Democratic nominee and Arkansas governor Bill Clinton won the presidential election over incumbent Republican George H. W. Bush and Independent candidate Ross Perot. Though Bush had used the success of the Persian Gulf War as a campaign point, Clinton’s focus on the economy propelled him to the win.
After Iraq, led by Saddam Hussein, invaded Kuwait in August 1990, President Bush headed a coalition to set a deadline for Iraqi withdrawal. When Iraq failed to leave Kuwait, on January 17, 1991, the US-led coalition began a series of air attacks on Iraq and Iraqi-controlled regions of Kuwait. A ground assault began on February 23, and Kuwait was liberated on February 28, with Iraq accepting the conditions of a UN resolution for a ceasefire.
George H. W. Bush (1924– ) was the forty-first president of the United States, serving from 1989 to 1993. Bush began his political career after World War II. During the war, he flew fifty-eight combat missions and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for bravery. At Yale, he excelled in sports and academics. Later he worked in the Texas oil business before being elected as a Republican to the US House of Representatives in 1966. He served as US ambassador to the United Nations in 1971–1972, and headed the CIA in 1976–1977. Bush...
Saddam Hussein (1937–2006) was the president of Iraq whose long reign was marked by brutality and war. Saddam came to power upon the resignation of President Ahmad Hasan al-Bakr in 1979, and he quickly established an oppressive and retaliatory rule. In 1980, he authorized the Iraqi invasion of Iran’s oil fields, and the resulting war would last until 1988. In 1990, Saddam authorized an invasion of Kuwait, but US and UN intervention drove Iraqi forces out of the country. As a result of the Persian Gulf War, the United Nations imposed strict...
Cpl. Brett G. Coughlin arrived with Delta Company in Saudi Arabia at the port of Al Jubail on September 13, 1990. For the next three months the company trained in the northern...