George H. W. Bush - 02/06/1989: Bank Bail-Out Plan Introduced
President Bush, at a White House press conference, introduces his bail-out plan for troubled savings and loans banks. It provides for the sale of $50 billion in government bonds to finance the bail-out and gives the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) regulatory oversight over S&Ls. February 06, 1989
George H. W. Bush - 03/14/1989: Semi-Automatic Rifle Ban
The Bush administration, at the urging of federal drug czar, William Bennett, announces a temporary ban on the importation of semi-automatic rifles, a reversal of President Bush's earlier statements indicating that no restriction on these firearms would be enacted. March 14, 1989
George H. W. Bush - 03/24/1989: Exxon Valdez Oil Spill
In the worst oil spill on American territory, the Exxon Valdez supertanker runs aground in southeastern Alaska. The tanker dumps 240,000 barrels of oil into the surrounding waters and causes extensive environmental damage. March 24, 1989
George H. W. Bush - 04/17/1989: Bush Offers Poland Assistance
President Bush offers a program of special assistance for Poland, whose Communist government has agreed to negotiations with the opposition Solidarity party which produce a plan for free elections. Elections are held in August, 1989, which lead to the end of single-party rule in Poland. April 17, 1989
George H. W. Bush - 06/04/1989: Tiananmen Square Massacre
The People's Liberation Army, the military arm of the Chinese government, uses tanks and armored cars to suppress a burgeoning pro-democracy movement that had encamped in Beijing's Tiananmen Square. Estimates on the number of demonstrators killed vary between 700 and 2,700. June 04, 1989
George H. W. Bush - 06/05/1989: Bush Condemns China’s Actions
In the wake of the Tiananmen Square massacres, President Bush announces a number of condemnatory actions, including the suspension of the sale of American weapons to China. June 05, 1989
George H. W. Bush - 08/09/1989: Bail-Out Plan Revised
President Bush signs into law the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989, a compromise with Congress on the bail-out of savings and loans. This law differs from Bush's February 6 proposal of financing the bail-out from the Treasury Department through the sale of bonds. It offers $166 billion worth of aid to troubled savings and loans institutions and creates a new government body, the Resolution Trust Company, to oversee the merger or liquidation of troubled banks. August 09, 1989
George H. W. Bush - 11/09/1989: Berlin Wall Falls
The Berlin Wall falls, marking the symbolic end of Communist rule in Eastern Europe. November 09, 1989
George H. W. Bush - Berlin Wall Falls
On November 9, 1989, East Germany fully opened its borders, including the imposing gate at the Berlin Wall. Thousands of Germans, from both East and West Germany, climbed over the wall and began to dismantle it with shovels and hammers. The jubilant scene illustrated the great changes taking place with the ending of the Cold War.
Since 1961, the Berlin Wall had stood as a symbolic barrier between the East and West, between communism and democracy: its fall reflected changing international relations. This episode, although memorable, was not the first or last in the relatively swift collapse of communism. Earlier in 1989, Hungary and Austria had opened their border. By spring of 1990, liberal political actors had wrested the governments of Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, Czechoslovakia, Lithuania, and Romania from the hands of communist leaders.
The Soviet Union itself, for decades the most powerful adversary of the United States, had been undergoing fundamental political changes throughout the 1980s, shaking its communist foundations. Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev had worked to change the Soviet Union through the doctrines of perestoika (restructuring) and glasnost (opening). He had also worked with Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush to thaw the Cold War.
By December 1991, the Soviet Union had dissolved and Gorbachev had resigned; the Commonwealth of Independent States had replaced the Soviet Union. Many conservative commentators have praised Reagan and Bush for substantially contributing to the fall of communism. These observers say that the tremendous military build-up of the 1980s forced the Soviet Union to spend scanty resources to keep up, which ultimately produced the instability that spelled its end. Others claim that internal developments in the Soviet Union-such as its unsuccessful war with Afghanistan and autonomous rebellions from within-are more to blame: high U.S. spending, they claim, only sapped resources from important domestic programs and meaningful diplomatic conversation.
It is unlikely that this debate will soon be resolved, but the basic triumph of democracy seems inarguable. President George H. W. Bush embraced the geopolitical upheaval cautiously, and he was criticized for failing to give the moment adequate meaning and communicating its import to the American public. However, the President responded cautiously to try to avoid a backlash by hard-liners in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union, a stance that well-informed observers applauded.
