George H. W. Bush

=== Domestic affairs ===
==== Economy and fiscal issues ====
The U.S. economy had generally performed well since emerging from [[Early 1980s recession in the United States|recession in late 1982]], but it slipped into a mild [[Early 1990s recession in the United States|recession in 1990]]. The unemployment rate rose from 5.9 percent in 1989 to a high of 7.8 percent in mid-1991.<ref name="Accepting the Harsh Truth Of a Blue-Collar Recession, New York Times, Dec. 25, 1991">{{Cite news|last=Lohr|first=Steve|date=December 25, 1991|title=Accepting the Harsh Truth Of a Blue-Collar Recession|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/12/25/business/accepting-the-harsh-truth-of-a-blue-collar-recession.html|access-date=January 5, 2022|issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref name="Blue-collar Towns Have Highest Jobless Numbers, Hartford Courant, Sept. 1, 1991">[http://articles.courant.com/1991-09-01/business/0000212544_1_white-collar-unemployment-aetna-life Blue-collar Towns Have Highest Jobless Numbers] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180717215054/http://articles.courant.com/1991-09-01/business/0000212544_1_white-collar-unemployment-aetna-life |date=July 17, 2018 }}, ''Hartford Courant'' [Connecticut], W. Joseph Campbell, September 1, 1991.</ref> Large [[United States public debt|federal deficits]], spawned during the Reagan years, rose from $152.1&nbsp;billion in 1989<ref>{{cite news| last=Redburn| first=Tom| title=Budget Deficit for 1989 Is Put at $152.1 Billion : Spending: Congress and the White House remain locked in a stalemate over a capital gains tax cut| date=October 28, 1989| url=https://articles.latimes.com/1989-10-28/news/mn-697_1_capital-gains-tax-cut| work=[[Los Angeles Times]]| access-date=June 7, 2018}}</ref> to $220&nbsp;billion for 1990;<ref name=NYT10-27-90>{{cite news| last=Uchitelle| first=Louis| title=The Struggle in Congress; U.S. Deficit for 1990 Surged to Near-Record $220.4 Billion, but How Bad Is That?| date=October 27, 1990| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/10/27/us/struggle-congress-us-deficit-for-1990-surged-near-record-220.4-billion-but-bad.html| work=[[The New York Times]]| access-date=June 7, 2018}}</ref> the $220&nbsp;billion deficit represented a threefold increase since 1980.{{sfn|Greene|2015|pp=72–73}} As the public became increasingly concerned about the economy and other domestic affairs, Bush's well-received handling of foreign affairs became less of an issue for most voters.{{sfn|Waterman|1996|pp=340–341}} Bush's top domestic priority was to end federal budget deficits, which he saw as a liability for the country's long-term economic health and standing in the world.{{sfn|Meacham|2015|pp=360–361}} As he was opposed to major defense spending cuts{{sfn|Patterson|2005|pp=228–229}} and had pledged not to raise taxes, the president had major difficulties in balancing the budget.<ref name="millercenterdomesticaffairs">{{cite web|url=http://millercenter.org/president/biography/bush-domestic-affairs|title=George H. W. Bush: Domestic Affairs|publisher=Miller Center of Public Affairs, University of Virginia|access-date=January 18, 2017|date=October 4, 2016}}</ref>

Bush and congressional leaders agreed to avoid major changes to the budget for [[fiscal year#United States|fiscal year]] 1990, which began in October 1989. However, both sides knew spending cuts or new taxes would be necessary for the following year's budget to avoid the draconian automatic domestic spending cuts required by the [[Gramm–Rudman–Hollings Balanced Budget Act]] of 1987.{{sfn|Greene|2015|pp=95–97}} Bush and other leaders also wanted to cut deficits because Federal Reserve Chair [[Alan Greenspan]] refused to lower interest rates and thus stimulate economic growth unless the federal budget deficit was reduced.{{sfn|Meacham|2015|pp=409–410}} In a statement released in late June 1990, Bush said that he would be open to a deficit reduction program which included spending cuts, incentives for economic growth, budget process reform, as well as tax increases.<ref>{{cite news| last1=Balz| first1=Dan| last2=Yang| first2=John E.| title=Bush Abandons Campaign Pledge, Calls for New Taxes| date=June 27, 1990| newspaper=The Washington Post| url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1990/06/27/bush-abandons-campaign-pledge-calls-for-new-taxes/a7ea302f-cecb-43b0-8d8e-5009bc294ee3/?noredirect=on| access-date=June 7, 2018}}</ref> To [[Fiscal conservatism|fiscal conservatives]] in the Republican Party, Bush's statement represented a betrayal, and they heavily criticized him for compromising so early in the negotiations.<ref>{{cite book |last=Heclo |first=Hugh |editor1-last=Nelson |editor1-first=Michael |editor2-last=Perry |editor2-first=Barbara A. |title=41: Inside the Presidency of George H. W. Bush |publisher=Cornell University Press |date=2014 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/41insidepresiden00unse/page/68 68–69] |chapter=Chapter 2: George Bush and American Conservatism |isbn=978-0-8014-7927-4 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eR35AgAAQBAJ&q=%22Conservatives+began+to+smell+betrayal+in+the+Washington+air%22&pg=PA68 |url=https://archive.org/details/41insidepresiden00unse/page/68 }}</ref>

