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George H. W. Bush

George Herbert Walker Bush[a] (June 12, 1924 – November 30, 2018) was an American politician, diplomat,[2] and businessman who served as the 41st president of the United States from 1989 to 1993. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the 43rd vice president from 1981 to 1989 under President Ronald Reagan, in the U.S. House of Representatives, as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, and as Director of Central Intelligence.

George H. W. Bush
Official portrait, 1989
41st President of the United States
In office
January 20, 1989 – January 20, 1993
Vice PresidentDan Quayle
Preceded byRonald Reagan
Succeeded byBill Clinton
43rd Vice President of the United States
In office
January 20, 1981 – January 20, 1989
PresidentRonald Reagan
Preceded byWalter Mondale
Succeeded byDan Quayle
11th Director of Central Intelligence
In office
January 30, 1976 – January 20, 1977
PresidentGerald Ford
Deputy
Preceded byWilliam Colby
Succeeded byStansfield Turner
2nd Chief of the U.S. Liaison Office to the People's Republic of China
In office
September 26, 1974 – December 7, 1975
PresidentGerald Ford
Preceded byDavid K. E. Bruce
Succeeded byThomas S. Gates Jr.
Chair of the Republican National Committee
In office
January 19, 1973 – September 16, 1974
Preceded byBob Dole
Succeeded byMary Smith
10th United States Ambassador to the United Nations
In office
March 1, 1971 – January 18, 1973
PresidentRichard Nixon
Preceded byCharles Yost
Succeeded byJohn A. Scali
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Texas's 7th district
In office
January 3, 1967 – January 3, 1971
Preceded byJohn Dowdy
Succeeded byBill Archer
Personal details
Born
George Herbert Walker Bush

(1924-06-12)June 12, 1924
Milton, Massachusetts, U.S.
DiedNovember 30, 2018(2018-11-30) (aged 94)
Houston, Texas, U.S.
Resting placeGeorge H.W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum
Political partyRepublican
Spouse
(m. 1945; died 2018)
Children
Parents
RelativesBush family
EducationYale University (BA)
Occupation
  • Businessman
  • diplomat
  • politician
Civilian awardsList of awards and honors
Signature
WebsitePresidential Library
Nickname"Skin"
Military service
Branch/serviceUnited States Navy
Years of service1942–1955 (reserve, active service 1942–1945)
RankLieutenant
UnitFast Carrier Task Force
Battles/wars
Military awards

Bush was raised in Greenwich, Connecticut, and attended Phillips Academy before serving in the United States Navy Reserve during World War II. After the war, he graduated from Yale and moved to West Texas, where he established a successful oil company. After an unsuccessful run for the United States Senate, he won election to the 7th congressional district of Texas in 1966. President Richard Nixon appointed Bush to the position of Ambassador to the United Nations in 1971 and to the position of chairman of the Republican National Committee in 1973. In 1974, President Gerald Ford appointed him as the Chief of the Liaison Office to the People's Republic of China. In 1976, Bush became the Director of Central Intelligence. Bush ran for president in 1980 but was defeated in the Republican presidential primaries by Ronald Reagan, who then selected Bush as his vice presidential running mate.

In the 1988 presidential election, Bush defeated Democrat Michael Dukakis, becoming the first incumbent vice president to be elected president since Martin Van Buren in 1836. Foreign policy drove the Bush presidency as he navigated the final years of the Cold War and played a key role in the reunification of Germany. Bush presided over the invasion of Panama and the Gulf War, ending the Iraqi occupation of Kuwait in the latter conflict. Though the agreement was not ratified until after he left office, Bush negotiated and signed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which created a trade bloc consisting of the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Domestically, Bush reneged on a 1988 campaign promise by enacting legislation to raise taxes to justify reducing the budget deficit. He also championed and signed three pieces of bipartisan legislation, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, Immigration Act of 1990 and the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990. He also successfully appointed David Souter and Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court. Bush lost the 1992 presidential election to Democrat Bill Clinton following an economic recession, his turnaround on his tax promise, and the decreased emphasis of foreign policy in a post–Cold War political climate.[3]

After leaving office in 1993, Bush was active in humanitarian activities, often working alongside Clinton, his former opponent. With the victory of his son, George W. Bush, in the 2000 presidential election, the two became the second father–son pair to serve as the nation's president, following John Adams and John Quincy Adams. Another son, Jeb Bush, unsuccessfully sought the Republican presidential nomination in the 2016 Republican primaries. Historians generally rank Bush as an above-average president.

Early life and education (1924–1948)

George Herbert Walker Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts,[4] on June 12, 1924. He was the second son of Prescott Bush and Dorothy (Walker) Bush,[5] and the younger brother of Prescott Bush Jr. His paternal grandfather, Samuel P. Bush, worked as an executive for a railroad parts company in Columbus, Ohio,[6] while his maternal grandfather and namesake, George Herbert Walker, led Wall Street investment bank W. A. Harriman & Co.[7] Walker was known as "Pop", and young Bush was called "Poppy" as a tribute to him.[8]

The Bush family moved to Greenwich, Connecticut, in 1925, and Prescott took a position with W. A. Harriman & Co. (which later merged into Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.) the following year.[9] Bush spent most of his childhood in Greenwich, at the family vacation home in Kennebunkport, Maine,[b] or at his maternal grandparents' plantation in South Carolina.[11]

Because of the family's wealth, Bush was largely unaffected by the Great Depression.[12] He attended Greenwich Country Day School from 1929 to 1937 and Phillips Academy, an elite private academy in Massachusetts, from 1937 to 1942.[13] While at Phillips Academy, he served as president of the senior class, secretary of the student council, president of the community fund-raising group, a member of the editorial board of the school newspaper, and captain of the varsity baseball and soccer teams.[14]

World War II

 
Bush in his Grumman TBF Avenger aboard USS San Jacinto in 1944

On his 18th birthday, immediately after graduating from Phillips Academy, he enlisted in the United States Navy as a naval aviator.[15] After a period of training, he was commissioned as an ensign in the Naval Reserve at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi on June 9, 1943, becoming one of the youngest aviators in the Navy.[16][c] Beginning in 1944, Bush served in the Pacific theater, where he flew a Grumman TBF Avenger, a torpedo bomber capable of taking off from aircraft carriers.[21] His squadron was assigned to the USS San Jacinto as a member of Air Group 51, where his lanky physique earned him the nickname "Skin".[22]

Bush flew his first combat mission in May 1944, bombing Japanese-held Wake Island,[23] and was promoted to lieutenant (junior grade) on August 1, 1944. During an attack on a Japanese installation in Chichijima, Bush's aircraft successfully attacked several targets but was downed by enemy fire.[20] Though both of Bush's fellow crew members died, Bush successfully bailed out from the aircraft and was rescued by the USS Finback.[24][d] Several of the aviators shot down during the attack were captured and executed, and their livers were eaten by their captors.[25] Bush's survival after such a close brush with death shaped him profoundly, leading him to ask, "Why had I been spared and what did God have for me?"[26] He was later awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his role in the mission.[27]

Bush returned to San Jacinto in November 1944, participating in operations in the Philippines. In early 1945, he was assigned to a new combat squadron, VT-153, where he trained to participate in an invasion of mainland Japan. Between March and May 1945, he trained in Auburn, Maine, where he and Barbara lived in a small apartment.[28] On September 2, 1945, before any invasion took place, Japan formally surrendered following the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.[29] Bush was released from active duty that same month but was not formally discharged from the Navy until October 1955, when he had reached the rank of lieutenant.[20] By the end of his period of active service, Bush had flown 58 missions, completed 128 carrier landings, and recorded 1228 hours of flight time.[30]

Marriage

Bush met Barbara Pierce at a Christmas dance in Greenwich in December 1941,[31] and, after a period of courtship, they became engaged in December 1943.[32] While Bush was on leave from the Navy, they married in Rye, New York, on January 6, 1945.[33] The Bushes enjoyed a strong marriage, and Barbara would later be a popular First Lady, seen by many as "a kind of national grandmother".[34][e] They had six children: George W. (b. 1946), Robin (1949–1953), Jeb (b. 1953), Neil (b. 1955), Marvin (b. 1956), and Doro (b. 1959).[15] Their oldest daughter, Robin, died of leukemia in 1953.[37][38]

College years

Bush enrolled at Yale College, where he took part in an accelerated program that enabled him to graduate in two and a half years rather than the usual four.[15] He was a member of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity and was elected its president.[39] He also captained the Yale baseball team and played in the first two College World Series as a left-handed first baseman.[40] Like his father, he was a member of the Yale cheerleading squad[41] and was initiated into the Skull and Bones secret society. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 1948 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics.[42]

Business career (1948–1963)

 
Bush, top right, stood with his wife and children, mid-1960s

After graduating from Yale, Bush moved his young family to West Texas. Biographer Jon Meacham writes that Bush's relocation to Texas allowed him to move out of the "daily shadow of his Wall Street father and Grandfather Walker, two dominant figures in the financial world," but would still allow Bush to "call on their connections if he needed to raise capital."[43] His first position in Texas was an oil field equipment salesman[44] for Dresser Industries, which was led by family friend Neil Mallon.[45] While working for Dresser, Bush lived in various places with his family: Odessa, Texas; Ventura, Bakersfield and Compton, California; and Midland, Texas.[46] In 1952, he volunteered for the successful presidential campaign of Republican candidate Dwight D. Eisenhower. That same year, his father won election to represent Connecticut in the United States Senate as a member of the Republican Party.[47]

With support from Mallon and Bush's uncle, George Herbert Walker Jr., Bush and John Overbey launched the Bush-Overbey Oil Development Company in 1951.[48] In 1953, he co-founded the Zapata Petroleum Corporation, an oil company that drilled in the Permian Basin in Texas.[citation needed] In 1954, he was named president of the Zapata Offshore Company, a subsidiary which specialized in offshore drilling.[49] Shortly after the subsidiary became independent in 1959, Bush moved the company and his family from Midland to Houston.[50] There, he befriended James Baker, a prominent attorney who later became an important political ally.[51] Bush remained involved with Zapata until the mid-1960s, when he sold his stock in the company for approximately $1 million.[52]

In 1988, The Nation published an article alleging that Bush worked as an operative of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) during the 1960s; Bush denied this claim.[53]

Early political career (1963–1971)

Entry into politics

 
Former president Dwight D. Eisenhower with Bush

By the early 1960s, Bush was widely regarded as an appealing political candidate, and some leading Democrats attempted to convince Bush to become a Democrat. He declined to leave the Republican Party, later citing his belief that the national Democratic Party favored "big, centralized government". The Democratic Party had historically dominated Texas, but Republicans scored their first major victory in the state with John G. Tower's victory in a 1961 special election to the United States Senate. Motivated by Tower's victory and hoping to prevent the far-right John Birch Society from coming to power, Bush ran for the chairmanship of the Harris County Republican Party, winning election in February 1963.[54] Like most other Texas Republicans, Bush supported conservative Senator Barry Goldwater over the more centrist Nelson Rockefeller in the 1964 Republican Party presidential primaries.[55]

