Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA1990)
Landmark law signed by President George H. W. Bush that prohibited discrimination against people with physical or mental handicaps. It represented a legislative triumph for champions of equal protections to all. (1052)
Black Monday
October 19, 1987. Date of the largest single-day decline in the Dow Jones Industrial Average until September 2001. The downturn indicated instability in the booming business culture of the 1980s but did not lead to a serious economic recession. (1045)
boll weevils
Term for conservative southern Democrats who voted increasingly for Republican issues during the Carter and Reagan administrations. (1035)
Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)
Organization formed from the former republics of the Soviet Union in 1991. (1047)
contras
Anti-Sandinista fighters in the Nicaraguan civil war. The Contras were secretly supplied with American military aid, paid for with money the United States clandestinely made selling arms to Iran. (1037)
Glasnost
Meaning "openness," a cornerstone along with Perestroika of Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev's reform movement in the USSR in the 1980s. These policies resulted in greater market liberalization, access to the West, and ultimately the end of communist ru
Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty (1987)
Arms limitation agreement settled by Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev after several attempts. The treaty banned all intermediate-range nuclear missiles from Europe and marked a significant thaw in the Cold War. (1039)
Iran-Contra Affair (1987)
Major political scandal of Ronald Reagan's second term. An illicit arrangement of selling "arms for hostages" with Iran and using money to support the contras in Nicaragua, the scandal deeply damaged Reagan's credibility. (1040)
Moral Majority
Political action committee founded by evangelical Reverend Jerry Falwell in 1979 to promote traditional Christian values and oppose feminism, abortion, and gay rights. The group was a major linchpin in the resurgent religious right of the 1980s. (1043)
Operation Desert Storm (1991)
U.S.-led multi-country military engagement in January and February of 1991 that drove Saddam Hussein's Iraqi army out of neighboring Kuwait. In addition to presaging the longer and more protracted Iraq War of the 2000s, the 1991 war helped undo what some
Perestroika
Meaning "restructuring," a cornerstone along with Glasnost of Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev's reform movement in the USSR in the 1980s. These policies resulted in greater market liberalization, access to the West, and ultimately the end of communist
Proposition 13 (1978)
A successful California state ballot initiative that capped the state's real estate tax at 1 percent of assessed value. The proposition radically reduced average property tax levels, decreasing revenue for the state government and signally the political p
Reaganomics
Informal term for Ronald Reagan's economic policies, which focused on reducing taxes, social spending, and government regulation, while increasing outlays for defense. (1035)
Sandinistas
Leftwing anti-American revolutionaries in Nicaragua who launched a civil war in 1979. (1037)
Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI)
Reagan administration plan announced in 1983 to create a missile-defense system over American territory to block a nuclear attack. Derided as "Star Wars" by critics, the plan typified Reagan's commitment to vigorous defense spending even as he sought to l
supply-side economics
Economic theory that underlay Ronald Reagan's tax and spending cuts. Contrary to Keynesianism, supply-side theory declared that government policy should aim to increase the supply of goods and services, rather than the demand for them. It held that lower
Ronald Reagan
first elected president in 1980 and elected again in 1984. He ran on a campaign based on the common man and "populist" ideas. He served as governor of California from 1966-1974, and he participated in the McCarthy Communist scare. Iran released hostages o
Margaret Thatcher
conservative prime minister (first woman) of Britain. Tax cuts for the rich. Controversial.
Mikhail Gorbachev
Soviet statesman whose foreign policy brought an end to the Cold War and whose domestic policy introduced major reforms (born in 1931), Head of the Soviet Union from 1985 to 1991. His liberalization effort improved relations with the West, but he lost pow
Saddam Hussein
As president of Iraq, Saddam maintained power through the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988) and the first Persian Gulf War (1991). During these conflicts, Saddam repressed movements he deemed threatening to the stability of Iraq, particularly Shi'a and Kurdish mo
Jerry Falwell
Leader of the Religious Right Fundamentalist Christians, a group that supported Reagan; rallying cry was "family values", anti-abortion, favored prayer in schools, Thomas Road Baptist Church, a megachurch in Lynchburg, Virginia. He changed affiliations fr
Sandra Day O'Connor
.
George H. W. Bush
republican, former director of CIA, oil company founder/owner, foreign policy (panama, gulf war), raised taxes eventhough said he wouldnt, more centrist than his son, NAFTA negotiation, desert storm (Saddam's iraq invades Quwait; america and allies come t
Boris Yeltsin
Was the first President of the Russian Federation from 1991 to 1999. The Yeltsin era was a traumatic period in Russian history�a period marked by widespread corruption, economic collapse, and enormous political and social problems. In June 1991 Yeltsin ca
Nelson Mandela
Born 1918. 11th President of South Africa. Spent 27 years in prison after conviction of charges while he helped spearhead the stuggle against apartheid. Received Nobel Peace Prize in 1993.
Manuel Noriega
leader of Panama, tried on drug trafficking racketeering and money laundering
Norman Schwarzkopf
Commander of US Central Command in the Gulf War; Commander of the coalition forces.
Clarence Thomas
This man was an African American jurist, and a strict critic of affirmative action. He was nominated by George H. W. Bush to be on the Supreme Court in 1991, and shortly after was accused of sexual harassment by Anita Hill. Hearings were reopened, and he