In September 1990, Bush and congressional Democrats announced a compromise to cut mandatory and discretionary programs funding while raising revenue, partly through a higher gas tax. The compromise additionally included a [[PAYGO|"pay as you go"]] provision that required that new programs be paid for at the time of implementation.{{sfn|Greene|2015|pp=100–104}} House Minority Whip [[Newt Gingrich]] led the conservative opposition to the bill, strongly opposing any form of tax increase.{{sfn|Meacham|2015|pp=446–447}} Some liberals also criticized the budget cuts in the compromise, and in October, the House rejected the deal, resulting in a brief government shutdown. Without the strong backing of the Republican Party, Bush agreed to another compromise bill, this one more favorable to Democrats. The [[Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990]] (OBRA-90), enacted on October 27, 1990, dropped much of the gasoline tax increase in favor of higher income taxes on top earners. It included cuts to domestic spending, but the cuts were not as deep as those proposed in the original compromise. Bush's decision to sign the bill damaged his standing with conservatives and the general public, but it also laid the groundwork for the budget surpluses of the late 1990s.{{sfn|Greene|2015|pp=104–106}}

==== Discrimination ====
{{Quote box
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|quote    =  "Even the strongest person couldn't scale the [[Berlin Wall]] to gain the elusive promise of independence that lay just beyond. And so, together we rejoiced when that barrier fell. And now I sign legislation which takes a sledgehammer to another wall, one which has for too many generations separated Americans with disabilities from the freedom they could glimpse, but not grasp."
|source   = —Bush's remarks at the signing ceremony for the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990{{sfn|Meacham|2015|p=395}}
|width    = 30em
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The [[disability|disabled]] had not received legal protections under the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964, and many faced discrimination and segregation by the time Bush took office. In 1988, [[Lowell P. Weicker Jr.]] and [[Tony Coelho]] introduced the Americans with Disabilities Act, which barred employment discrimination against qualified individuals with disabilities. The bill had passed the Senate but not the House and was reintroduced in 1989. Though some conservatives opposed the bill due to its costs and potential burdens on businesses, Bush strongly supported it, partly because his son, Neil, had struggled with [[dyslexia]]. After the bill passed both houses of Congress, Bush signed the [[Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990]] into law in July 1990.{{sfn|Greene|2015|pp=90–92}} The act required employers and public accommodations to make "reasonable accommodations" for disabled people while providing an exception when such accommodations imposed an "undue hardship".<ref name="griffin1">{{cite news|last1=Griffin|first1=Rodman|title=The Disabilities Act|url=http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/document.php?id=cqresrre1991122700|access-date=August 25, 2016|publisher=CQPress|date=December 27, 1991}}</ref>

Senator [[Ted Kennedy]] later led the congressional passage of a separate civil rights bill designed to facilitate launching employment discrimination lawsuits.{{sfn|Greene|2015|pp=79–80}} In vetoing the bill, Bush argued that it would lead to racial quotas in hiring.<ref>[[Ann Devroy|Devroy, Ann]]. "Bush Vetoes Civil Rights Bill; Measure Said to Encourage Job Quotas; Women, Minorities Sharply Critical". ''The Washington Post'' October 23, 1990, Print.</ref><ref name=holmes1>{{cite news|title=President Vetoes Bill on Job Rights; Showdown is Set |last=Holmes |first=Steven A. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/10/23/us/president-vetoes-bill-on-job-rights-showdown-is-set.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=October 23, 1990 |access-date=March 21, 2013}}</ref> In November 1991, Bush signed the [[Civil Rights Act of 1991]], which was largely similar to the bill he had vetoed in the previous year.{{sfn|Greene|2015|pp=79–80}}

