George H. W. Bush - Presidency (1989–1993)

Presidency (1989–1993)

Bush was inaugurated on January 20, 1989, succeeding Ronald Reagan. He entered office at a period of change in the world; the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of Soviet Union came early in his presidency. He ordered military operations in Panama and the Persian Gulf and, at one point, was recorded as having a record-high approval rating of 89 percent. However, economic recession and breaking his "no new taxes" pledge caused a sharp decline in his approval rating, and Bush was defeated in the 1992 election.

In his Inaugural Address, Bush said:

I come before you and assume the Presidency at a moment rich with promise. We live in a peaceful, prosperous time, but we can make it better. For a new breeze is blowing, and a world refreshed by freedom seems reborn; for in man's heart, if not in fact, the day of the dictator is over. The totalitarian era is passing, its old ideas blown away like leaves from an ancient, lifeless tree. A new breeze is blowing, and a nation refreshed by freedom stands ready to push on. There is new ground to be broken, and new action to be taken.

The Bush Cabinet
Office	Name	Term
President	George H. W. Bush	1989–1993
Vice President	Dan Quayle	1989–1993
Secretary of State	James Baker	1989–1992
	Lawrence Eagleburger	1992–1993
Secretary of Treasury	Nicholas Brady	1989–1993
Secretary of Defense	Dick Cheney	1989–1993
Attorney General	Dick Thornburgh	1989–1991
	William Barr	1991–1993
Secretary of the Interior	Manuel Lujan	1989–1993
Secretary of Agriculture	Clayton Yeutter	1989–1991
	Edward Madigan	1991–1993
Secretary of Commerce	Robert Mosbacher	1989–1992
	Barbara Hackman Franklin	1992–1993
Secretary of Labor	Elizabeth Dole	1989–1990
	Lynn Martin	1991–1993
Secretary of Health and Human Services	Louis Sullivan	1989–1993
Secretary of Education	Lauro Cavazos	1989–1990
	Lamar Alexander	1990–1993
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development	Jack Kemp	1989–1993
Secretary of Transportation	Samuel Skinner	1989–1992
	Andrew Card	1992–1993
Secretary of Energy	James Watkins	1989–1993
Secretary of Veterans Affairs	Ed Derwinski	1989–1993
Chief of Staff	John H. Sununu	1989–1991
	Samuel Skinner	1991–1992
	James Baker	1992–1993
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency	William Reilly	1989–1993
Director of the Office of Management and Budget	Richard Darman	1989–1993
Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy	William Bennett	1989–1991
	Bob Martinez	1991–1993
United States Trade Representative	Carla Anderson Hills	1989–1993