In 1964, Bush sought to unseat liberal Democrat Ralph W. Yarborough in Texas's U.S. Senate election.[56] Bolstered by superior fundraising, Bush won the Republican primary by defeating former gubernatorial nominee Jack Cox in a run-off election. In the general election, Bush attacked Yarborough's vote for the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which banned racial and gender discrimination in public institutions and many privately owned businesses. Bush argued that the act unconstitutionally expanded the federal government's powers, but he was privately uncomfortable with the racial politics of opposing the act.[57] He lost the election 56 percent to 44 percent, though he did run well ahead of Barry Goldwater, the Republican presidential nominee.[56] Despite the loss, The New York Times reported that Bush was "rated by political friend and foe alike as the Republicans' best prospect in Texas because of his attractive personal qualities and the strong campaign he put up for the Senate".[58]

U.S. House of Representatives

 
Bush in 1969
 
Bush greeting then California Governor Ronald Reagan in 1967

In 1966, Bush ran for the United States House of Representatives in Texas's 7th congressional district, a newly redistricted seat in the Greater Houston area. Initial polling showed him trailing his Democratic opponent, Harris County District Attorney Frank Briscoe, but he ultimately won the race with 57 percent of the vote.[59] To woo potential candidates in the South and Southwest, House Republicans secured Bush an appointment to the powerful United States House Committee on Ways and Means, making Bush the first freshman to serve on the committee since 1904.[60] His voting record in the House was generally conservative. He supported the Nixon administration's Vietnam policies but broke with Republicans on the issue of birth control, which he supported. He also voted for the Civil Rights Act of 1968, although it was generally unpopular in his district.[61][62] In 1968, Bush joined several other Republicans in issuing the party's Response to the State of the Union address; Bush's part of the address focused on a call for fiscal responsibility.[63]

Though most other Texas Republicans supported Ronald Reagan in the 1968 Republican Party presidential primaries, Bush endorsed Richard Nixon, who went on to win the party's nomination. Nixon considered selecting Bush as his running mate in the 1968 presidential election, but he ultimately chose Spiro Agnew instead. Bush won re-election to the House unopposed, while Nixon defeated Hubert Humphrey in the presidential election.[64] In 1970, with President Nixon's support, Bush gave up his seat in the House to run for the Senate against Yarborough. Bush easily won the Republican primary, but Yarborough was defeated by the more conservative Lloyd Bentsen in the Democratic primary.[65] Ultimately, Bentsen defeated Bush, taking 53.5 percent of the vote.[66]

Nixon and Ford administrations (1971–1977)

Ambassador to the United Nations

 
Bush as ambassador to the United Nations, 1971

After the 1970 Senate election, Bush accepted a position as a senior adviser to the president, but he convinced Nixon to instead appoint him as the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.[67] The position represented Bush's first foray into foreign policy, as well as his first major experiences with the Soviet Union and China, the two major U.S. rivals in the Cold War.[68] During Bush's tenure, the Nixon administration pursued a policy of détente, seeking to ease tensions with both the Soviet Union and China.[69] Bush's ambassadorship was marked by a defeat on the China question, as the United Nations General Assembly voted, in Resolution 2758, to expel the Republic of China and replace it with the People's Republic of China in October 1971.[70] In the 1971 crisis in Pakistan, Bush supported an Indian motion at the UN General Assembly to condemn the Pakistani government of Yahya Khan for waging genocide in East Pakistan (modern Bangladesh), referring to the "tradition which we have supported that the human rights question transcended domestic jurisdiction and should be freely debated".[71] Bush's support for India at the UN put him into conflict with Nixon who was supporting Pakistan, partly because Yahya Khan was a useful intermediary in his attempts to reach out to China and partly because the president was fond of Yahya Khan.[72]

Chairman of the Republican National Committee

After Nixon won a landslide victory in the 1972 presidential election, he appointed Bush as chair of the Republican National Committee (RNC).[73][74] In that position, he was charged with fundraising, candidate recruitment, and making appearances on behalf of the party in the media.

When Agnew was being investigated for corruption, Bush assisted, at the request of Nixon and Agnew, in pressuring John Glenn Beall Jr., the U.S. Senator from Maryland, to force his brother, George Beall the U.S. Attorney in Maryland, to shut down the investigation into Agnew. Attorney Beall ignored the pressure.[75]

During Bush's tenure at the RNC, the Watergate scandal emerged into public view; the scandal originated from the June 1972 break-in of the Democratic National Committee but also involved later efforts to cover up the break-in by Nixon and other members of the White House.[76] Bush initially defended Nixon steadfastly, but as Nixon's complicity became clear he focused more on defending the Republican Party.[61]

Following the resignation of Vice President Agnew in 1973 for a scandal unrelated to Watergate, Bush was considered for the position of vice president, but the appointment instead went to Gerald Ford.[77] After the public release of an audio recording that confirmed that Nixon had plotted to use the CIA to cover up the Watergate break-in, Bush joined other party leaders in urging Nixon to resign.[78] When Nixon resigned on August 9, 1974, Bush noted in his diary that "There was an aura of sadness, like somebody died... The [resignation] speech was vintage Nixon—a kick or two at the press—enormous strains. One couldn't help but look at the family and the whole thing and think of his accomplishments and then think of the shame... [President Gerald Ford's swearing-in offered] indeed a new spirit, a new lift."[79]

Head of U.S. Liaison Office in China

 
Bush as U.S. Liaison to China, c. 1975

Upon his ascension to the presidency, Ford strongly considered Bush, Donald Rumsfeld, and Nelson Rockefeller for the vacant position of vice president. Ford ultimately chose Nelson Rockefeller, partly because of the publication of a news report claiming that Bush's 1970 campaign had benefited from a secret fund set up by Nixon; Bush was later cleared of any suspicion by a special prosecutor.[80] Bush accepted appointment as Chief of the U.S. Liaison Office in the People's Republic of China, making him the de facto ambassador to China.[81] According to biographer Jon Meacham, Bush's time in China convinced him that American engagement abroad was needed to ensure global stability and that the United States "needed to be visible but not pushy, muscular but not domineering."[82]

Director of Central Intelligence

 
Bush, as CIA Director, listens at a meeting following the assassinations in Beirut of Francis E. Meloy Jr. and Robert O. Waring, 1976

In January 1976, Ford brought Bush back to Washington to become the Director of Central Intelligence (DCI), placing him in charge of the CIA.[83] In the aftermath of the Watergate scandal and the Vietnam War, the CIA's reputation had been damaged for its role in various covert operations. Bush was tasked with restoring the agency's morale and public reputation.[84][f] During Bush's year in charge of the CIA, the U.S. national security apparatus actively supported Operation Condor operations and right-wing military dictatorships in Latin America.[85][86] Meanwhile, Ford decided to drop Rockefeller from the ticket for the 1976 presidential election; he considered Bush as his running mate, but ultimately chose Bob Dole.[87] In his capacity as DCI, Bush gave national security briefings to Jimmy Carter both as a presidential candidate and as president-elect.[88]

1980 presidential election

 
1980 campaign logo

Bush's tenure at the CIA ended after Carter narrowly defeated Ford in the 1976 presidential election. Out of public office for the first time since the 1960s, Bush became chairman on the executive committee of the First International Bank in Houston.[89] He also spent a year as a part-time professor of Administrative Science at Rice University's Jones School of Business,[90] continued his membership in the Council on Foreign Relations, and joined the Trilateral Commission. Meanwhile, he began to lay the groundwork for his candidacy in the 1980 Republican Party presidential primaries.[91] In the 1980 Republican primary campaign, Bush faced Ronald Reagan, who was widely regarded as the front-runner, as well as other contenders like Senator Bob Dole, Senator Howard Baker, Texas Governor John Connally, Congressman Phil Crane, and Congressman John B. Anderson.[92]

 
Ronald Reagan, moderator Jon Breen, and Bush participate in the Nashua, New Hampshire, presidential debate, 1980

Bush's campaign cast him as a youthful, "thinking man's candidate" who would emulate the pragmatic conservatism of President Eisenhower.[93] Amid the Soviet–Afghan War, which brought an end to a period of détente, and the Iran hostage crisis, in which 52 Americans were taken hostage, the campaign highlighted Bush's foreign policy experience.[94] At the outset of the race, Bush focused heavily on winning the January 21 Iowa caucuses, making 31 visits to the state.[95] He won a close victory in Iowa with 31.5% to Reagan's 29.4%. After the win, Bush stated that his campaign was full of momentum, or "the Big Mo",[96] and Reagan reorganized his campaign.[97] Partly in response to the Bush campaign's frequent questioning of Reagan's age (Reagan turned 69 in 1980), the Reagan campaign stepped up attacks on Bush, painting him as an elitist who was not truly committed to conservatism.[98] Prior to the New Hampshire primary, Bush and Reagan agreed to a two-person debate, organized by The Nashua Telegraph but paid for by the Reagan campaign.[97]

Days before the debate, Reagan announced that he would invite four other candidates to the debate; Bush, who had hoped that the one-on-one debate would allow him to emerge as the main alternative to Reagan in the primaries, refused to debate the other candidates. All six candidates took the stage, but Bush refused to speak in the presence of the other candidates. Ultimately, the other four candidates left the stage, and the debate continued, but Bush's refusal to debate anyone other than Reagan badly damaged his campaign in New Hampshire.[99] He decisively lost New Hampshire's primary to Reagan, winning just 23 percent of the vote.[97] Bush revitalized his campaign with a victory in Massachusetts but lost the next several primaries. As Reagan built up a commanding delegate lead, Bush refused to end his campaign, but the other candidates dropped out of the race.[100] Criticizing his more conservative rival's policy proposals, Bush famously labeled Reagan's supply side-influenced plans for massive tax cuts as "voodoo economics".[101] Though he favored lower taxes, Bush feared that dramatic reductions in taxation would lead to deficits and, in turn, cause inflation.[102]

 
The Reagan–Bush ticket won the 1980 presidential election with 50.7% of the popular vote and a large majority of the electoral vote

After Reagan clinched a majority of delegates in late May, Bush reluctantly dropped out of the race.[103] At the 1980 Republican National Convention, Reagan made the last-minute decision to select Bush as his vice presidential nominee after negotiations with Ford regarding a Reagan–Ford ticket collapsed.[104] Though Reagan had resented many of the Bush campaign's attacks during the primary campaign, and several conservative leaders had actively opposed Bush's nomination, Reagan ultimately decided that Bush's popularity with moderate Republicans made him the best and safest pick. Bush, who had believed his political career might be over following the primaries, eagerly accepted the position and threw himself into campaigning for the Reagan–Bush ticket.[105] The 1980 general election campaign between Reagan and Carter was conducted amid a multitude of domestic concerns and the ongoing Iran hostage crisis, and Reagan sought to focus the race on Carter's handling of the economy.[106] Though the race was widely regarded as a close contest for most of the campaign, Reagan ultimately won over the large majority of undecided voters.[107] Reagan took 50.7 percent of the popular vote and 489 of the 538 electoral votes, while Carter won 41% of the popular vote and John Anderson, running as an independent candidate, won 6.6% of the popular vote.[108]

Vice presidency (1981–1989)