In August 1990, Bush signed the [[Ryan White CARE Act]], the largest federally funded program dedicated to assisting persons living with [[HIV/AIDS]].<ref>{{cite news| title='He Did Not Lead on AIDS': With Bush, Activists See a Mixed Legacy| last=Stack| first=Liam| date=December 3, 2018| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/03/us/george-bush-hiv-aids.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220102/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/03/us/george-bush-hiv-aids.html |archive-date=January 2, 2022 |url-access=limited |url-status=live| newspaper=The New York Times| access-date=April 29, 2020}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Throughout his presidency, the [[AIDS epidemic]] grew dramatically in the U.S. and around the world, and Bush often found himself at odds with AIDS activist groups who criticized him for not placing a high priority on HIV/AIDS research and funding. Frustrated by the administration's lack of urgency on the issue, [[ACT UP]] dumped the ashes of deceased HIV/AIDS patients on the White House lawn during a viewing of the [[AIDS Quilt]] in 1992.<ref>{{cite web| last=Domonoske| first=Camila| title='Kinder Gentler Indifference': Activists Challenge George H.W. Bush's Record On AIDS| date=December 4, 2018| publisher=NPR| url=https://www.npr.org/2018/12/04/673276127/kinder-gentler-indifference-activists-challenge-george-h-w-bush-s-record-on-aids| access-date=April 29, 2020}}</ref> By that time, HIV had become the [[List of causes of death by rate|leading cause of death]] in the U.S. for men aged 25–44.<ref>{{cite web| title=Update: Mortality Attributable to HIV Infection Among Persons Aged 25–44 Years – United States, 1991 and 1992| url=https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00022174.htm| work=The Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report| date=November 19, 1993| id=42(45)| pages=869–872| publisher=Centers for Disease Control and Prevention| location=Atlanta, Georgia| access-date=April 29, 2020}}</ref>

==== Environment ====
In June 1989, the Bush administration proposed a bill to amend the [[Clean Air Act (United States)|Clean Air Act]]. Working with Senate Majority Leader [[George J. Mitchell]], the administration won passage of the amendments over the opposition of business-aligned members of Congress who feared the impact of tougher regulations.{{sfn|Greene|2015|pp=92–94}} The legislation sought to curb [[acid rain]] and smog by requiring decreased emissions of chemicals such as [[sulfur dioxide]],<ref name="cleanair1">{{cite news|title=Bush Signs Major Revision of Anti-Pollution Law|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/11/16/us/bush-signs-major-revision-of-anti-pollution-law.html|access-date=August 25, 2016|newspaper=The New York Times|date=November 16, 1990}}</ref> and was the first major update to the Clean Air Act since 1977.<ref name="pshabecoff1">{{cite news|last1=Shabecoff|first1=Philip|title=Senators Approve Clean Air Measure By a Vote of 89-11|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/04/04/us/senators-approve-clean-air-measure-by-a-vote-of-89-11.html|access-date=August 25, 2016|newspaper=The New York Times|date=April 4, 1990}}</ref> Bush also signed the [[Oil Pollution Act of 1990]] in response to the [[Exxon Valdez oil spill|''Exxon Valdez'' oil spill]]. However, the [[League of Conservation Voters]] criticized some of Bush's other environmental actions, including his opposition to stricter auto-mileage standards.<ref name="ebrown1">{{cite news|last1=Brown|first1=Elizabeth|title=Conservation League Gives Bush 'D' on Environment|url=http://www.csmonitor.com/1991/0319/19071.html|access-date=August 25, 2016|newspaper=The Christian Science Monitor|date=March 19, 1991}}</ref>

==== Points of Light ====
{{Main|Points of Light}}

Bush devoted attention to voluntary service to solve some of America's most serious social problems. He often used the "thousand points of light" theme to describe the power of citizens to solve community problems. In his 1989 inaugural address, Bush said, "I have spoken of a thousand points of light, of all the community organizations that are spread like stars throughout the Nation, doing good."<ref name="President's Report">{{cite book|title=The Points of Light Movement: The President's Report to the Nation|publisher=Executive Office of the President, 1993|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cH8vlwSAjv0C|year=1993}}</ref> During his presidency, Bush honored numerous volunteers with the Daily Point of Light Award, a tradition that his presidential successors continued.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Haven |first1=Stephanie |title=Obama, Bush present 5,000th Daily Point of Light Award for volunteers |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/obama-bush-present-5000th-daily-point-of-light-award-for-volunteers/ |publisher=CBS News |date=July 15, 2013}}</ref> In 1990, the Points of Light Foundation was created as a nonprofit organization in Washington to promote this spirit of [[volunteerism]].<ref name=Perry>{{cite journal|last=Perry|first=Suzanne|title=After Two Tough Years, New Points of Light Charity Emerges|journal=Chronicle of Philanthropy|date=October 15, 2009|url=http://philanthropy.com/article/After-Two-Tough-Years-New/57753/|access-date=May 23, 2013}}</ref> In 2007, the Points of Light Foundation merged with the [[Hands On Network]] to create a new organization, [[Points of Light]].<ref name=Edward>{{cite journal|last=Edward|first=Deborah|title=Getting to Yes: The Points of Light and Hands On Network Merger|journal=RGK Center for Philanthropy and Community Service, the University of Texas at Austin|year=2008|url=http://www.rgkcenter.org/sites/default/files/file/research/gettingtoyes.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921061145/http://www.rgkcenter.org/sites/default/files/file/research/gettingtoyes.pdf |archive-date=September 21, 2013 |url-status=live|access-date=May 23, 2013}}</ref>

==== Judicial appointments ====
{{Further|George H. W. Bush Supreme Court candidates|George H. W. Bush judicial appointments|George H. W. Bush judicial appointment controversies}}
[[File:Clarence Thomas official SCOTUS portrait.jpg|thumb|left|upright=.85|Bush appointed [[Clarence Thomas]] to the Supreme Court in 1991.]]

