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George H. W. Bush
 White House Portrait |
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| Order: | 41st President |
| Term of Office: | January 20, 1989–January 20, 1993 |
| Predecessor: | Ronald W. Reagan |
| Successor: | William J. Clinton |
| Date of Birth: | Thursday, June 12, 1924 |
| Place of Birth: | Milton, Massachusetts |
| First Lady: | Barbara Bush |
| Profession: | businessman |
| Political Party: | Republican |
| Vice President: | J. Danforth Quayle |
| Order: | 43rd Vice President |
| Term of Office: | January 20, 1981–January 20, 1989 |
| Predecessor: | Walter F. Mondale |
| Successor: | J. Danforth Quayle |
| President: | Ronald W. Reagan |
George Herbert Walker Bush (born June 12, 1924) was the 41st President of the United States (1989–1993). Previously, he had served as ambassador to the United Nations (1971–1973), director of the CIA 1976–1977, and the 43rd Vice President of the United States under President Ronald Reagan (1981–1989).
His son, George W. Bush, is the 43rd President of the United States. As a result the elder Bush is referred with various nicknames and titles, including "former President Bush", "Bush the Elder", "Bush Senior", "Papa Bush", "Bush 41", or "the first President Bush" in order to avoid possible confusion between his presidency and that of his son. During his term of office he was known simply as President George Bush, without any initials, as his son had never held elective office and was not especially well-known to the public. Technically speaking, for official protocol, his son is "The President" and he is "President Bush". This will not change until his son leaves office. (Note that, because the son doesn't have "Herbert" in his name, the former President Bush and the current President Bush are not "senior" and "junior" but rather just father and son with very similar names.)
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Personal background
George Bush was born to Prescott Bush and Dorothy Walker. His father served as a Senator from Connecticut and was a partner in the prominent investment banking firm Brown Brothers Harriman.
George Bush attended Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts from 1936 to 1942, where he demonstrated early leadership, captaining the baseball team, and was a member of an exclusive fraternity called the A.U.V, or "Auctoritas, Unitas, Veritas" – Latin for "Authority, Unity, Truth". His roommate at the boarding school was a young man named Edward G. Hooker. It was at Phillips Academy that Bush learned of the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, and after graduating in June, 1942, he joined the US Navy.
He was a naval aviator during World War II, the youngest ever at that time. Awards and decorations include the Distinguished Flying Cross, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, and the World War II Victory Medal. While serving in the Pacific Theater as a torpedo bomber pilot, he was also shot down by Japanese antiaircraft fire and was rescued from the water by the submarine USS Finback.
After the War he attended Yale University where he joined the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity, and was inducted into the Skull and Bones secret society, helping him to build friendships and political support. Joining the Skull and Bones a year after him at Bush's request was William Sloane Coffin, a fellow classmate from the Phillips Academy. They would remain friends and, at times, enemies, throughout their lives, though Coffin became a notable anti-war activist of the political left.
He married Barbara Pierce on January 6, 1945. Their marriage produced 6 children: George W., Pauline Robinson "Robin" (December 20, 1949–October 11, 1953, died of leukemia); John (Jeb); Neil; Marvin; and Dorothy Walker (August 18, 1959—). The family has built on his and his father's political successes, with his son George W. Bush's Governorship of Texas and subsequent election as President, and his son Jeb Bush's election as Governor of Florida. The Bush political dynasty has been compared to that of John Adams and the Kennedy family.
Bush ventured into the Texas oil business after the war with mixed results. He secured a position with Dresser through his father's investment banking relationship with the company. His son, Neil Mallon Bush, is named after his employer at Dresser, Neil Mallon, a close family friend. Dresser, decades later, merged with Halliburton, whose former CEOs include Dick Cheney, George H. W. Bush's Secretary of Defense during the Gulf War and now (2004) Vice President of the United States and former George W. Bush campaign manager.
Rise in politics
In 1964, Bush ventured into conventional politics by running against Democratic Senator Ralph Yarborough, making an issue of Yarborough's vote for the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which almost all Southern politicians (including the Republican Sen. John Tower of Texas) opposed. He called Yarborough an "extremist" and a "left wing demagogue" while Yarborough said Bush was a "carpetbagger" trying to buy a Senate seat "just as they would buy a seat on the New York Stock Exchange". Bush lost in the 1964 Democratic landslide.
