1989Bill Clinton resigns as Governor of Arkansas after the Senate votes to confirm him as US Attorney General. He is succeeded by his Lieutenant Governor Winston Bryant.
In August, Clinton announces in a press conference that former Interior Secretary James Watt and former Assistant HUD Secretary Philip Winn will enter guilty pleas for their role in the HUD grant rigging, marking the beginning of several successful prosecutions by the Attorney General.
1990The collapse of the Silverado Savings & Loan in 1988 results in the criminal conviction of its former Director Neil Bush, son of former Vice President George Bush. Neil Bush is fined $5 million and is sentenced to 20 years in prison.
In February, Senator Jimmy Carter announces that he will not seek re-election for health reasons. Max Cleland, Carter’s former Chief of Staff and disabled Vietnam War veteran, resigns as Secretary of Veterans Affairs and announces his candidacy for the seat. So does Republican Congressman Newt Gingrich.
On July 25, William Brennan announces his retirement as Supreme Court Justice. President Bumpers nominates Eliot Richardson, a liberal Republican to replace Brennan. The Senate overwhelmingly confirms Richardson.
On August 2, President Saddam Hussein of Iraq sends his army to invade neighboring Kuwait. Now, instead of five percent of the world's oil supply, Saddam controls 10 percent. And he is also threatening neighboring Saudi Arabia, which would give him 20 percent. President Bumpers says this aggression will not stand, and will launch Operation Desert Shield in an attempt to get Saddam to back down. This will lead to U.S. troops being placed on Saudi soil, upsetting millions of Muslims, including a young billionaire named Osama bin Laden.
On September 30, minutes before the end of the fiscal year, Congress passes the budget which includes a temporary tax hike to fund Operation Desert Shield. There will be no shutdown of the Federal government.
In the November elections, Max Cleland defeats Newt Gingrich in the Senate race in Georgia. More good news comes to the Democrats in that state when David Worley is elected to Gingrich’s House seat and Wyche Fowler defeats State House Minority Leader Johnny Isakson to win election as Governor.
In North Carolina, former Charlotte Mayor Harvey Gantt becomes the state’s first black Senator with his victory over incumbent Republican Jesse Helms. President Bumpers is rumored to have toasted Helms’ defeat in the Oval Office.
In Minnesota, State Attorney General Hubert H. (Skip) Humphrey III defeats State Auditor Arne Carlson to win election as Governor. Paul Wellstone, a college professor and former Chief of Staff to Senator Walter Mondale, is elected to Congress with his upset victory over incumbent Republican Arlan Stangeland.
In Illinois, Republicans win back the Governor’s office when Secretary of State Jim Edgar defeats Lieutenant Governor George Sangmeister. Governor Alan Dixon retired after two terms.
1991On the eve of the Persian Gulf War, Justice Thurgood Marshall announces his retirement from the Supreme Court. President Bumpers nominates United States District Court Judge Constance Baker Motley, also an African-American, to succeed Marshall. She is easily confirmed by the Senate.
On January16, U.S. fighter jets bomb Baghdad to begin Operation Desert Storm.
On February 24, the ground war begins. A week later, remaining Iraqi forces surrender and Kuwait is liberated. Congressional Republicans led by House Minority Whip Richard Cheney wants the military to move on to Baghdad and topple Saddam Hussein. President Bumpers says it is not necessary and that the U.S. will not be an occupying force. Saddam’s job is secure for now.
However, no-fly zones are imposed over Iraq’s Kurdish provinces in the north and Shiite provinces in the South. With the cooperation of the CIA and Mossad, the United States and Israel secretly conduct gun running operations to aid the Kurdish and Shiite rebellions.
On October 11, Professor Anita Hill reviews her lecture notes in her office at the University of Oklahoma law school in preparation for the day’s classes. Outside of the school, very few people will ever hear of her name.
In November, former Governor and US Attorney General Richard Thornburgh wins a special Senate election over Harris Wofford, who was appointed to the Senate back in April after John Heinz died in a plane crash.
1992After a grueling primary season, Senator Bob Dole emerges as the Republic nominee over a field that included Pat Buchanan, former Tennessee Governor Lamar Alexander, Congressman Jack Kemp and 1988 Vice Presidential nominee Dan Quayle. To appease conservatives, Dole selects Lamar Alexander as his running mate.
The Democrats re-nominate President Bumpers and Vice President Gephardt at their convention in New York.
Bumpers’ has a single-digit lead in the polls over Dole. But in an October surprise, Baathist army officers lead a mutiny, overpower Saddam’s bodyguards and remove him from office. Retired Army General Georges Hormiz Sada declares himself interim President of Iraq. An ethnic Assyrian, Sada becomes the first Christian Head of State of Iraq. He invites Shiite Muslim Ahmad Chalabi to return from exile in London and accept the post of Prime Minister. Also returning from exile are Kurdish opposition leader Jalal Talabani and a 19 year-old Shiite seminary student named Sayyid Muqtada al-Sadr. He moves into the Baghdad ghetto of Saddam City and renames it Sadr City.
With the events in Iraq dominating the headlines, President Bumpers’ enjoys a surge in the polls. On Election Day, Bumpers enjoys a comfortable re-election victory.
Dale Bumpers/Richard Gephardt (D) 450 EV, 57% PVRobert Dole/Lamar Alexander (R) 88 EV, 43% PVIn Arkansas, Senator David Pryor runs unopposed for re-election. Although President Bumpers carries his home state with 77% of the popular vote, Mike Huckabee, a Baptist pastor from Bill Clinton’s hometown of Hope, is elected to Congress to succeed the retiring John P. Hammerschmidt.
In North Carolina, Senator Terry Sanford survives a challenge from Democrat turned Republican Lauch Faircloth and is re-elected to a second term.
In Illinois, Senator Paul Simon decided not to run for re-election. Former Governor Alan Dixon defeats GOP state legislator Ray LaHood by a 3-to-1 margin to succeed Simon in the Senate. In Chicago, Cook County Recorder of Deeds Carol Moseley Braun defeated Alderman Bobby Rush in the Democratic primary and is elected to her first term in Congress. She joins another freshman, Mel Reynolds, who defeated incumbent Gus Savage in the primary.
In Georgia, Bumpers’ coattails save incumbent Congressmen David Worley and Richard Ray from defeat. Senator Nunn trounces the GOP sacrificial lamb, former state legislator Paul Coverdell.
In New York, Senator Geraldine Ferraro wins a record 71% of the vote to win a second term. Her Republican opponent was Gerald Solomon, a Congressman from an upstate district and the most vocal critic of President Bumpers. Solomon was the author of a Flag Burning Amendment and attacked the President for not going after Saddam Hussein.
In Kansas, Bob Dole did not run for re-election. The seat stays in Republican hands as State Senate Majority Leader Sheila Frahm wins the seat.
