George Bush
forty-first U.S. president

The world could wait no longer.

On the evening of January 16, 1991, President George Bush appeared on national television to discuss Operation Desert Storm, a U.S.-led military offensive underway against Iraq in the Persian Gulf. Conducted by an international coalition under the command of U.S. General Norman Schwarzkopf, the central objective of Operation Desert Storm was to forcibly eject Iraq from its five-month occupation of Kuwait, Iraq's tiny, oil-rich neighbor. Several hours earlier, in television footage transmitted live via satellite from Iraq and Kuwait, the world had watched the commencement of the bombing effort on cable news channel CNN. At seven p.m., Operation Desert Storm was formally announced at the White House, and two hours later, the majority of America's television viewers tuned in to watch President Bush discuss the conflict. Over the next six weeks, coalition bombing attacks decimated Iraq's military and civil infrastructure, and the U.S.-led forces encountered little effective resistance from Iraqi air defenses. On February 24, the Persian Gulf ground war began, and Iraq's outdated and poorly supplied armed forces were rapidly overwhelmed by the massive coalition force. After less than four days, Kuwait was liberated. On February 28, President Bush declared a cease-fire, and Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein pledged to honor future United Nation peace terms. One hundred and twenty-five American soldiers were killed in the Persian Gulf War with another twenty-one regarded as missing in action.