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George H. W. Bush vomiting incident

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File:Bush-japanese-pm.jpeg
Frame from an ABC News video of Barbara Bush holding a napkin in front of President George H.W. Bush's face as he vomits

The George H.W. Bush vomiting incident occurred on January 8, 1992 around 8:20 p.m. JST when U.S. President George H.W. Bush fainted after vomiting at a banquet hosted by the then Prime Minister of Japan, Kiichi Miyazawa.[1]

History

On January 8, 1992, Bush was attending a state event for 135 diplomats held at the home of the Japanese Prime Minister, near the end of the President's 12-day trade-oriented trip through Asia. Earlier that day Bush had played a doubles tennis match in which the Emperor of Japan Akihito and his son the Crown Prince Naruhito beat Bush and his partner, a former U.S. ambassador to Japan. Bush had always been "a pretty competitive guy and almost killed himself trying to cover for his lousy doubles partner" on the court.[2]

Bush later made comments to the press that he had a 24 hour flu bug.

Effects of the incident

The incident was widely reported[1], and quickly became fodder for the nation's comedians. Footage of the President vomiting was broadcast on the ABC network, and Saturday Night Live presented a parody skit of the incident in the form of an Oliver Stone conspiracy movie.[3]. The incident was also satirized in an episode of The Simpsons, where Bush angrily declares to Homer that he will "ruin you like a Japanese banquet!" and an episode of King of the Hill where Hank Hill states that "Detroit hasn't felt any real pride since George Bush went to Japan and vomited on their auto-executives".

Several years later, Bush was best remembered in Japan for this event.[2] According to the Encyclopedia of political communication, "The incident caused a wave of late night television jokes and ridicule in the international community, even coining Bushu-suru which literally means 'to do the Bush thing'."[4]

According to USA Today, the incident was one of the top "25 memorable public meltdowns that had us talking and laughing or cringing over the past quarter-century." [5]

A satiric play featuring the incident,[6] and an art exhibit with an image of it was reviewed in 2000.[7][dead link]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Wines, Michael (January 9, 1992). "Bush Collapses at State Dinner With the Japanese". New York Times. Retrieved 2009-08-28. President Bush fell suddenly ill and collapsed at a state dinner being given for him Wednesday night at the home of the Japanese Prime Minister. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  2. ^ a b Peter McKillop, "Letter from Japan: Back to the Future: Will George W. Bush carry on his father's (barfing) legacy?, Time Asia found at Time Asia archives. Accessed September 19, 2009.
  3. ^ [1]
  4. ^ Lynda Lee Kaid and Christina Holtz-Bacha, "Encyclopedia of political communication," Volume 1, p. 72, (SAGE, 2008), ISBN 978-1-4129-1799-5, found at Google Books. Accessed September 19, 2009.
  5. ^ "They did what, said what?". USA Today. May 7, 2007.
  6. ^ the Rocky Mountain News in 2000
  7. ^ Art in America.".
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