 
Official portrait of Vice President Bush, 1981

As vice president, Bush generally maintained a low profile, recognizing the constitutional limits of the office; he avoided decision-making or criticizing Reagan in any way. This approach helped him earn Reagan's trust, easing tensions left over from their earlier rivalry.[97] Bush also generally enjoyed a good relationship with Reagan staffers, including Bush's close friend James Baker, who served as Reagan's initial chief of staff.[109] His understanding of the vice presidency was heavily influenced by Vice President Walter Mondale, who enjoyed a strong relationship with President Carter in part because of his ability to avoid confrontations with senior staff and Cabinet members, and by Vice President Nelson Rockefeller's difficult relationship with some members of the White House staff during the Ford administration.[110] The Bushes attended a large number of public and ceremonial events in their positions, including many state funerals, which became a common joke for comedians. As the president of the Senate, Bush also stayed in contact with members of Congress and kept the president informed on occurrences on Capitol Hill.[97]

First term

 
Reagan and Bush in a meeting to discuss the United States' invasion of Grenada with a group of bipartisan members of Congress in October 1983

On March 30, 1981, while Bush was in Texas, Reagan was shot and seriously wounded by John Hinckley Jr. Bush immediately flew back to Washington D.C.; when his plane landed, his aides advised him to proceed directly to the White House by helicopter to show that the government was still functioning.[97] Bush rejected the idea, fearing that such a dramatic scene risked giving the impression that he sought to usurp Reagan's powers and prerogatives.[111] During Reagan's short period of incapacity, Bush presided over Cabinet meetings, met with congressional and foreign leaders, and briefed reporters. Still, he consistently rejected invoking the Twenty-fifth Amendment.[112] Bush's handling of the attempted assassination and its aftermath made a positive impression on Reagan, who recovered and returned to work within two weeks of the shooting. From then on, the two men would have regular Thursday lunches in the Oval Office.[113]

Reagan assigned Bush to chair two special task forces, one on deregulation and one on international drug smuggling. Both were popular issues with conservatives, and Bush, largely a moderate, began courting them through his work. The deregulation task force reviewed hundreds of rules, making specific recommendations on which ones to amend or revise to curb the size of the federal government.[97] The Reagan administration's deregulation push strongly impacted broadcasting, finance, resource extraction, and other economic activities, and the administration eliminated numerous government positions.[114] Bush also oversaw the administration's national security crisis management organization, which had traditionally been the responsibility of the National Security Advisor.[115] In 1983, Bush toured Western Europe as part of the Reagan administration's ultimately successful efforts to convince skeptical NATO allies to support the deployment of Pershing II missiles.[116]

 
The Reagan–Bush ticket won the 1984 presidential election with 58.8% of the popular vote and 525 electoral votes.

Reagan's approval ratings fell after his first year in office, but they bounced back when the United States began to emerge from recession in 1983.[117] Former vice president Walter Mondale was nominated by the Democratic Party in the 1984 presidential election. Down in the polls, Mondale selected Congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro as his running mate in hopes of galvanizing support for his campaign, thus making Ferraro the first female major party vice presidential nominee in U.S. history.[118] She and Bush squared off in a single televised vice presidential debate.[97] Public opinion polling consistently showed a Reagan lead in the 1984 campaign, and Mondale was unable to shake up the race.[119] In the end, Reagan won re-election, winning 49 of 50 states and receiving 59% of the popular vote to Mondale's 41%.[120]

Second term

 
Vice President Bush standing with President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev on the New York City waterfront in 1988

Mikhail Gorbachev came to power in the Soviet Union in 1985. Rejecting the ideological rigidity of his three elderly sick predecessors, Gorbachev insisted on urgently needed economic and political reforms called "glasnost" (openness) and "perestroika" (restructuring).[121] At the 1987 Washington Summit, Gorbachev and Reagan signed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, which committed both signatories to the total abolition of their respective short-range and medium-range missile stockpiles.[122] The treaty began a new era of trade, openness, and cooperation between the two powers.[123] President Reagan and Secretary of State George Shultz took the lead in these negotiations, but Bush sat in on many meetings. Bush did not agree with many of the Reagan policies, but he did tell Gorbachev that he would seek to continue improving relations if he succeeded Reagan.[124] On July 13, 1985, Bush became the first vice president to serve as acting president when Reagan underwent surgery to remove polyps from his colon; Bush served as the acting president for approximately eight hours.[125]

In 1986, the Reagan administration was shaken by a scandal when it was revealed that administration officials had secretly arranged weapon sales to Iran during the Iran–Iraq War. The officials had used the proceeds to fund the Contra rebels in their fight against the leftist Sandinista government in Nicaragua. Democrats had passed a law that appropriated funds could not be used to help the Contras. Instead, the administration used non-appropriated funds from the sales.[97] When news of the affair broke to the media, Bush stated that he had been "out of the loop" and unaware of the diversion of funds.[126] Biographer Jon Meacham writes that "no evidence was ever produced proving Bush was aware of the diversion to the contras," but he criticizes Bush's "out of the loop" characterization, writing that the "record is clear that Bush was aware that the United States, in contravention of its own stated policy, was trading arms for hostages".[127] The Iran–Contra scandal, as it became known, did serious damage to the Reagan presidency, raising questions about Reagan's competency.[128] Congress established the Tower Commission to investigate the scandal, and, at Reagan's request, a panel of federal judges appointed Lawrence Walsh as a special prosecutor charged with investigating the Iran–Contra scandal.[129] The investigations continued after Reagan left office, and, though Bush was never charged with a crime, the Iran–Contra scandal would remain a political liability for him.[130]

On July 3, 1988, the guided missile cruiser USS Vincennes accidentally shot down Iran Air Flight 655, killing 290 passengers.[131] Bush, then-vice president, defended his country at the United Nations by arguing that the U.S. attack had been a wartime incident and the crew of Vincennes had acted appropriately to the situation.[132]

1988 presidential election

 
1988 campaign logo
 
John Ashcroft and Vice President Bush campaign in St. Louis, Missouri, 1988

Bush began planning for a presidential run after the 1984 election, and he officially entered the 1988 Republican Party presidential primaries in October 1987.[97] He put together a campaign led by Reagan staffer Lee Atwater, which also included his son, George W. Bush, and media consultant Roger Ailes.[133] Though he had moved to the right during his time as vice president, endorsing a Human Life Amendment and repudiating his earlier comments on "voodoo economics", Bush still faced opposition from many conservatives in the Republican Party.[134] His major rivals for the Republican nomination were Senate Minority Leader Bob Dole of Kansas, Congressman Jack Kemp of New York, and Christian televangelist Pat Robertson.[135] Reagan did not publicly endorse any candidate but privately expressed support for Bush.[136]

Though considered the early front-runner for the nomination, Bush came in third in the Iowa caucus, behind Dole and Robertson.[137] Much as Reagan had done in 1980, Bush reorganized his staff and concentrated on the New Hampshire primary.[97] With help from Governor John H. Sununu and an effective campaign attacking Dole for raising taxes, Bush overcame an initial polling deficit and won New Hampshire with 39 percent of the vote.[138] After Bush won South Carolina and 16 of the 17 states holding a primary on Super Tuesday, his competitors dropped out of the race.[139]

Bush, occasionally criticized for his lack of eloquence compared to Reagan, delivered a well-received speech at the Republican convention. Known as the "thousand points of light" speech, it described Bush's vision of America: he endorsed the Pledge of Allegiance, prayer in schools, capital punishment, and gun rights.[140] Bush also pledged that he would not raise taxes, stating: "Congress will push me to raise taxes, and I'll say no, and they'll push, and I'll say no, and they'll push again. And all I can say to them is: read my lips. No new taxes."[141] Bush selected little-known Senator Dan Quayle of Indiana as his running mate. Though Quayle had compiled an unremarkable record in Congress, he was popular among many conservatives, and the campaign hoped that Quayle's youth would appeal to younger voters.[142]

 
Bush won the 1988 presidential election with 53.4% of the popular vote and a large majority of the electoral vote

Meanwhile, the Democratic Party nominated Governor Michael Dukakis, known for presiding over an economic turnaround in Massachusetts.[143] Leading in the general election polls against Bush, Dukakis ran an ineffective, low-risk campaign.[144] The Bush campaign attacked Dukakis as an unpatriotic liberal extremist and seized on the Willie Horton case, in which a convicted felon from Massachusetts raped a woman while on a prison furlough, a program Dukakis supported as governor. The Bush campaign charged that Dukakis presided over a "revolving door" that allowed dangerous convicted felons to leave prison.[145] Dukakis damaged his own campaign with a widely mocked ride in an M1 Abrams tank and poor performance at the second presidential debate.[146] Bush also attacked Dukakis for opposing a law that would require all students to recite the Pledge of Allegiance.[140] The election is widely considered to have had a high level of negative campaigning, though political scientist John Geer has argued that the share of negative ads was in line with previous presidential elections.[147]

Bush defeated Dukakis by a margin of 426 to 111 in the Electoral College, and he took 53.4 percent of the national popular vote.[148] Bush ran well in all the major regions of the country, but especially in the South.[149] He became the fourth sitting vice president to be elected president and the first to do so since Martin Van Buren in 1836 and the first person to succeed a president from his own party via election since Herbert Hoover in 1929.[97][g] In the concurrent congressional elections, Democrats retained control of both houses of Congress.[151]

Presidency (1989–1993)

 
Chief Justice William Rehnquist administers the Presidential Oath of Office to Bush

Bush was inaugurated on January 20, 1989, succeeding Ronald Reagan. In his inaugural address, Bush said:

I come before you and assume the Presidency at a moment rich with promise. We live in a peaceful, prosperous time, but we can make it better. For a new breeze is blowing, and a world refreshed by freedom seems reborn; for in man's heart, if not in fact, the day of the dictator is over. The totalitarian era is passing, its old ideas blown away like leaves from an ancient, lifeless tree. A new breeze is blowing, and a nation refreshed by freedom stands ready to push on. There is new ground to be broken, and new action to be taken.[152]

Bush's first major appointment was that of James Baker as Secretary of State.[153] Leadership of the Department of Defense went to Dick Cheney, who had previously served as Gerald Ford's chief of staff and would later serve as vice president under his son George W. Bush.[154] Jack Kemp joined the administration as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, while Elizabeth Dole, the wife of Bob Dole and a former Secretary of Transportation, became the Secretary of Labor under Bush.[155] Bush retained several Reagan officials, including Secretary of the Treasury Nicholas F. Brady, Attorney General Dick Thornburgh, and Secretary of Education Lauro Cavazos.[156] New Hampshire Governor John Sununu, a strong supporter of Bush during the 1988 campaign, became chief of staff.[153] Brent Scowcroft was appointed as the National Security Advisor, a role he had also held under Ford.[157]

Foreign affairs

End of the Cold War

 
Map showing the division of East and West Germany until 1990, with Berlin in yellow

