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev came to power in the Soviet Union. He was young and energetic, and he wanted to reform the Soviet Union. He recognized that his country couldn’t keep up with the United States in the arms race and approached Reagan to discuss ending the arms race. The two met in 1985 and 1986 and hit it off on a personal level. Détente, or peaceful coexistence, was reestablished. In the following years, many weapons treaties were negotiated, including:

  The Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces Treaty: Gorbachev and Reagan signed this historic treaty in 1987. Both countries agreed to engage in disarmament — the destruction of existing weapons. Intermediate range missiles scattered all over Europe were to be destroyed, with foreign observers acting as witnesses. Close to 2,000 intermediate range missiles were destroyed under the provisions of the treaty.

  The Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty: This treaty provided for massive cutbacks among conventional forces, such as tanks located throughout Europe.

  The Soviet Union also agreed to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan and abandon the objective of world communism. The collapse of the Soviet Empire had begun.

  Dealing with Scandal in his Second Term

  In 1984, Reagan ran for reelection. The economy was doing well and the United States seemed more powerful than ever. At 73, Reagan was the oldest man ever to run for the presidency: His age became an issue, but one he put to rest with a stellar performance in the second debate. Reagan went on to win the largest victory in the history of the country with 49 states and 525 electoral votes. Former vice president Walter Mondale carried only his home state of Minnesota and the District of Columbia.

  Reagan’s policy successes came to an abrupt halt in late 1986, as he spent the remainder of his term dealing with the Iran-Contra scandal.

  A story broke in Lebanon in November 1986, revealing that the Reagan administration had been selling weapons to Iran in exchange for freeing U.S. hostages in Lebanon. The exchange was illegal, and it embarrassed the Reagan administration. The profits from the illegal arms sales were then used to fund the Contras in Nicaragua, which was also illegal. Congress had repeatedly refused Reagan’s requests to give aid to the Contras — so-called freedom fighters trying to overthrow the Nicaraguan government. Congress instead passed a bill making military aid to the Contras illegal.

  In the end, Congress issued a 690-page report stating that Reagan was unaware of the illegal doings of some of his staff, though it criticized Reagan’s management style. This analysis was no surprise to many political observers who knew that Reagan liked to delegate authority: He wasn’t involved in day-to-day decisions.

  Even though many believed that Reagan was aware of the dealings in the Iran-Contra scandal, the public never blamed him for it, and his approval ratings remained high. The media gave him the nickname the “Teflon president,” because none of the accusations stuck.

  Keeping the Revolution Alive during Retirement

  After Reagan left office, he stayed active in Republican politics, campaigning for his vice president, George Bush, in 1988 and contributing to Bush’s victory. The Reagan Democrats transferred their votes to Bush, who ran on a platform built around continuing Reagan’s policies. Though he campaigned for Bush again in 1992, Bill Clinton won that election.

  Reagan’s memoirs, An American Life, became a bestseller. The opening of the Reagan library in Simi Valley, California in 1991 was one of the big highlights of the former president’s career. The library is considered the best presidential library in the country (that’s where I rank it in Chapte
r 28).

  In November 1994, Reagan announced that he had Alzheimer’s disease. His public appearances decreased, and his wife Nancy attended the 1996 Republican national convention on his behalf. At the time of this writing, Ronald Reagan, who turned 91 in 2002, is the oldest living president in the history of the United States.

  Chapter 24

  Acting Out: George Bush and Bill Clinton

  In This Chapter

  Ending the Cold War, starting a war with Iraq: Bush

  Generating prosperity and scandal: Clinton

  T his chapter covers two of the country’s recent presidents — George Bush and Bill Clinton. Together, the two of them would have made a potent combination, with Bush’s expertise in foreign affairs and Clinton’s ability to connect with the average voter. Unfortunately, they were each undermined by their weaknesses — Bush by his domestic policy weakness and Clinton by his personal weakness.

  George Bush won the presidency in 1988 on the coattails of the Reagan revolution but disappointed both conservatives and liberals. He broke a campaign pledge when he raised taxes to cover an increasing deficit, and he pursued conservative social policies.

  Bush’s major successes came in the area of foreign relations. He presided over the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union, and he punished aggression in the Middle East by forcefully expelling Iraq from Kuwait with Operation Desert Storm. For his foreign policy accomplishments, he deserves credit. Bush is arguably one of the best foreign policy presidents in U.S. history. He loved foreign policy and excelled at it. But his domestic policies destroyed his presidency — especially his tax hike in 1991.

  Bill Clinton, on the other hand, excelled in domestic politics. He gave the United States 10 years of economic growth and prosperity. He disliked foreign policy, and this showed in unsuccessful endeavors in Somalia and Haiti. His second term was hamstrung by sexual scandals.

  Bringing an End to the Cold War: George Bush

  George H. Bush, shown in Figure 24-1, will go down in history as one of the great foreign policy presidents in U.S. history. During his administration, the Soviet Union collapsed and the Cold War came to an end. After almost 50 years of competition between the United States and the Soviet Union, the United States emerged victorious. Bush handled the liberation of Eastern Europe skillfully. Without his diplomatic skills, the reunification of Germany, divided since the end of World War II, would not have occurred so quickly. Bush added to his foreign policy success by implementing major arms control agreements with the Soviet Union, and later Russia, to reduce the threat of nuclear war in the world.

  When Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait in 1990, Bush stood up to him, punished him for his aggression by defeating the Iraqi army, and liberated Kuwait, defending American national oil interests. Bush was a great foreign policy leader, indeed, and history will look kindly upon his presidency.

