A New Era of Greatness: 1989
200 years, after General George Washington was sworn in to become the nation’s 1st President, a former WWII bomber pilot, businessman, and Texas Senator…Lloyd Millard Bentsen Jr. proudly stood on the steps of the west front of the Capital Building and uttered that same oath of affirmation. After he placed his hands on the Bible, and was sworn in by Chief Justice William Rehnquist, the child of the Rio Grande became the 41st President of the United States. Not particularly known for his skills as an Orator, most historians agree that he delivered one of the most well-crafted and significant speech of his career during on that cold winter day of January 20th, 1989. The most memorable lines of his rather lengthy, Inauguration Speech were that of:
“I am proud to have been given the ability to govern this great country of ours by the American People. In return, I promise to provide experience, tempered and capable leadership as this nation’s Commander in Chief. The time is now, especially as the world lies in such a period of transition, not to cling on to the old ideals of the past. For In this new era, we as Americans cannot be content to rest our laurels simply because the stakes are just too high. We as Americans must move into the future united in a commitment to make this country of ours, the most powerful, most prosperous nation in the world. For, We as Americans honor our past but we also must not forget about our children in the process, who will live in such an uncertain future. However, in the words of my late and dear friend Michael Dukakis, I believe that the best America is yet to come. With your blessing and your help, I promise that my administration will bring America to a New Era of Greatness.”
The 41st President soon quickly made good on his promise to the American People, as he and his administration smoothly made the transition of power into the White House. His first true test of his skills as President of the United States came in the form, by compiling his first budget on February 9th, which is originally hailed as a success modeled his largely fiscally conservative policy initiatives and to contrast himself with his predecessor’s rather expensive budget plans. Bentsen also knew that the growing deficit was the biggest roadblocks in helping America regain her place in the word, so through the year he would continue to work with the 101st congress to create a plan to solve the nation’s greatest economic issue.
Abroad, President Bentsen was able to flex his strong stance on Foreign Policy through the crises in Panama and China. Upon ascending to his office, Bentsen kept the freeze put in place by President Reagan on all Panamanian assets in US banks and, due to the increased tensions between Americans and Pro-Noriega supporters, He also pursued a more aggressive economic sanctions against the Central American country. However by, May of 1989 it soon became apparent that the US, may have to commit troops on the ground in order to depose Noriega, after he annulled a Presidential election that would have given the post to Guillermo Endara and viscously put down protesters who spoke out against the fraud. In private conversation with Secretary of State Young, and Secretary of Defense Brown, President Bentsen after laboring for hours upon whether or not to “Sacrifice our Boys to clean up Reagan’s mess” initiated Operation CLEAN SLATE, and sent 1,900 troops into Panama in order to resolve the situation. The situation finally cumulated in December, when Noriega declared himself Dictator of Panama and issued a declaration of war against the United States. Following the death of an American Serviceman, President Bentsen with the support of his newly appointed Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff David E. Jeremiah, angrily declared a full invasion of Panama under the name of Operation SMOKEOUT citing the need to protect American lives, restoration of democracy, combat drug trafficking and to enforce the Torrijos-Carter Treaties. He would commit more than 10,000 American troops to join with the 12,000 already stationed in Panama. Within a few days, Noriega’s PDF forces were completely subdued and by the end of the year, the main focus of the Operation changed to finding the exiled Noriega.
In China, President Bentsen provided a much more tempered response to the atrocities committed by the Chinese Government in Tiananmen square. Thousands of protesters were killed and tens of thousands were arrested much to the American Public’s dismay. To match, the Public disapproval of the actions of the Chinese Government President Bentsen swiftly ordered sanctions against China in the form of a ban on arms/police equipment shipment, cessation of high-level talks with Chinese officials, suspension of talks on nuclear cooperation, froze funds for the expansion of US/China trade and declared that sanctions would not be lifted until that China made progress in the area of Human Rights. The Rio Grande native would see his approval rating from the American people and Congress skyrocket after the sanctions were imposed and continued more or less at a high rate throughout the year.
By the end of the year, President Bentsen along with the American people watched on their television sets as one of the most infamous symbols of the Cold War, was torn asunder before their very eyes. And once news came that President Mikhail Gorbachev supported the East Germans in their action, the Bentsen Administration buzzed with enthusiasm over the idea that the leader of the Soviet Union was indeed interested in a new relationship with the West. This led to, the first-ever summit led by the two executives on the island of Malta and talks soon began to emerge of a possible end to the Cold War. Although little was actually accomplished in this first summit between Bentsen and Gorbachev, they did make their positions known as Gorbachev stressed the need of US support in his attempt of Domestic Reform within the Soviet Union while Bentsen cautiously promoted the need for Human Rights protection and arms control. Nevertheless, the talk was one of the first steps to see to it that America was led into its New Era of Greatness.