During the first year of his tenure, Bush paused Reagan's détente policy toward the USSR.[158] Bush and his advisers were initially divided on Gorbachev; some administration officials saw him as a democratic reformer, but others suspected him of trying to make the minimum changes necessary to restore the Soviet Union to a competitive position with the United States.[159] In 1989, all the Communist governments collapsed in Eastern Europe. Gorbachev declined to send in the Soviet military, effectively abandoning the Brezhnev Doctrine. The U.S. was not directly involved in these upheavals, but the Bush administration avoided gloating over the demise of the Eastern Bloc to avoid undermining further democratic reforms.[160]

Bush and Gorbachev met at the Malta Summit in December 1989. Though many on the right remained wary of Gorbachev, Bush came away believing that Gorbachev would negotiate in good faith.[161] For the remainder of his term, Bush sought cooperative relations with Gorbachev, believing he was the key to peace.[162] The primary issue at the Malta Summit was the potential reunification of Germany. While Britain and France were wary of a reunified Germany, Bush joined German chancellor Helmut Kohl in pushing for German reunification.[163] Bush believed that a reunified Germany would serve American interests.[164] After extensive negotiations, Gorbachev agreed to allow a reunified Germany to be a part of NATO, and Germany officially reunified in October 1990 after paying billions of marks to Moscow.[165]

 
Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev at the Helsinki Summit in 1990

Gorbachev used force to suppress nationalist movements within the Soviet Union itself.[166] A crisis in Lithuania left Bush in a difficult position, as he needed Gorbachev's cooperation in the reunification of Germany and feared that the collapse of the Soviet Union could leave nuclear arms in dangerous hands. The Bush administration mildly protested Gorbachev's suppression of Lithuania's independence movement but took no action to intervene directly.[167] Bush warned independence movements of the disorder that could come with secession from the Soviet Union; in a 1991 address that critics labeled the "Chicken Kiev speech", he cautioned against "suicidal nationalism".[168] In July 1991, Bush and Gorbachev signed the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START I) treaty, in which both countries agreed to cut their strategic nuclear weapons by 30 percent.[169]

 
In 1991, the Soviet Union dissolved into fifteen independent republics, including Russia (labeled 11)

In August 1991, hard-line Communists launched a coup against Gorbachev; while the coup quickly fell apart, it broke the remaining power of Gorbachev and the central Soviet government.[170] Later that month, Gorbachev resigned as general secretary of the Communist party, and Russian president Boris Yeltsin ordered the seizure of Soviet property. Gorbachev clung to power as the President of the Soviet Union until December 1991, when the Soviet Union dissolved.[171] Fifteen states emerged from the Soviet Union, and of those states, Russia was the largest and most populous. Bush and Yeltsin met in February 1992, declaring a new era of "friendship and partnership".[172] In January 1993, Bush and Yeltsin agreed to START II, which provided for further nuclear arms reductions on top of the original START treaty.[173]

Invasion of Panama

Through the late 1980s, the U.S. provided aid to Manuel Noriega, the anti-Communist leader of Panama. Noriega had long-standing ties to United States intelligence agencies, including during Bush's tenure as Director of Central Intelligence, and was also deeply involved in drug trafficking.[174] In May 1989, Noriega annulled the results of a democratic presidential election in which Guillermo Endara had been elected. Bush objected to the annulment of the election and worried about the status of the Panama Canal with Noriega still in office.[175] Bush dispatched 2,000 soldiers to the country, where they began conducting regular military exercises violating prior treaties.[176] After Panamanian forces shot a U.S. serviceman in December 1989, Bush ordered the United States invasion of Panama, known as "Operation Just Cause". The invasion was the first large-scale American military operation unrelated to the Cold War in more than 40 years. American forces quickly took control of the Panama Canal Zone and Panama City. Noriega surrendered on January 3, 1990, and was quickly transported to a prison in the United States. Twenty-three Americans died in the operation, while another 394 were wounded. Noriega was convicted and imprisoned on racketeering and drug trafficking charges in April 1992.[175] Historian Stewart Brewer argues that the invasion "represented a new era in American foreign policy" because Bush did not justify the invasion under the Monroe Doctrine or the threat of Communism, but rather because it was in the best interests of the United States.[177]

Gulf War

 
Iraq (green) invaded Kuwait (orange) in 1990

Faced with massive debts and low oil prices in the aftermath of the Iran–Iraq War, Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein decided to conquer the country of Kuwait, a small, oil-rich country situated on Iraq's southern border.[178] After Iraq invaded Kuwait in August 1990, Bush imposed economic sanctions on Iraq and assembled a multi-national coalition opposed to the invasion.[179] The administration feared that a failure to respond to the invasion would embolden Hussein to attack Saudi Arabia or Israel and wanted to discourage other countries from similar aggression.[180] Bush also wanted to ensure continued access to oil, as Iraq and Kuwait collectively accounted for 20 percent of the world's oil production, and Saudi Arabia produced another 26 percent of the world's oil supply.[181]

At Bush's insistence, in November 1990, the United Nations Security Council approved a resolution authorizing the use of force if Iraq did not withdraw from Kuwait by January 15, 1991.[182] Gorbachev's support and China's abstention helped ensure passage of the United Nations resolution.[183] Bush convinced Britain, France, and other nations to commit soldiers to an operation against Iraq. He won important financial backing from Germany, Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.[184] In January 1991, Bush asked Congress to approve a joint resolution authorizing a war against Iraq.[185] Bush believed that the United Nations resolution had already provided him with the necessary authorization to launch a military operation against Iraq. Still, he wanted to show that the nation was united behind military action.[186] Despite the opposition of a majority of Democrats in both the House and the Senate, Congress approved the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 1991.[185]

 
Bush meets with Robert Gates, General Colin Powell, Secretary Dick Cheney and others about the situation in the Persian Gulf, 1991

After the January 15 deadline passed without an Iraqi withdrawal from Kuwait, U.S. and coalition forces conducted a bombing campaign that devastated Iraq's power grid and communications network and resulted in the desertion of about 100,000 Iraqi soldiers. In retaliation, Iraq launched Scud missiles at Israel and Saudi Arabia, but most missiles did little damage. On February 23, coalition forces began a ground invasion into Kuwait, evicting Iraqi forces by the end of February 27. About 300 Americans and approximately 65 soldiers from other coalition nations died during the military action.[187] A ceasefire was arranged on March 3, and the United Nations passed a resolution establishing a peacekeeping force in a demilitarized zone between Kuwait and Iraq.[188] A March 1991 Gallup poll showed that Bush had an approval rating of 89 percent, the highest presidential approval rating in the history of Gallup polling.[189] After 1991, the United Nations maintained economic sanctions against Iraq, and the United Nations Special Commission was assigned to ensure that Iraq did not revive its weapons of mass destruction program.[190]

NAFTA

 
From left to right: (standing) President Carlos Salinas, President Bush, Prime Minister Brian Mulroney; (seated) Jaime Serra Puche, Carla Hills, and Michael Wilson at the NAFTA Initialing Ceremony, October 1992

In 1987, the U.S. and Canada reached a free trade agreement that eliminated many tariffs between the two countries. President Reagan had intended it as the first step towards a larger trade agreement to eliminate most tariffs among the United States, Canada, and Mexico.[191] The Bush administration, along with the Progressive Conservative Canadian prime minister Brian Mulroney, spearheaded the negotiations of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with Mexico. In addition to lowering tariffs, the proposed treaty would affect patents, copyrights, and trademarks.[192] In 1991, Bush sought fast track authority, which grants the president the power to submit an international trade agreement to Congress without the possibility of amendment. Despite congressional opposition led by House Majority Leader Dick Gephardt, both houses of Congress voted to grant Bush fast track authority. NAFTA was signed in December 1992, after Bush lost reelection,[193] but President Clinton won ratification of NAFTA in 1993.[194] NAFTA remains controversial for its impact on wages, jobs, and overall economic growth.[195]

Domestic affairs

Economy and fiscal issues

The U.S. economy had generally performed well since emerging from recession in late 1982, but it slipped into a mild recession in 1990. The unemployment rate rose from 5.9 percent in 1989 to a high of 7.8 percent in mid-1991.[196][197] Large federal deficits, spawned during the Reagan years, rose from $152.1 billion in 1989[198] to $220 billion for 1990;[199] the $220 billion deficit represented a threefold increase since 1980.[200] As the public became increasingly concerned about the economy and other domestic affairs, Bush's well-received handling of foreign affairs became less of an issue for most voters.[201] Bush's top domestic priority was to end federal budget deficits, which he saw as a liability for the country's long-term economic health and standing in the world.[202] As he was opposed to major defense spending cuts[203] and had pledged not to raise taxes, the president had major difficulties in balancing the budget.[204]

Bush and congressional leaders agreed to avoid major changes to the budget for fiscal year 1990, which began in October 1989. However, both sides knew spending cuts or new taxes would be necessary for the following year's budget to avoid the draconian automatic domestic spending cuts required by the Gramm–Rudman–Hollings Balanced Budget Act of 1987.[205] Bush and other leaders also wanted to cut deficits because Federal Reserve Chair Alan Greenspan refused to lower interest rates and thus stimulate economic growth unless the federal budget deficit was reduced.[206] In a statement released in late June 1990, Bush said that he would be open to a deficit reduction program which included spending cuts, incentives for economic growth, budget process reform, as well as tax increases.[207] To fiscal conservatives in the Republican Party, Bush's statement represented a betrayal, and they heavily criticized him for compromising so early in the negotiations.[208]

In September 1990, Bush and Congressional Democrats announced a compromise to cut mandatory and discretionary programs funding while raising revenue, partly through a higher gas tax. The compromise additionally included a "pay as you go" provision that required that new programs be paid for at the time of implementation.[209] House Minority Whip Newt Gingrich led the conservative opposition to the bill, strongly opposing any form of tax increase.[210] Some liberals also criticized the budget cuts in the compromise, and in October, the House rejected the deal, resulting in a brief government shutdown. Without the strong backing of the Republican Party, Bush agreed to another compromise bill, this one more favorable to Democrats. The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 (OBRA-90), enacted on October 27, 1990, dropped much of the gasoline tax increase in favor of higher income taxes on top earners. It included cuts to domestic spending, but the cuts were not as deep as those proposed in the original compromise. Bush's decision to sign the bill damaged his standing with conservatives and the general public, but it also laid the groundwork for the budget surpluses of the late 1990s.[211]

Discrimination

"Even the strongest person couldn't scale the Berlin Wall to gain the elusive promise of independence that lay just beyond. And so, together we rejoiced when that barrier fell. And now I sign legislation which takes a sledgehammer to another wall, one which has for too many generations separated Americans with disabilities from the freedom they could glimpse, but not grasp."

