The United States presidential elections of 1992 featured a battle between incumbent President Republican George H. W. Bush; Democrat Bill Clinton, the Governor of Arkansas; and independent candidate Ross Perot, a Texas businessman. Bush had alienated much of his conservative base by breaking his 1988 campaign pledge against raising taxes, the economy was in a recession, and Bush's perceived greatest strength, foreign policy, was regarded as much less important following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the relatively peaceful climate in the Middle East after the defeat of Iraq in the Gulf War. Clinton won a plurality in the popular vote, and a wide U.S. Electoral College margin. Perot would come in at a strong third place finish with 26% of the popular vote and would win more states b