He was later elected in 1966 and 1968 to the House of Representatives from the 7th District of Texas. He later lost his second attempt at a Senate seat in 1970 to Democrat Lloyd Bentsen who defeated the incumbent Yarborough in the Democratic primary.
Throughout the 70s, under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford, Bush briefly served in a number of positions, including Chairman of the Republican National Committee, United States Ambassador to the United Nations, US Envoy to communist China, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency and board member of the Committee on the Present Danger. As Ambassador to the United Nations under Richard Nixon, Bush called Jane Fonda a liar when she publically exposed the bombing of dikes in Vietnam. It is said that Bush did not personally enjoy many of these jobs, yet accepted them out of a sense of loyalty to the President. Had Bush not received the succession of appointments after his senate defeat in 1970, its unlikely he would have risen to a level of national prominance in politics.
In 1980, Bush ran for President, losing in the Republican Party primaries to Ronald Reagan, the former Governor of California. After nearly choosing former President Gerald Ford as his running mate, Reagan selected Bush as his Vice President, placing him on the winning Republican Presidential ticket of 1980. Bush had been many things Reagan had not been, a life-long Republican, and an internationalist with UN, CIA and China experience.
The Reagan/Bush ticket won again in 1984, against the Democrats' Walter Mondale/Geraldine Ferraro ticket. In 1988, after 8 years as Vice President, Bush ran for President with the little known Senator Dan Quayle as his running mate and beat Michael Dukakis and Lloyd Bentsen, 426 to 111 electoral votes. (Lloyd Bentsen received one.)
During his second term as Vice President, Bush had the distinction of becoming the first Vice President to become Acting President when, on July 13, 1985, President Reagan underwent surgery to remove polyps from his colon. Bush served as Acting President for approximately 8 hours, during which time he is reported to have spent most of the time playing tennis.
Presidency
As President of the United States, George Bush is perhaps best known for leading the United Nations coalition in the 1990–1991 Gulf War. In 1990, led by Saddam Hussein, Iraq invaded its oil-rich neighbor to the south, Kuwait. The broad coalition sought to remove Iraqi forces from Kuwait and ensure that Iraq did not invade Saudi Arabia.
In a foreign policy move that would come into question later, President Bush achieved an incomplete military victory, allowing Saddam Hussein to stay in power at the advice of Bush's "war cabinet," which included then-Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney. Cheney noted that invading the country would get the United States "bogged down in the quagmire inside Iraq." Washington Institute Bush later explained that he did not give the order to invade Iraq because it would have "incurred incalculable human and political costs... We would have been forced to occupy Baghdad and, in effect, rule Iraq," The Memory Hole, Snopes. In explaining to Gulf War veterans why he chose not to invade, he said, "whose life would be on my hands as the commander-in-chief because I, unilaterally, went beyond the international law, went beyond the stated mission, and said we're going to show our macho? We're going into Baghdad. We're going to be an occupying power -- America in an Arab land -- with no allies at our side. It would have been disastrous." fas.org
President Bush's popularity rating in America soared during and immediately after the apparent success of the military operations, but later fell due to an economic recession.
The tail end of the late 1980s recession, that had dogged most of Bush's term in office, was a contributing factor to his defeat in the 1992 Presidential election. Several other factors were key in his defeat, including siding with Congressional Democrats in 1990 to raise taxes despite his famous "Read my lips" pledge not to institute any new taxes. In doing so, Bush alienated many members of his conservative base, losing their support for his re-election. Another major factor, which may have helped Bill Clinton defeat Bush in the 1992 election was the candidacy of Ross Perot. Perot won 19% of the popular vote, and Clinton, still a largely unknown quantity in American politics, won the election.