—Bush's remarks at the signing ceremony for the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990[212]

The disabled had not received legal protections under the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964, and many faced discrimination and segregation by the time Bush took office. In 1988, Lowell P. Weicker Jr. and Tony Coelho introduced the Americans with Disabilities Act, which barred employment discrimination against qualified individuals with disabilities. The bill had passed the Senate but not the House and was reintroduced in 1989. Though some conservatives opposed the bill due to its costs and potential burdens on businesses, Bush strongly supported it, partly because his son, Neil, had struggled with dyslexia. After the bill passed both houses of Congress, Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 into law in July 1990.[213] The act required employers and public accommodations to make "reasonable accommodations" for the disabled while providing an exception when such accommodations imposed an "undue hardship".[214]

Senator Ted Kennedy later led the congressional passage of a separate civil rights bill designed to facilitate launching employment discrimination lawsuits.[215] In vetoing the bill, Bush argued that it would lead to racial quotas in hiring.[216][217] In November 1991, Bush signed the Civil Rights Act of 1991, which was largely similar to the bill he had vetoed in the previous year.[215]

In August 1990, Bush signed the Ryan White CARE Act, the largest federally funded program dedicated to assisting persons living with HIV/AIDS.[218] Throughout his presidency, the AIDS epidemic grew dramatically in the U.S. and around the world, and Bush often found himself at odds with AIDS activist groups who criticized him for not placing a high priority on HIV/AIDS research and funding. Frustrated by the administration's lack of urgency on the issue, ACT UP dumped the ashes of HIV/AIDS victims on the White House lawn during a viewing of the AIDS Quilt in 1992.[219] By that time, HIV had become the leading cause of death in the U.S. for men aged 25–44.[220]

Environment

In June 1989, the Bush administration proposed a bill to amend the Clean Air Act. Working with Senate Majority Leader George J. Mitchell, the administration won passage of the amendments over the opposition of business-aligned members of Congress who feared the impact of tougher regulations.[221] The legislation sought to curb acid rain and smog by requiring decreased emissions of chemicals such as sulfur dioxide,[222] and was the first major update to the Clean Air Act since 1977.[223] Bush also signed the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 in response to the Exxon Valdez oil spill. However, the League of Conservation Voters criticized some of Bush's other environmental actions, including his opposition to stricter auto-mileage standards.[224]

Points of Light

Bush devoted attention to voluntary service to solve some of America's most serious social problems. He often used the "thousand points of light" theme to describe the power of citizens to solve community problems. In his 1989 inaugural address, Bush said, "I have spoken of a thousand points of light, of all the community organizations that are spread like stars throughout the Nation, doing good."[225] During his presidency, Bush honored numerous volunteers with the Daily Point of Light Award, a tradition that his presidential successors continued.[226] In 1990, the Points of Light Foundation was created as a nonprofit organization in Washington to promote this spirit of volunteerism.[227] In 2007, the Points of Light Foundation merged with the Hands On Network to create a new organization, Points of Light.[228]

Judicial appointments

 
Bush appointed Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court in 1991

Bush appointed two justices to the Supreme Court of the United States. In 1990, Bush appointed a largely unknown state appellate judge, David Souter, to replace liberal icon William Brennan.[229] Souter was easily confirmed and served until 2009, but joined the liberal bloc of the court, disappointing Bush.[229] In 1991, Bush nominated conservative federal judge Clarence Thomas to succeed Thurgood Marshall, a long-time liberal stalwart. Thomas, the former head of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), faced heavy opposition in the Senate, as well as from pro-choice groups and the NAACP. His nomination faced another difficulty when Anita Hill accused Thomas of having sexually harassed her during his time as the chair of EEOC. Thomas won confirmation in a narrow 52–48 vote; 43 Republicans and 9 Democrats voted to confirm Thomas's nomination, while 46 Democrats and 2 Republicans voted against confirmation.[230] Thomas became one of the most conservative justices of his era.[231]

Other issues

Bush's education platform consisted mainly of offering federal support for a variety of innovations, such as open enrollment, incentive pay for outstanding teachers, and rewards for schools that improve performance with underprivileged children.[232] Though Bush did not pass a major educational reform package during his presidency, his ideas influenced later reform efforts, including Goals 2000 and the No Child Left Behind Act.[233] Bush signed the Immigration Act of 1990,[234] which led to a 40 percent increase in legal immigration to the United States.[235] The act more than doubled the number of visas given to immigrants on the basis of job skills.[236] In the wake of the savings and loan crisis, Bush proposed a $50 billion package to rescue the savings and loans industry, and also proposed the creation of the Office of Thrift Supervision to regulate the industry. Congress passed the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989, which incorporated most of Bush's proposals.[237]

Public image

 
Bush's approval ratings (red) compared to his disapproval ratings (blue) during his presidency

Bush was widely seen as a "pragmatic caretaker" president who lacked a unified and compelling long-term theme in his efforts.[238][239][240] Indeed, Bush's sound bite where he refers to the issue of overarching purpose as "the vision thing" has become a metonym applied to other political figures accused of similar difficulties.[241][242][243][244][245][246] His ability to gain broad international support for the Gulf War and the war's result were seen as both a diplomatic and military triumph,[247] rousing bipartisan approval,[248] though his decision to withdraw without removing Saddam Hussein left mixed feelings, and attention returned to the domestic front and a souring economy.[249] A New York Times article mistakenly depicted Bush as being surprised to see a supermarket barcode reader;[250][251] the report of his reaction exacerbated the notion that he was "out of touch".[250] Amid the early 1990s recession, his image shifted from "conquering hero" to "politician befuddled by economic matters".[252]

At the elite level, several commentators and political experts lamented the state of American politics in 1991–1992 and reported the voters were angry. Many analysts blamed the poor quality of national election campaigns.[253]

1992 presidential campaign

Bush announced his reelection bid in early 1992; with a coalition victory in the Persian Gulf War and high approval ratings, Bush's reelection initially looked likely.[254] As a result, many leading Democrats, including Mario Cuomo, Dick Gephardt, and Al Gore, declined to seek their party's presidential nomination.[255] However, Bush's tax increase angered many conservatives, who believed that Bush had strayed from the conservative principles of Ronald Reagan.[256] He faced a challenge from conservative political columnist Pat Buchanan in the 1992 Republican primaries.[257] Bush fended off Buchanan's challenge and won his party's nomination at the 1992 Republican National Convention. Still, the convention adopted a socially conservative platform strongly influenced by the Christian right.[258]

 
Bush was defeated in the 1992 presidential election by Bill Clinton

Meanwhile, the Democrats nominated Governor Bill Clinton of Arkansas. A moderate who was affiliated with the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC), Clinton favored welfare reform, deficit reduction, and a tax cut for the middle class.[259] In early 1992, the race took an unexpected twist when Texas billionaire H. Ross Perot launched a third-party bid, claiming that neither Republicans nor Democrats could eliminate the deficit and make government more efficient. His message appealed to voters across the political spectrum disappointed with both parties' perceived fiscal irresponsibility.[260] Perot also attacked NAFTA, which he claimed would lead to major job losses.[261] National polling taken in mid-1992 showed Perot in the lead, but Clinton experienced a surge through effective campaigning and the selection of Senator Al Gore, a popular and relatively young Southerner, as his running mate.[262]

Clinton won the election, taking 43 percent of the popular vote and 370 electoral votes, while Bush won 37.5 percent of the popular vote and 168 electoral votes.[263] Perot won 19% of the popular vote, one of the highest totals for a third-party candidate in U.S. history, drawing equally from both major candidates, according to exit polls.[264] Clinton performed well in the Northeast, the Midwest, and the West Coast, while also waging the strongest Democratic campaign in the South since the 1976 election.[265] Several factors were important in Bush's defeat. The ailing economy which arose from recession may have been the main factor in Bush's loss, as 7 in 10 voters said on election day that the economy was either "not so good" or "poor".[266][267] On the eve of the 1992 election, the unemployment rate stood at 7.8%, which was the highest it had been since 1984.[268] The president was also damaged by his alienation of many conservatives in his party.[269] Bush partially blamed Perot for his defeat, though exit polls showed that Perot drew his voters about equally from Clinton and Bush.[270]

Despite his defeat, Bush left office with a 56 percent job approval rating in January 1993.[271] Like many of his predecessors, Bush issued a series of pardons during his last days in office. In December 1992, he granted executive clemency to six former senior government officials implicated in the Iran-Contra scandal, most prominently former Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger.[272] The charges against the six were that they lied to or withheld information from Congress. The pardons effectively brought an end to the Iran-Contra scandal.[273]

According to Seymour Martin Lipset, the 1992 election had several unique characteristics. Voters felt that economic conditions were worse than they were, which harmed Bush. A rare event was the presence of a strong third-party candidate. Liberals launched a backlash against 12 years of a conservative White House. The chief factor was Clinton uniting his party and winning over several heterogeneous groups.[274]

Post-presidency (1993–2018)

Appearances

 
President Bill Clinton meeting with former presidents Bush and Jimmy Carter at the White House in September 1993

After leaving office, Bush and his wife built a retirement house in the community of West Oaks, Houston.[275] He established a presidential office within the Park Laureate Building on Memorial Drive in Houston.[276] He also frequently spent time at his vacation home in Kennebunkport, took annual cruises in Greece, went on fishing trips in Florida, and visited the Bohemian Club in Northern California. He declined to serve on corporate boards but delivered numerous paid speeches and was an adviser to The Carlyle Group, a private equity firm.[277] He never published his memoirs, but he and Brent Scowcroft co-wrote A World Transformed, a 1998 work on foreign policy. Portions of his letters and his diary were later published as The China Diary of George H. W. Bush and All the Best, George Bush.[278]

During a 1993 visit to Kuwait, Bush was targeted in an assassination plot directed by the Iraqi Intelligence Service. President Clinton retaliated when he ordered the firing of 23 cruise missiles at Iraqi Intelligence Service headquarters in Baghdad.[279] Bush did not publicly comment on the assassination attempt or the missile strike, but privately spoke with Clinton shortly before the strike took place.[280] In the 1994 gubernatorial elections, his sons George W. and Jeb concurrently ran for Governor of Texas and Governor of Florida. Concerning their political careers, he advised them both that "[a]t some point both of you may want to say 'Well, I don't agree with my Dad on that point' or 'Frankly I think Dad was wrong on that.' Do it. Chart your own course, not just on the issues but on defining yourselves".[281] George W. won his race against Ann Richards while Jeb lost to Lawton Chiles. After the results came in, the elder Bush told ABC, "I have very mixed emotions. Proud father, is the way I would sum it all up."[282] Jeb would again run for governor of Florida in 1998 and win at the same time that his brother George W. won re-election in Texas. It marked the second time in United States history that a pair of brothers served simultaneously as governors.[283]

 
George and Barbara Bush, 2001

Bush supported his son's candidacy in the 2000 presidential election but did not actively campaign in the election and did not deliver a speech at the 2000 Republican National Convention.[284] George W. Bush defeated Al Gore in the 2000 election and was re-elected in 2004. Bush and his son thus became the second father–son pair to each serve as President of the United States, following John Adams and John Quincy Adams.[285] Through previous administrations, the elder Bush had ubiquitously been known as "George Bush" or "President Bush", but following his son's election, the need to distinguish between them has made retronymic forms such as "George H. W. Bush" and "George Bush Sr." and colloquialisms such as "Bush 41" and "Bush the Elder" more common.[286] Bush advised his son on some personnel choices, approving of the selection of Dick Cheney as running mate and the retention of George Tenet as CIA Director. However, he was not consulted on all appointments, including that of his old rival, Donald Rumsfeld, as Secretary of Defense.[287] Though he avoided giving unsolicited advice to his son, Bush and his son also discussed some policy matters, especially regarding national security issues.[288]