The dismantling of the Berlin Wall was a poignant illustration of the collapse of communism and the end of the Cold War. The world was then faced with restructuring the geopolitical balance that had been in place for more than forty years.
November 09, 1989
George H. W. Bush - 11/17/1989: Fair Labor Standards Amendments
President Bush signs the Fair Labor Standards Amendments of 1989, which by April 1991 would raise the minimum wage to $4.25 an hour. The law was a significant victory for Bush over congressional Democrats, who in the spring of 1989 passed a bill, which President Bush vetoed on June 13, that raised the minimum wage to $4.55. November 17, 1989
George H. W. Bush - 11/21/1989: New Anti-Drug Law
President Bush signs a new anti-drug law that provides more than $3 billion for expanded anti-drug programs, including treatment facilities, federal prison expansion, education, and law enforcement. November 21, 1989
George H. W. Bush - 12/02/1989: Bush Meets with Gorbachev
President Bush and Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev hold their first meeting of Bush's presidency in the harbor of Valetta, Malta, to discuss nuclear disarmament and the strengthening of Soviet-American trade relations. Both leaders announce that the Cold War is effectively over. December 02, 1989 - December 03, 1989
George H. W. Bush - 12/20/1989: Panama Invasion
American armed forces invade Panama to capture Manuel Antonio Noriega, the country's military dictator. Noriega, who had been indicted in the United States on drug trafficking charges, surrendered on January 3, 1990. He was convicted on drug charges on April 9, 1992, and sent to prison. December 20, 1989
George H. W. Bush - 06/01/1990: Arms Reduction Agreement
At a summit meeting in Washington, D.C., President Bush and Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev sign the broadest arms reduction agreement in two decades. The agreement stipulates that the United States and the Soviet Union scrap 25 percent and 40 percent of their respective nuclear stockpiles. June 01, 1990
George H. W. Bush - 06/26/1990: New Taxes Proposed
President Bush, in a written statement released to the press, reneges on his “no new taxes” pledge from the 1988 presidential campaign by stating that in order to solve the deficit problem, tax increases might be necessary for the 1991 fiscal year. June 26, 1990
George H. W. Bush - 07/26/1990: Americans with Disabilities Act
President Bush signs the Americans with Disabilities Act, which affects over 43 million Americans and forbids discrimination in employment, public accommodations, and transportation. July 26, 1990
George H. W. Bush - 08/02/1990: Iraq Invades Kuwait
Iraq invades Kuwait. President Bush strongly condemns Iraq's actions, setting the stage for an American response. August 02, 1990
George H. W. Bush - 10/03/1990: German States Reunite
Seven months after East Germans overwhelmingly approve reunification, the two German states are formally reunited. October 03, 1990
George H. W. Bush - 10/22/1990: Civil Rights Act Vetoed
President Bush vetoes the Civil Rights Act of 1990, stating that the bill would “introduce the destructive force of quotas into our nation's employment system.” October 22, 1990
George H. W. Bush - 11/05/1990: Budget Law Signed
President Bush signs a budget law intended to reduce the federal budget by almost $500 billion over the next five years. The law includes $140 billion dollars in new taxes. November 05, 1990
George H. W. Bush - 11/08/1990: U.S. Troops in Saudi Arabia
President Bush increases the number of American troops in Saudi Arabia to 400,000. November 08, 1990
George H. W. Bush - 11/15/1990: Clean Air Act Signed
President Bush signs the Clean Air Act of 1990, which tightens air pollution standards and seeks to reduce urban smog, cut acid rain pollution by one-half, and eliminate industrial emissions of toxic chemicals by the end of the 20th century. November 15, 1990
George H. W. Bush - 11/19/1990: CFE Treaty
The United States, Canada, and twenty other European nations sign the Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty (CFE). The CFE limits NATO and Warsaw Pact weapons holdings and caps the American troop presence in Central Europe at 195,000. November 19, 1990
George H. W. Bush - 11/29/1990: Immigration Act of 1990
President Bush signs the Immigration Act of 1990, the most extensive revision to immigration law in more than a half century. The new law allows for the admission of 700,000 aliens each year. November 29, 1990
George H. W. Bush - 01/17/1991: Persian Gulf War Begins
The Persian Gulf War, code-named Operation Desert Storm, begins with a massive, American-led air attack on Iraq. January 17, 1991
George H. W. Bush - Persian Gulf War Begins
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