Bush's last controversial act in office was his pardon of six former government employees implicated in the Iran-Contra scandal on December 24, 1992, most prominently former Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger. Weinberger had been scheduled to stand trial on January 5, 1993 for lying to Congress regarding his knowledge of arms sales to Iran and concealing 1700 pages of his personal diary detailing discussions with other officials about the arms sales. As Weinberger's private notes contained references to Bush's endorsement of the secret shipments to Iran, some believe that Bush's pardon was an effort to prevent an order for Bush to appear before a grand jury or possibly to avoid an indictment. Weinberger's indictment stated that Weinberger's notes contradicted Bush's assertions that he had only peripheral knowledge of the arms for hostages deal. Lawrence Walsh, the Independent Counsel assigned to the case, charged that "the Iran-contra cover-up, which has continued for more than six years, has now been completed." Walsh likened the pardons to President Nixon's Saturday Night Massacre. Bush responded that the Walsh probe constituted an attempt to criminalize a policy dispute between the legislative and executive branches. In addition to Weinberger, Bush pardoned Duane R. Clarridge, Clair E. George, Robert C. McFarlane, Elliott Abrams, and Alan G. Fiers Jr., all of whom had been indicted and/or convicted of charges by the Independent Counsel.
Major legislation signed
- Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
- Civil Rights Act of 1991
- Clean Air Act of 1990
- Whistle Blower Protection Act of 1989
Cabinet
Supreme Court appointments
Bush appointed the following Justices to the Supreme Court of the United States:
- David Hackett Souter – 1990
- Clarence Thomas – 1991
Post-presidency
After losing the election, Bush has retired from public life. After retiring, he did, however, notably parachute from an airplane for the first time since World War II. The Bushes live in Houston, Texas and their summer home in Kennebunkport, Maine.
Bush has never written a memoir of his political life, and says he does not plan to. He has however published a book containing a series of collected letters from his life (All The Best, George Bush [1999]) and co-authored a book on recent foreign policy issues with his former National Security Advisor, Brent Scowcroft (A World Transformed, [1998]).
The George Bush Presidential Library and Museum is located on the Southwest corner of the campus of Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas.
The tenth Nimitz-class aircraft carrier will be named USS George H. W. Bush when it is launched in 2009.
George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Texas was renamed after the former president in 1997.
He also holds his own fishing tournament in Islamorada, an island in the Florida Keys.
In 2000, he became the first president since John Adams to be father of another president when George W. Bush, his son, then Texas governor, was elected president of the United States.
Further reading
- Barilleaux, Ryan J. and Mary E. Stuckey, eds. Leadership and the Bush Presidency: Prudence or Drift in an Era of Change New York: Praeger Publishers, 1992.
- Bush, George H. W. All the Best, George Bush: My Life and Other Writings New York: Scribner, 1999.
- Duffy, Michail & Dan Goodgame Marching in Place: The Status Quo Presidency of George Bush New York: Simon and Schuster, 1992.
- Green, John Robert The Presidency of George Bush Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas, 2000.
- Hyams, Joe Flight of the Avenger: George Bush at War New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovic Publishers, 1991.
- Podhoretz, John Hell of a Ride: Backstage at the White House Follies, 1989-1993 New York: Simon and Schuster, 1993.
Related topics
- Bush political family
- U.S. presidential election, 1980
- U.S. presidential election, 1984
- U.S. presidential election, 1988
- U.S. presidential election, 1992
- George Bush Presidential Library in College Station, Texas
- History of the United States (1980–1988)
- History of the United States (1988–present)
External links
|
Preceded by: Ronald Reagan |
President of the United States 1989–1993 |
Followed by: Bill Clinton |
|
Preceded by: Walter Mondale |
Vice President of the United States 1981–1989 |
Followed by: Dan Quayle |
|
Preceded by: William E. Colby |
Director of the C.I.A. 1976–1977 |
Followed by: Stansfield Turner |
| Preceded by: Charles W. Yost |
U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. 1971–1973 |
Followed by: John A. Scali |
| Preceded by: Ronald Reagan |
Republican Party Presidential candidate 1988 (won) - 1992 (lost) |
Followed by: Bob Dole |
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Categories: 1924 births | Aviators | Bonesmen | Bush family | Directors of Central Intelligence | Episcopalians | Members of the U.S. House of Representatives | Naval aviators | People from Massachusetts | Presidents of the U.S. | Texans | Texas politicians | U.S. Republican Party presidential nominees | U.S. Republican Party vice presidential nominees | US-Iraqi relations | Vice Presidents of the U.S.