George H. W. Bush: Difference between revisions
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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. |
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. |
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==Rise in politics== |
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[[Image:Bush reagan.jpg|thumb|300px|Vice President Bush in a meeting with President Reagan in 1984.]] |
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It is believed he joined the [[CIA]] as agent in [[1959]], and was involved in the [[Bay of Pigs Invasion]] in [[Cuba]] in [[1961]]. 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. |
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He was later elected in [[1966]] and [[1968]] to the [[United States House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] from the [[United States House of Representatives, Texas District 7|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. |
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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 Ambassadors to the United Nations|United States Ambassador to the United Nations]], US Envoy to [[People's Republic of China|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 publicly exposed the [[Bombing of Vietnam's Dikes|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. |
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[[Image:Ghwbush2.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Chief Justice Rehnquist administered the Presidential Oath of Office on January 20, 1989.]] |
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In [[1980]], Bush ran for President, losing in the [[United States Republican Party|Republican Party]] primaries to [[Ronald Reagan]], the former [[Governor of California]]. After nearly choosing former [[President of the United States|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. |
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The Reagan/Bush ticket won again in [[1984]], against the Democrats' [[Walter Mondale]]/[[Geraldine Ferraro]] ticket. During his second term as [[Vice President]], Bush had the distinction of becoming the first [[Vice President]] to become [[Acting President of the United States|Acting President]] when, on [[July 13]], [[1985]], President [[Ronald Reagan|Reagan]] underwent surgery to remove polyps from his colon. Bush served as [[Acting President of the United States|Acting President]] for approximately 8 hours, during which time he is reported to have spent most of the time playing tennis. |
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In [[1988]], after 8 years as Vice President, Bush ran for President. Considered the early frontrunner for the nomination, he turned back early challenges from U.S. Senator [[Bob Dole]] and televangelist [[Pat Robertson]], winning both the [[Iowa caucus]] and [[New Hampshire Primary]] to wrap up the nomination early in the process. Leading up to the [[1988 Republican National Convention]], there was much speculation as to Bush's choice of running mate. In a move anticipated by few and later criticized by many, Bush chose little-known U.S. Senator [[Dan Quayle]] of [[Indiana]]. On the eve of the convention, Bush trailed Democratic nominee [[Michael Dukakis]], then [[Massachusetts]] governor, by double digits in most polls. Bush, often criticized for his lack of eloquence compared to Reagan, suprised many by giving a well-received speech, widely known as the "[[Thousand points of light]]" speech for his use of that phrase. Bush's convention speech catapulted him ahead of Dukakis in the polls, and he held the lead for the rest of the race. The campaign was noted as particularly bitter compared to previous ones and became famous for the television advertisements aired by the Bush campaign criticizing Dukakis, one of which showed Dukakis awkwardly wearing a helmet while riding in a [[U.S. Army]] [[tank]]. The image helped enhance Bush's stature as a possible [[Commander-in-Chief]] compared to the Massachusetts governor. The Bush-Quayle ticket beat [[Michael Dukakis]] and [[Lloyd Bentsen]] soundly in the [[U.S. Electoral College|Electoral College]], by 426 to 111 (Lloyd Bentsen received one vote). Although his victory was a landslide, Bush in 1988 was the last Republican to carry certain states, including [[Pennsylvania]], [[Illinois]], and [[California]], which have since gained the reputation as "[[blue state]]s" that favor the Democratic Party in presidential elections. |
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==Presidency== |
==Presidency== |
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Revision as of 08:52, 26 November 2004
| George H. W. Bush White House Portrait | |
| 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, 1989–January 20, 1993 |
| 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.
Personal background
George Herbert Walker 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. He was the first President to have two middle names, and the first President to be born in June. Now there are Presidential birthdays in each of the 12 months of the year.
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 U.S. 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's maternal grandfather was George Herbert Walker Sr., the founder of G.H. Walker & Co. Bush's uncle George Herbert Walker Jr. is the current head of the company. Bush's first cousin George Herbert Walker III is the U.S. ambassador to Hungary.
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.
joe was here
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: No new taxes" 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 Souter – 1990
- Clarence Thomas – 1991
Post-presidency
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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]). He has given a number of paid speeches and participated in business ventures with the Carlyle Group.
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.
On November 22, 2004, New York Republican Governor George Pataki named him and the other living former presidents (Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, and Bill Clinton) as honorary members of the board rebuilding the World Trade Center. That same day, a plane enroute to pick him up crashed in Houston, Texas, killing three passengers.
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 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
- Inaugural Address
- Page discussing the scanner story
- George Bush: The Unauthorized Biography by Webster G. Tarpley & Anton Chaitkin
- [1] "Jet Crashes Before Picking Up Elder Bush (Washington Post article)
| 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 CIA 1976–1977 |
Followed by: Stansfield Turner |
| Preceded by: Charles W. Yost |
U.S. Ambassador to the UN 1971–1973 |
Followed by: John A. Scali |
| Preceded by: Ronald Reagan |
U.S. Republican Party Presidential Nominees 1988 (won) - 1992 (lost) |
Followed by: Bob Dole |
| Preceded by: Bob Dole |
U.S. Republican Party Vice Presidential Nominees 1980 (won) - 1984 (won) |
Followed by: Dan Quayle |
- Presidents of the U.S.
- U.S. Republican Party presidential nominees
- Vice Presidents of the U.S.
- U.S. Republican Party vice presidential nominees
- Directors of Central Intelligence
- Members of the U.S. House of Representatives
- World War II veterans
- Bonesmen
- Bush family
- Episcopalians
- Naval aviators
- Texas politicians
- People from Massachusetts
- U.S.-Iraqi relations
- 1924 births