  Figure 24-1: George Herbert Walker Bush, 41st president of the United States.

  Courtesy of the Library of Congress

  George Bush was just the second sitting vice president in more than 150 years to win the presidency — Martin Van Buren was the first in 1836. Bush was also the second sitting vice president in history to lose reelection — again, Martin Van Buren was the first in 1840.

  Growing up prominent

  George Bush was born into one of the most prominent families in the United States. He grew up in a wealthy family committed to civil service, and his parents instilled in him a sense of civic obligation. Bush was born in Massachusetts in 1924, but he grew up in Connecticut. His father was a prominent Wall Street lawyer who later served two terms in the U.S. Senate.

  Young Bush attended the best schools and was ready to go to Yale when World War II broke out. He enlisted in the navy in 1942 and became a torpedo bomber pilot. While serving his country, Bush became one of the youngest and most distinguished pilots of World War II. He flew more than 50 bombing missions against Japan. In 1944, his plane was shot down by the Japanese. Bush survived hours in the Pacific Ocean before a U.S. submarine rescued him.

  Bush returned home in late 1944. He married Barbara Pierce, the daughter of a magazine publishing magnate — her father published Redbook and McCall’s magazines — in 1945. Bush also returned to Yale, graduating in 1948 with a degree in economics.

  Instead of relying on his family connections in the Northeast, Bush moved to Texas to make a life of his own. He started a business producing oil-drilling equipment. Within a few years, Bush was a millionaire.

  Bush’s early political career

  Like his father, Bush was a moderate Republican. In 1962, he became the chairman of the Republican Party in Harris County (Houston), Texas. A couple of years later, Bush thought he was ready to run for office. His father had been a senator, so Bush figured he should be one, too. He ran against incumbent Democrat Ralph Yarborough in 1964 and lost. However, he gained the attention of the Republican Party by receiving a record number of votes for a Republican in Texas. Former vice-president Richard Nixon took Bush under his wing, and in 1966, Bush became the first Republican to represent Houston in the House of Representatives.

  Bush’s career in Congress was a distinguished one. He pushed to give 18-year-olds the right to vote, and he pushed to abolish the military draft. In 1970, Bush ran for the Senate one more time. This time he faced Lloyd Bentsen. Again he lost the race for the Senate. President Nixon, still seeing a lot of potential in Bush, came to the rescue by appointing Bush ambassador to the United Nations.

  Gaining a wide variety of experience

  From 1971 to 1977, Bush served in a lot of government positions, including

  Ambassador to the United Nations (1971–1973): In this position, Bush gained knowledge of foreign affairs and established many personal ties. These ties came in handy during his presidency.

  Chairman of the Republican National Committee (1973–1974): In this function, Bush raised money for the Republican Party and was forced to defend President Nixon to the public.

  Bush came to believe that Nixon was guilty in the Watergate scandal. In 1974, Bush actually sent his mentor a letter asking him to resign.

  U.S. Envoy to China (1974–1975): In this position, Bush laid the foundation for establishing diplomatic relations between the United States and China, which was accomplished in 1979.

  Head of the CIA (1976–1977): As the head of the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency), Bush had to defend the agency to Congress many times. He is widely credited for restoring trust and prestige to the CIA.

  With the Democrats winning the White House in 1976, Bush’s public career was over for the time being. So he turned his attention to the big prize — the presidency.

  Becoming vice president

  In 1980, Bush ran for the Republican presidential nomination — he was the only real challenger to Ronald Reagan. He ran as a moderate, pointing out his differences with the more conservative Reagan. In the campaign, Bush even referred to Reagan’s economic agenda as “voodoo economics.”

  When Reagan won the nomination, he selected Bush to be his running mate. Bush had to promise to support Reagan’s policies, even if he disagreed with them.

  President Reagan believed strongly in delegating authority, which made Bush a very active player in the Reagan administration. Bush attended all cabinet meetings and defended Reagan’s policies in speeches he gave throughout the country and around the world. His world travel gave him more foreign policy connections.

  At home, Bush was put in charge of the task forces on terrorism and drugs. Bush was involved in the Iran-Contra scandal, but he denied any wrongdoing and was later cleared of all charges.

  Running for the presidency one more time

  In 1988, Bush was the frontrunner for the Republican nomination. He easily beat a challenge by Senator Robert Dole of Kansas. Bush benefited from the fact that Reagan had retired as one of the most popular presidents in U.S. history. Reagan actively campaigned for Bush, and Bush promised to cont
inue Reagan’s policies. Bush promised the U.S. public that, as president, he would preside over a “kinder, gentler America,” where especially the poor would benefit. At the Republican convention, he further pledged not to raise taxes, saying “The Congress will push me to raise taxes, and I’ll say no, and they’ll push, and I’ll say no, and they’ll push again and I’ll say to them, ‘read my lips, no new taxes.’” — a promise he later had to break.

  The 1988 campaign got nasty. Bush, trailing in the polls, attacked his Democratic opponent, Michael Dukakis, the governor of Massachusetts, by accusing him of being soft on crime. Bush also highlighted Dukakis’s plan to make cuts in the military and attacked him for supporting the right to burn the U.S. flag. Bush’s negative attacks worked. He won 54 percent of the vote and carried 426 electoral votes to Dukakis’s 111.

  President George Herbert Walker Bush (1989–1993)

  Unlike Reagan, Bush was a hands-on president. He showed up early for work, and he deeply immersed himself in decision making. This work ethic showed especially in the area of foreign affairs, where Bush had many major accomplishments. However, Bush wasn’t nearly as successful in domestic policy.

  Excelling in foreign policy