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CHAPTER 15: BRIDGE TO THE 21ST CENTURYOUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY“The best hope for peacein our world isthe expansion of freedomin all the world.”For most Americans the 1990swould be a time of peace, prosperity,and rapid technological change.Some attributed this to the “ReaganRevolution” and the end of theCold War, others to the return of aDemocrat to the presidency. Duringthis period. the majority of Americans— political affiliation aside —asserted their support for traditionalfamily values, often groundedin their faiths. New York Timescolumnist David Brooks suggestedthat the country was experiencing“moral self-repair,“ as “many ofthe indicators of social breakdown,which shot upward in the late 1960sand 1970s, and which plateaued athigh levels in the 1980s,” were nowin decline.President George W. Bush, 2005Improved crime and other socialstatistics aside, American politics remainedideological, emotional, andcharacterized by intense divisions.Shortly after the nation entered thenew millennium, moreover, its post-Cold War sense of security was joltedby an unprecedented terrorist attackthat launched it on a new and difficultinternational track1992 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONAs the 1992 presidential electionapproached, Americans foundthemselves in a world transformedin ways almost unimaginable fouryears earlier. The familiar landmarksof the Cold War — from theBerlin Wall to intercontinental mis-siles and bombers on constant highalert — were gone. Eastern Europewas independent, the Soviet Unionhad dissolved, Germany was united,Arabs and Israelis were engaged indirect negotiations, and the threatof nuclear conflict was greatly diminished.It was as though onegreat history volume had closedand another had opened.Yet at home, Americans were lesssanguine, and they faced some deepand familiar problems. The UnitedStates found itself in its deepestrecession since the early 1980s.Many of the job losses were occurringamong white-collar workers inmiddle management positions, notsolely, as earlier, among blue-collarworkers in the manufacturing sector.Even when the economy beganrecovering in 1992, its growth wasvirtually imperceptible until late inthe year. Moreover, the federal deficitcontinued to mount, propelledmost strikingly by rising expendituresfor health care.President George Bush and VicePresident Dan Quayle easily wonrenomination by the RepublicanParty. On the Democratic side, BillClinton, governor of Arkansas, defeateda crowded field of candidatesto win his party’s nomination. Ashis vice presidential nominee, he selectedSenator Al Gore of Tennessee,generally acknowledged as one of theCongress’s strongest advocates of environmentalprotection.The country’s deep unease overthe direction of the economy alsosparked the emergence of a remarkableindependent candidate, wealthyTexas entrepreneur H. Ross Perot.Perot tapped into a deep wellspringof frustration over the inability ofWashington to deal effectively witheconomic issues, principally the federaldeficit. He possessed a colorfulpersonality and a gift for the tellingone-line political quip. He wouldbe the most successful third-partycandidate since Theodore Rooseveltin 1912.The Bush re-election effort wasbuilt around a set of ideas traditionallyused by incumbents: experienceand trust. George Bush, 68,the last of a line of presidents whohad served in World War II, faceda young challenger in Bill Clintonwho, at age 46, had never served inthe military and had participated inprotests against the Vietnam War. Inemphasizing his experience as presidentand commander-in-chief, Bushdrew attention to Clinton’s inexperienceat the national level.Bill Clinton organized his campaignaround another of the oldestand most powerful themes in electoralpolitics: youth and change.As a high-school student, Clintonhad once met President Kennedy;30 years later, much of his rhetoricconsciously echoed that of Kennedyin his 1960 campaign.As governor of Arkansas for 12years, Clinton could point to hisexperience in wrestling with thevery issues of economic growth,education, and health care thatwere, according to public opinionpolls, among President Bush’s chief322323