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Ronald Reagan elected President
With unemployment and inflation rates going up in the late 70s under President Carter, as well as clever campaigning on Raegan's part, claiming the moral high ground and pointing out every flaw in his opponent's presidency, Raegan won the election. -
Invasion of Grenada
When communists with ties to Cuba overthrew the government of the Caribbean nation of Grenada in October 1983, Reagan dispatched the U.S. Marines to the island. Dubbed Operation Urgent Fury, the Grenada invasion overthrew the leftist government after less than a week of fighting. Its success gave victory-hungry Americans something to cheer about. Grenada was the only time Reagan deployed the American military in Latin America.
-The American Yawp -
"Tear Down This Wall" Speech
Ronald Reagan stood at the Berlin Wall and demanded that Soviet premier Mikhail Gorbachev “Tear down this wall!” Less than three years later, amid civil unrest, East German authorities announced that their citizens were free to travel to and from West Berlin. The concrete curtain would be lifted and East Berlin would be opened to the world. Within months, the Berlin Wall was reduced to rubble by jubilant crowds anticipating the reunification of their city and their nation.
-The American Yawp -
George H. W. Bush Electected President
The son of a U.S. senator from Connecticut, George H. W. Bush was a World War II veteran, president of a successful oil company, chair of the Republican National Committee, director of the CIA, and member of the House of Representatives from Texas. After failing to best Reagan in the 1980 Republican primaries, he was elected as his vice president in 1980 and again in 1984. Michael Dukakis, a proud liberal from Massachusetts, challenged Bush for the White House.
-The American Yawp -
Soviet Union Dissolved, End of Cold War
The second Cold War lasted from 1979 until the collapse of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. The Soviet Union dissolved due to the abandonment of the Warsaw Pact and economic collapse from the arms race with the US. The Cold War reshaped the world and the generations of Americans that lived under its shadow. -
The Gulf War
When Iraq invaded the small but oil-rich nation of Kuwait in 1990, Congress granted President Bush approval to intervene. The United States laid the groundwork for intervention (Operation Desert Shield) in August and commenced combat operations (Operation Desert Storm) in January. This was a swift victory for the United States. The Iraqi army disintegrated after only a hundred hours of ground combat, and Bush won enormous popular support.
-The American Yawp -
President Clinton "Impeached"
In December, the House of Representatives voted to impeach the president. It was a wildly unpopular step. Two-thirds of Americans disapproved, and a majority told Gallup pollsters that Republicans had abused their constitutional authority. Clinton’s approval rating, meanwhile, jumped to 78 percent. In February 1999, Clinton was acquitted by the Senate by a vote that mostly fell along party lines.
-The American Yawp -
Septembr 11th, 2001
The al-Qaeda terrorist organization hijacked four passenger planes. American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center at 8:46 a.m. United Airlines Flight 175 crashed into the South Tower at 9:03. American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the western façade of the Pentagon at 9:37. At 10:03, United Airlines Flight 93 crashed in a field outside Shanksville, Pennsylvania. In less than two hours, nearly three thousand Americans had been killed.
-The American Yawp