Bush appointed two justices to the [[Supreme Court of the United States]]. In 1990, Bush appointed a largely unknown state appellate judge, [[David Souter]], to replace liberal icon [[William J. Brennan Jr.]]<ref name="souter1"/> Souter was easily confirmed and served until 2009, but joined the liberal bloc of the court, disappointing Bush.<ref name="souter1">{{cite news|last1=Crawford Greenburg|first1=Jan|title=Supreme Court Justice Souter to Retire|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/SCOTUS/story?id=7477791&page=1|access-date=August 24, 2016|work=ABC News|date=May 1, 2009}}</ref> In 1991, Bush nominated conservative federal judge [[Clarence Thomas]] to succeed [[Thurgood Marshall]], a long-time liberal stalwart. Thomas, the former head of the [[Equal Employment Opportunity Commission]] (EEOC), [[Clarence Thomas Supreme Court nomination|faced heavy opposition]] in the Senate, as well as from [[United States pro-choice movement|pro-choice groups]] and the [[NAACP]]. His nomination faced another difficulty when [[Anita Hill]] accused Thomas of having sexually harassed her during his time as the chair of EEOC. Thomas won confirmation in a narrow 52–48 vote; 43 Republicans and 9 Democrats voted to confirm Thomas's nomination, while 46 Democrats and 2 Republicans voted against confirmation.{{sfn|Patterson|2005|pp=243–244}} Thomas became one of the most conservative justices of his era.<ref name="ntotenberg">{{cite news|last1=Totenberg|first1=Nina|title=Clarence Thomas' Influence On The Supreme Court|url=https://www.npr.org/2011/10/11/141246695/clarence-thomas-influence-on-the-court|access-date=August 24, 2016|publisher=NPR|date=October 11, 2011}}</ref>

==== Other issues ====
Bush's education platform consisted mainly of offering federal support for a variety of innovations, such as open enrollment, incentive pay for outstanding teachers, and rewards for schools that improve performance with underprivileged children.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Bush Presidency: First Appraisals|last1=Campbell|first1=Colin|last2=Rockman|first2=Bert|publisher=Chatham House Publishers, Inc.|year=1991|isbn=0-934540-90-X|location=Chatham, New Jersey|pages=[https://archive.org/details/bushpresidencyfi0000unse/page/83 83]|url=https://archive.org/details/bushpresidencyfi0000unse/page/83}}</ref> Though Bush did not pass a major educational reform package during his presidency, his ideas influenced later reform efforts, including [[Goals 2000]] and the [[No Child Left Behind Act]].{{sfn|Patterson|2005|pp=239–240}} Bush signed the [[Immigration Act of 1990]],<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Schultz|first1=Jeffrey D.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WDV40aK1T-sC&pg=PA282|title=Encyclopedia of Minorities in American Politics: African Americans and Asian Americans|last2=Haynie|first2=Kerry L.|last3=Aoki|first3=Andrew L.|last4=McCulloch|first4=Anne M.|date=2000|publisher=Oryx Press|isbn=978-1-57356-148-8}}</ref> which led to a 40 percent increase in legal [[immigration to the United States]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Fix|first=Michael|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jUJGWwD-9x8C&pg=PA304|title=The Paper Curtain: Employer Sanctions' Implementation, Impact, and Reform|date=1991|publisher=The Urban Institute|isbn=978-0-87766-550-2}}</ref> The act more than doubled the number of visas given to immigrants on the basis of job skills.<ref name="rpear1">{{cite news|last1=Pear|first1=Robert|title=Major Immigration Bill Is Sent to Bush|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/10/29/us/major-immigration-bill-is-sent-to-bush.html|access-date=August 25, 2016|newspaper=The New York Times|date=October 29, 1990}}</ref> In the wake of the [[savings and loan crisis]], Bush proposed a $50&nbsp;billion package to rescue the [[Savings and loan association|savings and loans]] industry, and also proposed the creation of the [[Office of Thrift Supervision]] to regulate the industry. Congress passed the [[Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989]], which incorporated most of Bush's proposals.{{sfn|Greene|2015|pp=97–100}}