In his retirement, Bush used the public spotlight to support various charities.[289] Despite earlier political differences with Bill Clinton, the two former presidents eventually became friends.[290] They appeared together in television ads, encouraging aid for victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami and Hurricane Katrina.[291] However, when interviewed by Jon Meacham, Bush criticized Donald Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney, and even his son George W. Bush for their handling of foreign policy after the September 11 attacks.[292]

Final years

 
From left to right: George H. W. Bush, Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Jimmy Carter

Bush supported Republican John McCain in the 2008 presidential election,[293] and Republican Mitt Romney in the 2012 presidential election,[294] but both were defeated by Democrat Barack Obama. In 2011, Obama awarded Bush with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the United States.[295]

Bush supported his son Jeb's bid in the 2016 Republican primaries.[296] Jeb Bush's campaign struggled however, and he withdrew from the race during the primaries. Neither George H. W. nor George W. Bush endorsed the eventual Republican nominee, Donald Trump;[297] all three Bushes emerged as frequent critics of Trump's policies and speaking style, while Trump frequently criticized George W. Bush's presidency. George H. W. Bush later said he voted for the Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton, in the general election.[298] After the election, Bush wrote a letter to President-elect Donald Trump in January 2017 to inform him that because of his poor health, he would not be able to attend Trump's inauguration on January 20; he gave him his best wishes.[299]

In August 2017, after the violence at Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, both presidents Bush released a joint statement saying, "America must always reject racial bigotry, anti-Semitism, and hatred in all forms[. ...] As we pray for Charlottesville, we are all reminded of the fundamental truths recorded by that city's most prominent citizen in the Declaration of Independence: we are all created equal and endowed by our Creator with unalienable rights."[300][301]

On April 17, 2018, Barbara Bush died at the age of 92[302] at her home in Houston, Texas. Her funeral was held at St. Martin's Episcopal Church in Houston four days later.[303][304] Bush, along with former presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush (son), Bill Clinton and First Ladies Melania Trump, Michelle Obama, Laura Bush (daughter-in-law) and Hillary Clinton attended the funeral and posed together for a photo as a sign of unity.[305][306]

On November 1, 2018, Bush went to the polls to vote early in the midterm elections. This would be his final public appearance.[307]

Death and funeral

 
Members of the public pay their respects at the casket of President Bush lying in state in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.

After a long battle with vascular Parkinson's disease, Bush died at his home in Houston on November 30, 2018, at the age of 94.[308][309] At the time of his death he was the longest-lived U.S. president,[310] a distinction now held by Jimmy Carter.[311] He was also the third-oldest vice president.[h] Bush lay in state in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol from December 3 through December 5; he was the 12th U.S. president to be accorded this honor.[313][314] Then, on December 5, Bush's casket was transferred from the Capitol rotunda to Washington National Cathedral where a state funeral was held.[315] After the funeral, Bush's body was transported to George H.W. Bush Presidential Library in College Station, Texas, where he was buried next to his wife Barbara and daughter Robin.[316] At the funeral, former president George W. Bush eulogized his father saying, "He looked for the good in each person, and he usually found it."[315]

Personal life

In 1991, The New York Times revealed that Bush was suffering from Graves' disease, a non-contagious thyroid condition that his wife Barbara also suffered from.[317] Bush had two separate hip replacement surgeries in 2000 and 2007.[318] Thereafter, Bush started to experience weakness in his legs, which was attributed to vascular parkinsonism, a form of Parkinson's disease. He progressively developed problems walking, initially needing a walking stick for mobility aid before he eventually came to rely on a wheelchair from 2011 onwards.[319]

Bush was a lifelong Episcopalian and a member of St. Martin's Episcopal Church in Houston. As President, Bush regularly attended services at St. John's Episcopal Church in Washington D.C.[320] He cited various moments in his life on the deepening of his faith, including his escape from Japanese forces in 1944, and the death of his three-year-old daughter Robin in 1953.[321] His faith was reflected in his "thousand points of light" speech, his support for prayer in schools, and his support for the pro-life movement (following his election as vice president).[322][321]

Legacy

Historical reputation

 
Bush visits NAS JRB during Hurricane Katrina relief efforts, 2005

Polls of historians and political scientists have ranked Bush in the top half of presidents. A 2018 poll of the American Political Science Association's Presidents and Executive Politics section ranked Bush as the 17th best president out of 44.[323] A 2017 C-SPAN poll of historians also ranked Bush as the 20th best president out of 43.[324] Richard Rose described Bush as a "guardian" president, and many other historians and political scientists have similarly described Bush as a passive, hands-off president who was "largely content with things as they were".[325] Professor Steven Knott writes that "[g]enerally the Bush presidency is viewed as successful in foreign affairs but a disappointment in domestic affairs."[326]

Biographer Jon Meacham writes that, after he left office, many Americans viewed Bush as "a gracious and underappreciated man who had many virtues but who had failed to project enough of a distinctive identity and vision to overcome the economic challenges of 1991–92 and to win a second term."[327] Bush himself noted that his legacy was "lost between the glory of Reagan ... and the trials and tribulations of my sons."[328] In the 2010s, Bush was fondly remembered for his willingness to compromise, which contrasted with the intensely partisan era that followed his presidency.[329]

In 2018, Vox highlighted Bush for his "pragmatism" as a moderate Republican president by working across the aisle.[330] They specifically noted Bush's accomplishments within the domestic policy by making bipartisan deals, including raising the tax budget among the wealthy with the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990. Bush also helped pass the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 which The New York Times described as "the most sweeping anti-discrimination law since the Civil Rights Act of 1964.[331] In response to the Exxon Valdez oil spill, Bush built another bipartisan coalition to strengthen the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990.[332][333] Bush also championed and signed into a law the Immigration Act of 1990, a sweeping bipartisan immigration reform act that made it easier for immigrants to legally enter the county, while also granting immigrants fleeing violence the temporary protected status visa, as well as lifted the pre-naturalization English testing process, and finally "eliminated the exclusion of homosexuals under what Congress now deemed the medically unsound classification of "sexual deviant" that was included in the 1965 act."[334][335] Bush stated, "Immigration is not just a link to our past but its also a bridge to America's future".[336]

According to USA Today, the legacy of Bush's presidency was defined by his victory over Iraq after the invasion of Kuwait and by his presiding over the dissolution of the Soviet Union and German reunification.[337] Michael Beschloss and Strobe Talbott praise Bush's handling of the USSR, especially how he prodded Gorbachev in terms of releasing control over the satellite states and permitting German unification—and especially a united Germany in NATO.[338] Andrew Bacevich judges the Bush administration as "morally obtuse" in the light of its "business-as-usual" attitude towards China after the massacre in Tiananmen Square and its uncritical support of Gorbachev as the Soviet Union disintegrated.[339] David Rothkopf argues:

In the recent history of U.S. foreign policy, there has been no president, nor any president's team, who, when confronted with profound international change and challenges, responded with such a thoughtful and well-managed foreign policy...[the Bush administration was] a bridge over one of the great fault lines of history [that] ushered in a "new world order" it described with great skill and professionalism.[340]

Memorials, awards, and honors

In 1990, Time magazine named him the Man of the Year.[341] In 1997, the Houston Intercontinental Airport was renamed as the George Bush Intercontinental Airport.[342] In 1999, the CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, was named the George Bush Center for Intelligence in his honor.[343] In 2011, Bush, an avid golfer, was inducted in the World Golf Hall of Fame.[344] The USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77), the tenth and last Nimitz-class supercarrier of the United States Navy, was named for Bush.[345][346] Bush is commemorated on a postage stamp that was issued by the United States Postal Service in 2019.[347]

The George H.W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum, the tenth U.S. presidential library, was completed in 1997.[348] It contains the presidential and vice presidential papers of Bush and the vice presidential papers of Dan Quayle.[349] The library is located on a 90-acre (36 ha) site on the west campus of Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas.[350] Texas A&M University also hosts the Bush School of Government and Public Service, a graduate public policy school.[350]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ After around 2000, he was usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; previously, he was usually referred to simply as George Bush.
  2. ^ Bush later purchased the estate, which is now known as the Bush compound.[10]
  3. ^ For decades, Bush was considered the youngest aviator in the U.S. Navy during his period of service,[17] but such claims are now regarded as speculation.[18] His official Navy biography called him "the youngest" in 2001,[19] but by 2018 the Navy biography described him as "one of the youngest".[20]
  4. ^ Bush's fellow crew members for the mission were William G. White and John Delaney. According to the accounts of an American pilot and a Japanese individual, another parachute from Bush's aircraft opened, but the bodies of White and Delaney were never recovered.[24]
  5. ^ At the time of his wife's death on April 17, 2018, George H. W. had been married to Barbara for 73 years, the longest presidential marriage in American history at that point.[35] The length of their marriage was surpassed in 2019 by the marriage of Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter.[36]
  6. ^ Biographer Jon Meacham writes that it was widely assumed at the time that Donald Rumsfeld had engineered Bush's appointment as CIA Director since the post was regarded as a "political graveyard". Meacham writes that it is more likely that the key factor in Bush's appointment was that Ford believed Bush would work better with Secretary of State Henry Kissinger than would Elliot Richardson, his original pick for the CIA post.[84]
  7. ^ The 1988 presidential election remains the only presidential election since 1948 in which either party won a third consecutive term.[150]
  8. ^ The longest-lived U.S. vice president is John Nance Garner, who died on November 7, 1967, 15 days short of his 99th birthday.[312]

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Works cited

  • Greene, John Robert (2015). The Presidency of George Bush (2nd ed.). University Press of Kansas. ISBN 978-0-7006-2079-1.
  • Herring, George C. (2008). From Colony to Superpower; U.S. Foreign Relations Since 1776. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-507822-0.
  • Leuchtenburg, William E. (2015). The American President: From Teddy Roosevelt to Bill Clinton. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195176162.
  • Meacham, Jon (2015). Destiny and Power: The American Odyssey of George Herbert Walker Bush. Random House. ISBN 978-1-4000-6765-7.
  • Naftali, Timothy (2007). George H. W. Bush. Times Books. ISBN 978-0-8050-6966-2.
  • Patterson, James (2005). Restless Giant: The United States from Watergate to Bush v. Gore. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195122169.
  • Rossinow, Douglas C. (2015). The Reagan Era: A History of the 1980s. Columbia University Press. ISBN 9780231538657.
  • Saunders, Harold (July 2014). "What Really Happened in Bangladesh: Washington, Islamabad, and the Genocide in East Pakistan". Foreign Affairs. 93 (3): 36–42.
  • Waterman, Richard W. (1996). "Storm Clouds on the Political Horizon: George Bush at the Dawn of the 1992 Presidential Election". Presidential Studies Quarterly. 26 (2): 337–349. JSTOR 27551581.
  • Wilentz, Sean (2008). The Age of Reagan. HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-06-074480-9.

