The Situation Room: The Inside Story of Presidents in Crisis

George H.W. Bush became president in 1989 amidst extraordinary changes in the world. The empire of the Soviet Union was rapidly dissolving as revolutions were taking place across the Eastern Bloc. The most memorable moment in this “democratic tidal wave” took place on November 9th (149), when crowds on both sides of the Berlin Wall began tearing it down. Stephanopoulos argues that one of Bush’s triumphs was his handling of the Berlin Wall, which “was at some level the art of doing nothing” (150). While uprisings in favor of democracy were successful in Eastern Europe, the communist Chinese government held on to power through violence, starting with the Tiananmen Square massacre that took place on June 4th, 1989.

Additionally, an attempted military coup took place in the Philippines late in the year, in which the democratically-elected president was nearly overthrown. According to Stephanopoulos, the attempted coup in the Philippines allowed the NSC and Situation Room a “first glimpse of how useful video technology could be” (157). Less than a year later, when Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait, “video conferencing became a crucial tool in formulating the U.S. response” (158). The invasion of Kuwait led to the Gulf War, a six-month conflict that culminated in January and February 1991 with the aerial bombing campaign known as Desert Storm.