President Reagan enjoyed unusually high popularity at the
end of his second term in office, but under the terms of the
U.S. Constitution he could not run again in 1988. The Republican
nomination went to Vice President George Herbert Walker Bush,
who was elected the 41st president of the United States.
Bush campaigned by promising voters a continuation of the
prosperity Reagan had brought. In addition, he argued that he
would support a strong defense for the United States more
reliably than the Democratic candidate, Michael Dukakis. He also
promised to work for "a kinder, gentler America." Dukakis, the
governor of Massachusetts, claimed that less fortunate Americans
were hurting economically and that the government had to help
them while simultaneously bringing the federal debt and defense
spending under control. The public was much more engaged,
however, by Bush's economic message: No new taxes. In the
balloting, Bush had a 54-to-46-percent popular vote margin.
During his first year in office, Bush followed a conservative
fiscal program, pursuing policies on taxes, spending, and debt
that were faithful to the Reagan administration's economic
program. But the new president soon found himself squeezed
between a large budget deficit and a deficit-reduction law.
Spending cuts seemed necessary, and Bush possessed little leeway
to introduce new budget items.
The Bush administration advanced new policy initiatives in areas
not requiring major new federal expenditures. Thus, in November
1990, Bush signed sweeping legislation imposing new federal
standards on urban smog, automobile exhaust, toxic air
pollution, and acid rain, but with industrial polluters bearing
most of the costs. He accepted legislation requiring physical
access for the disabled, but with no federal assumption of the
expense of modifying buildings to accommodate wheelchairs and
the like. The president also launched a campaign to encourage
volunteerism, which he called, in a memorable phrase, "a
thousand points of light."
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