Further reading

Secondary sources

  • Andrew, Christopher (1996). For the President's Eyes Only: Secret Intelligence and the American Presidency from Washington to Bush. Harper Perennial. pp. 503–536. ISBN 978-0-06-092178-1.
  • Barilleaux, Ryan J.; Stuckey, Mary E. (1992). Leadership and the Bush Presidency: Prudence or Drift in an Era of Change. New York: Praeger. ISBN 978-0-275-94418-6.
  • Becker, Jean (2021). The Man I Knew: The Amazing Story of George H. W. Bush's Post-Presidency. Twelve. ISBN 978-1-53-873530-5.
  • Brands, H. W. (2004). "George Bush and the Gulf War of 1991". Presidential Studies Quarterly. 34 (1): 113–131. doi:10.1111/j.1741-5705.2004.00038.x. JSTOR 27552567.
  • Cox, Michael, and Steven Hurst. "'His finest hour?'George Bush and the diplomacy of German unification." Diplomacy and statecraft 13.4 (2002): 123–150.
  • Cull, Nicholas J. "Speeding the Strange Death of American Public Diplomacy: The George H. W. Bush Administration and the US Information Agency." Diplomatic History 34.1 (2010): 47–69.
  • Ducat, Stephen J. (2004). The Wimp Factor: Gender Gaps, Holy Wars, and the Politics of Anxious Masculinity. Boston: Beacon Press. ISBN 978-0-8070-4344-8.
  • Duffy, Michael; Goodgame, Dan (1992). Marching in Place: The Status Quo Presidency of George Bush. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-0-671-73720-7.
  • Engel, Jeffrey A. "A Better World...but Don't Get Carried Away: The Foreign Policy of George H. W. Bush Twenty Years On." Diplomatic History 34.1 (2010): 25–46.
  • Engel, Jeffrey A. When the World Seemed New: George H. W. Bush and the End of the Cold War (2018) excerpt
  • Fitzwater, Marlin (1995). Call the Briefing. New York: Times Books. ISBN 978-0-7388-3458-0.
  • Green, Fitzhugh (1989). George Bush: An Intimate Portrait. New York: Hippocrene. ISBN 978-0-8705-2783-8.
  • Han, Lori Cox. A presidency upstaged: The public leadership of George HW Bush (Texas A&M University Press, 2011).
  • Hyams, Joe (1991). Flight of the Avenger: George Bush at War. San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovic. ISBN 978-0-15-131469-0.
  • Kelley, Kitty (2004). The Family: The True Story of the Bush Dynasty. London: Doubleday. ISBN 978-0-385-50324-2.
  • Maynard, Christopher. Out of the shadow: George H. W. Bush and the end of the Cold War (Texas A&M University Press, 2008).
  • Podhoretz, John (1993). Hell of a Ride: Backstage at the White House Follies, 1989–1993. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-0-671-79648-8.
  • Smith, Curt (2014). George H. W. Bush: Character at the Core. Potomac Books. ISBN 978-1-61-234685-4.
  • Smith, Jean Edward (1992). George Bush's War. New York: Henry Holt & Company. ISBN 978-0-8050-1388-7.
  • Sununu, John H. (2015). The Quiet Man: The Indispensable Presidency of George H. W. Bush. Broadside Books. ISBN 978-0-06-238428-7.
  • Troy, Gil. "Stumping in the bookstores: A literary history of the 1992 presidential campaign." Presidential Studies Quarterly (1995): 697–710. online
  • Updegrove, Mark K. (2017). The Last Republicans: Inside the Extraordinary Relationship between George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush. Harper. ISBN 978-0-06-265412-0.
  • Wicker, Tom (2004). George Herbert Walker Bush. Lipper/Viking. ISBN 978-0-670-03303-4.
  • McBride, Tim (June 12, 2009). "The President Who Treated Me Like a Son". The Daily Beast. Retrieved October 8, 2014.
  • American Experience, The Presidents: George H.W. Bush (Television production). American Experience, Public Broadcasting Service. 2008. Retrieved October 8, 2014.

Primary sources

  • Bush, George H. W. (1987). Looking Forward: An Autobiography. New York: Doubleday. ISBN 978-0-385-14181-9.
  • Bush, George H. W.; Scowcroft, Brent (1998). A World Transformed. New York: Knopf. ISBN 978-0-679-43248-7.
  • Bush, George H. W. (1999). All the Best, George Bush. New York: Scribner. ISBN 978-0-684-83958-5.
  • Bush, George H. W.; Bush, Barbara (2009). (Interview). Interviewed by McGrath, Jim. Archived from the original on November 14, 2013. Retrieved October 8, 2014.
  • Bush, George W. (2014). 41: A Portrait of My Father. Crown. ISBN 978-0-553-44778-1.
  • Bush Koch, Dorothy (2006). My Father, My President: A Personal Account of the Life of George H. W. Bush. Grand Central Publishing. ISBN 978-0-446-57990-2.
  • Bush, George H. W. (2011). Engel, Jeffrey A. (ed.). The China Diary of George H. W. Bush: The Making of a Global President. Princeton UP. ISBN 978-1-4008-2961-3.

