13.4: Bill Clinton: Remarks on Signing the North American Free Trade Agreement (1993)

During the 1988 presidential campaign, the Soviet Union was on the verge of collapsing and the Cold War was coming to an end. Although President George H.W. Bush was less charismatic than Ronald Reagan, many people (both at home and abroad) who worked with him liked him because he was a pragmatist. He recognized the need for political compromise and building political coalitions. Bush was also seen as very qualised leader in 1988 because of his signiscant foreign policy experience. Many Americans and foreign leaders thought Bush would provide a steady hand to help bring peace to the world in the post-Cold War period. In general Bush did this well. The Cold War ended, and foreign aoairs remained relatively quiet. The United States did sght one war—the First Gulf War—in which it formed a broad coalition to push Saddam Hussein and his Iraqi forces out of Kuwait. The war ended, and peace was restored to the area relatively quickly. The region was largely stable, as were U.S. interests around the world. Domestically, however, the United States entered a recession around the same time. This did not bode well for President Bush.