When George H.W. Bush became president, the US government was deeply in debt. Bush was forced to...

Answer: When George H.W. Bush became president in 1989, the U.S. government was indeed facing a significant budget deficit. Throughout the 1980s, the federal debt had been increasing, and addressing this issue was one of the challenges of Bush's presidency. President Bush was forced to take measures to reduce the government's budget deficit. Despite his famous campaign promise, "Read my lips: no new taxes," the fiscal situation compelled him to compromise.

In 1990, facing increasing pressure to address the deficit, Bush negotiated a budget agreement with the Democratic Congress that aimed to reduce the deficit by approximately $500 billion over five years. This budget plan included a combination of spending cuts and tax increases, violating his campaign pledge. The decision to raise taxes was contentious and politically damaging for Bush, as it caused a rift within the Republican Party and disappointed many of his supporters.

The 1990 budget agreement did help to curtail the budget deficit temporarily, but Bush's decision to go back on his word on taxes is often cited as a factor that contributed to his defeat in the 1992 presidential election, when he lost to Democrat Bill Clinton.