Although foreign policy had propelled President Bush to approval ratings of 90 percent after the Gulf War, a populist revolt over free trade became a political liability practically overnight. Toward the end of 1991, two out of three Americans believed the country was on the wrong track, the same percentage that disapproved of the President's handling of the economy. America had won the Cold War, but world leadership meant little to the millions of Americans suffering from the lackluster economy at home.
At a moment when his political future was on the line, President Bush went straight to the American people, defending free trade and its importance to the United States and to the international community. Bush lost his election, but, in doing so, sustained a political consensus that allowed the United States to expand free markets over the coming decades.
As populist anger morphed into calls for protectionism, President Bush initially attributed attacks to partisan “liberal Democratic carping.”
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