External links

george, bush, this, article, about, 41st, president, united, states, 43rd, president, george, bush, george, herbert, walker, bush, june, 1924, november, 2018, american, politician, diplomat, businessman, served, 41st, president, united, states, from, 1989, 199. This article is about the 41st president of the United States For his son the 43rd president see George W Bush George Herbert Walker Bush a June 12 1924 November 30 2018 was an American politician diplomat 2 and businessman who served as the 41st president of the United States from 1989 to 1993 A member of the Republican Party he previously served as the 43rd vice president from 1981 to 1989 under President Ronald Reagan in the U S House of Representatives as U S Ambassador to the United Nations and as Director of Central Intelligence George H W BushOfficial portrait 198941st President of the United StatesIn office January 20 1989 January 20 1993Vice PresidentDan QuaylePreceded byRonald ReaganSucceeded byBill Clinton43rd Vice President of the United StatesIn office January 20 1981 January 20 1989PresidentRonald ReaganPreceded byWalter MondaleSucceeded byDan Quayle11th Director of Central IntelligenceIn office January 30 1976 January 20 1977PresidentGerald FordDeputyVernon A WaltersE Henry KnochePreceded byWilliam ColbySucceeded byStansfield Turner2nd Chief of the U S Liaison Office to the People s Republic of ChinaIn office September 26 1974 December 7 1975PresidentGerald FordPreceded byDavid K E BruceSucceeded byThomas S Gates Jr Chair of the Republican National CommitteeIn office January 19 1973 September 16 1974Preceded byBob DoleSucceeded byMary Smith10th United States Ambassador to the United NationsIn office March 1 1971 January 18 1973PresidentRichard NixonPreceded byCharles YostSucceeded byJohn A ScaliMember of the U S House of Representatives from Texas s 7th districtIn office January 3 1967 January 3 1971Preceded byJohn DowdySucceeded byBill ArcherPersonal detailsBornGeorge Herbert Walker Bush 1924 06 12 June 12 1924Milton Massachusetts U S DiedNovember 30 2018 2018 11 30 aged 94 Houston Texas U S Resting placeGeorge H W Bush Presidential Library and MuseumPolitical partyRepublicanSpouseBarbara Pierce m 1945 died 2018 wbr ChildrenGeorgeRobinJebNeilMarvinDorothyParentsPrescott Bush father Dorothy Walker mother RelativesBush familyEducationYale University BA OccupationBusinessmandiplomatpoliticianCivilian awardsList of awards and honorsSignatureWebsitePresidential LibraryNickname Skin Military serviceBranch serviceUnited States NavyYears of service1942 1955 reserve active service 1942 1945 RankLieutenantUnitFast Carrier Task ForceBattles warsWorld War II Pacific WarMilitary awardsDistinguished Flying CrossAir Medal 3 1 Presidential Unit CitationGeorge H W Bush s voice source source President Bush s comments on his recipience of the Presidential Medal of FreedomRecorded February 17 2011Bush was raised in Greenwich Connecticut and attended Phillips Academy before serving in the United States Navy Reserve during World War II After the war he graduated from Yale and moved to West Texas where he established a successful oil company After an unsuccessful run for the United States Senate he won election to the 7th congressional district of Texas in 1966 President Richard Nixon appointed Bush to the position of Ambassador to the United Nations in 1971 and to the position of chairman of the Republican National Committee in 1973 In 1974 President Gerald Ford appointed him as the Chief of the Liaison Office to the People s Republic of China In 1976 Bush became the Director of Central Intelligence Bush ran for president in 1980 but was defeated in the Republican presidential primaries by Ronald Reagan who then selected Bush as his vice presidential running mate In the 1988 presidential election Bush defeated Democrat Michael Dukakis becoming the first incumbent vice president to be elected president since Martin Van Buren in 1836 Foreign policy drove the Bush presidency as he navigated the final years of the Cold War and played a key role in the reunification of Germany Bush presided over the invasion of Panama and the Gulf War ending the Iraqi occupation of Kuwait in the latter conflict Though the agreement was not ratified until after he left office Bush negotiated and signed the North American Free Trade Agreement NAFTA which created a trade bloc consisting of the United States Canada and Mexico Domestically Bush reneged on a 1988 campaign promise by enacting legislation to raise taxes to justify reducing the budget deficit He also championed and signed three pieces of bipartisan legislation the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 Immigration Act of 1990 and the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 He also successfully appointed David Souter and Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court Bush lost the 1992 presidential election to Democrat Bill Clinton following an economic recession his turnaround on his tax promise and the decreased emphasis of foreign policy in a post Cold War political climate 3 After leaving office in 1993 Bush was active in humanitarian activities often working alongside Clinton his former opponent With the victory of his son George W Bush in the 2000 presidential election the two became the second father son pair to serve as the nation s president following John Adams and John Quincy Adams Another son Jeb Bush unsuccessfully sought the Republican presidential nomination in the 2016 Republican primaries Historians generally rank Bush as an above average president Contents 1 Early life and education 1924 1948 1 1 World War II 1 2 Marriage 1 3 College years 2 Business career 1948 1963 3 Early political career 1963 1971 3 1 Entry into politics 3 2 U S House of Representatives 4 Nixon and Ford administrations 1971 1977 4 1 Ambassador to the United Nations 4 2 Chairman of the Republican National Committee 4 3 Head of U S Liaison Office in China 4 4 Director of Central Intelligence 5 1980 presidential election 6 Vice presidency 1981 1989 6 1 First term 6 2 Second term 6 3 1988 presidential election 7 Presidency 1989 1993 7 1 Foreign affairs 7 1 1 End of the Cold War 7 1 2 Invasion of Panama 7 1 3 Gulf War 7 1 4 NAFTA 7 2 Domestic affairs 7 2 1 Economy and fiscal issues 7 2 2 Discrimination 7 2 3 Environment 7 2 4 Points of Light 7 2 5 Judicial appointments 7 2 6 Other issues 7 3 Public image 7 4 1992 presidential campaign 8 Post presidency 1993 2018 8 1 Appearances 8 2 Final years 8 3 Death and funeral 9 Personal life 10 Legacy 10 1 Historical reputation 10 2 Memorials awards and honors 11 See also 12 Notes 13 References 13 1 Works cited 14 Further reading 14 1 Secondary sources 14 2 Primary sources 15 External linksEarly life and education 1924 1948 See also Bush family George Herbert Walker Bush was born in Milton Massachusetts 4 on June 12 1924 He was the second son of Prescott Bush and Dorothy Walker Bush 5 and the younger brother of Prescott Bush Jr His paternal grandfather Samuel P Bush worked as an executive for a railroad parts company in Columbus Ohio 6 while his maternal grandfather and namesake George Herbert Walker led Wall Street investment bank W A Harriman amp Co 7 Walker was known as Pop and young Bush was called Poppy as a tribute to him 8 The Bush family moved to Greenwich Connecticut in 1925 and Prescott took a position with W A Harriman amp Co which later merged into Brown Brothers Harriman amp Co the following year 9 Bush spent most of his childhood in Greenwich at the family vacation home in Kennebunkport Maine b or at his maternal grandparents plantation in South Carolina 11 Because of the family s wealth Bush was largely unaffected by the Great Depression 12 He attended Greenwich Country Day School from 1929 to 1937 and Phillips Academy an elite private academy in Massachusetts from 1937 to 1942 13 While at Phillips Academy he served as president of the senior class secretary of the student council president of the community fund raising group a member of the editorial board of the school newspaper and captain of the varsity baseball and soccer teams 14 George H W Bush at his grandfather s house in Kennebunkport c 1925 Bush in Phillips Academy s 1942 yearbookWorld War II Bush in his Grumman TBF Avenger aboard USS San Jacinto in 1944 On his 18th birthday immediately after graduating from Phillips Academy he enlisted in the United States Navy as a naval aviator 15 After a period of training he was commissioned as an ensign in the Naval Reserve at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi on June 9 1943 becoming one of the youngest aviators in the Navy 16 c Beginning in 1944 Bush served in the Pacific theater where he flew a Grumman TBF Avenger a torpedo bomber capable of taking off from aircraft carriers 21 His squadron was assigned to the USS San Jacinto as a member of Air Group 51 where his lanky physique earned him the nickname Skin 22 Bush flew his first combat mission in May 1944 bombing Japanese held Wake Island 23 and was promoted to lieutenant junior grade on August 1 1944 During an attack on a Japanese installation in Chichijima Bush s aircraft successfully attacked several targets but was downed by enemy fire 20 Though both of Bush s fellow crew members died Bush successfully bailed out from the aircraft and was rescued by the USS Finback 24 d Several of the aviators shot down during the attack were captured and executed and their livers were eaten by their captors 25 Bush s survival after such a close brush with death shaped him profoundly leading him to ask Why had I been spared and what did God have for me 26 He was later awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his role in the mission 27 Bush returned to San Jacinto in November 1944 participating in operations in the Philippines In early 1945 he was assigned to a new combat squadron VT 153 where he trained to participate in an invasion of mainland Japan Between March and May 1945 he trained in Auburn Maine where he and Barbara lived in a small apartment 28 On September 2 1945 before any invasion took place Japan formally surrendered following the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki 29 Bush was released from active duty that same month but was not formally discharged from the Navy until October 1955 when he had reached the rank of lieutenant 20 By the end of his period of active service Bush had flown 58 missions completed 128 carrier landings and recorded 1228 hours of flight time 30 Marriage Bush met Barbara Pierce at a Christmas dance in Greenwich in December 1941 31 and after a period of courtship they became engaged in December 1943 32 While Bush was on leave from the Navy they married in Rye New York on January 6 1945 33 The Bushes enjoyed a strong marriage and Barbara would later be a popular First Lady seen by many as a kind of national grandmother 34 e They had six children George W b 1946 Robin 1949 1953 Jeb b 1953 Neil b 1955 Marvin b 1956 and Doro b 1959 15 Their oldest daughter Robin died of leukemia in 1953 37 38 College years Bush enrolled at Yale College where he took part in an accelerated program that enabled him to graduate in two and a half years rather than the usual four 15 He was a member of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity and was elected its president 39 He also captained the Yale baseball team and played in the first two College World Series as a left handed first baseman 40 Like his father he was a member of the Yale cheerleading squad 41 and was initiated into the Skull and Bones secret society He graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 1948 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics 42 Business career 1948 1963 Bush top right stood with his wife and children mid 1960s After graduating from Yale Bush moved his young family to West Texas Biographer Jon Meacham writes that Bush s relocation to Texas allowed him to move out of the daily shadow of his Wall Street father and Grandfather Walker two dominant figures in the financial world but would still allow Bush to call on their connections if he needed to raise capital 43 His first position in Texas was an oil field equipment salesman 44 for Dresser Industries which was led by family friend Neil Mallon 45 While working for Dresser Bush lived in various places with his family Odessa Texas Ventura Bakersfield and Compton California and Midland Texas 46 In 1952 he volunteered for the successful presidential campaign of Republican candidate Dwight D Eisenhower That same year his father won election to represent Connecticut in the United States Senate as a member of the Republican Party 47 With support from Mallon and Bush s uncle George Herbert Walker Jr Bush and John Overbey launched the Bush Overbey Oil Development Company in 1951 48 In 1953 he co founded the Zapata Petroleum Corporation an oil company that drilled in the Permian Basin in Texas citation needed In 1954 he was named president of the Zapata Offshore Company a subsidiary which specialized in offshore drilling 49 Shortly after the subsidiary became independent in 1959 Bush moved the company and his family from Midland to Houston 50 There he befriended James Baker a prominent attorney who later became an important political ally 51 Bush remained involved with Zapata until the mid 1960s when he sold his stock in the company for approximately 1 million 52 In 1988 The Nation published an article alleging that Bush worked as an operative of the Central Intelligence Agency CIA during the 1960s Bush denied this claim 53 Early political career 1963 1971 Entry into politics Former president Dwight D Eisenhower with Bush By the early 1960s Bush was widely regarded as an appealing political candidate and some leading Democrats attempted to convince Bush to become a Democrat He declined to leave the Republican Party later citing his belief that the national Democratic Party favored big centralized government The Democratic Party had historically dominated Texas but Republicans scored their first major victory in the state with John G Tower s victory in a 1961 special election to the United States Senate Motivated by Tower s victory and hoping to prevent the far right John Birch Society from coming to power Bush ran for the chairmanship of the Harris County Republican Party winning election in February 1963 54 Like most other Texas Republicans Bush supported conservative Senator Barry Goldwater over the more centrist Nelson Rockefeller in the 1964 Republican Party presidential primaries 55 In 1964 Bush sought to unseat liberal Democrat Ralph W Yarborough in Texas s U S Senate election 56 Bolstered by superior fundraising Bush won the Republican primary by defeating former gubernatorial nominee Jack Cox in a run off election In the general election Bush attacked Yarborough s vote for the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which banned racial and gender discrimination in public institutions and many privately owned businesses Bush argued that the act unconstitutionally expanded the federal government s powers but he was privately uncomfortable with the racial politics of opposing the act 57 He lost the election 56 percent to 44 percent though he did run well ahead of Barry Goldwater the Republican presidential nominee 56 Despite the loss The New York Times reported that Bush was rated by political friend and foe alike as the Republicans best prospect in Texas because of his attractive personal qualities and the strong campaign he put up for the Senate 58 U S House of Representatives Bush in 1969 Bush greeting then California Governor Ronald Reagan in 1967 In 1966 Bush ran for the United States House of Representatives in Texas s 7th congressional district a newly redistricted seat in the Greater Houston area Initial polling showed him trailing his Democratic opponent Harris County District Attorney Frank Briscoe but he ultimately won the race with 57 percent of the vote 59 To woo potential candidates in the South and Southwest House Republicans secured Bush an appointment to the powerful United States House Committee on Ways and Means making Bush the first freshman to serve on the committee since 1904 60 His voting record in the House was generally conservative He supported the Nixon administration s Vietnam policies but broke with Republicans on the issue of birth control which he supported He also voted for the Civil Rights Act of 1968 although it was generally unpopular in his district 61 62 In 1968 Bush joined several other Republicans in issuing the party s Response to the State of the Union address Bush s part of the address focused on a call for fiscal responsibility 63 Though most other Texas Republicans supported Ronald Reagan in the 1968 Republican Party presidential primaries Bush endorsed Richard Nixon who went on to win the party s nomination Nixon considered selecting Bush as his running mate in the 1968 presidential election but he ultimately chose Spiro Agnew instead Bush won re election to the House unopposed while Nixon defeated Hubert Humphrey in the presidential election 64 In 1970 with President Nixon s support Bush gave up his seat in the House to run for the Senate against Yarborough Bush easily won the Republican primary but Yarborough was defeated by the more conservative Lloyd Bentsen in the Democratic primary 65 Ultimately Bentsen defeated Bush taking 53 5 percent of the vote 66 Nixon and Ford administrations 1971 1977 See also Presidency of Richard Nixon and Presidency of Gerald Ford Ambassador to the United Nations Bush as ambassador to the United Nations 1971 After the 1970 Senate election Bush accepted a position as a senior adviser to the president but he convinced Nixon to instead appoint him as the U S Ambassador to the United Nations 67 The position represented Bush s first foray into foreign policy as well as his first major experiences with the Soviet Union and China the two major U S rivals in the Cold War 68 During Bush s tenure the Nixon administration pursued a policy of detente seeking to ease tensions with both the Soviet Union and China 69 Bush s ambassadorship was marked by a defeat on the China question as the United Nations General Assembly voted in Resolution 2758 to expel the Republic of China and replace it with the People s Republic of China in October 1971 70 In the 1971 crisis in Pakistan Bush supported an Indian motion at the UN General Assembly to condemn the Pakistani government of Yahya Khan for waging genocide in East Pakistan modern Bangladesh referring to the tradition which we have supported that the human rights question transcended domestic jurisdiction and should be freely debated 71 Bush s support for India at the UN put him into conflict with Nixon who was supporting Pakistan partly because Yahya Khan was a useful intermediary in his attempts to reach out to China and partly because the president was fond of Yahya Khan 72 Chairman of the Republican National Committee After Nixon won a landslide victory in the 1972 presidential election he appointed Bush as chair of the Republican National Committee RNC 73 74 In that position he was charged with fundraising candidate recruitment and making appearances on behalf of the party in the media When Agnew was being investigated for corruption Bush assisted at the request of Nixon and Agnew in pressuring John Glenn Beall Jr the U S Senator from Maryland to force his brother George Beall the U S Attorney in Maryland to shut down the investigation into Agnew Attorney Beall ignored the pressure 75 During Bush s tenure at the RNC the Watergate scandal emerged into public view the scandal originated from the June 1972 break in of the Democratic National Committee but also involved later efforts to cover up the break in by Nixon and other members of the White House 76 Bush initially defended Nixon steadfastly but as Nixon s complicity became clear he focused more on defending the Republican Party 61 Following the resignation of Vice President Agnew in 1973 for a scandal unrelated to Watergate Bush was considered for the position of vice president but the appointment instead went to Gerald Ford 77 After the public release of an audio recording that confirmed that Nixon had plotted to use the CIA to cover up the Watergate break in Bush joined other party leaders in urging Nixon to resign 78 When Nixon resigned on August 9 1974 Bush noted in his diary that There was an aura of sadness like somebody died The resignation speech was vintage Nixon a kick or two at the press enormous strains One couldn t help but look at the family and the whole thing and think of his accomplishments and then think of the shame President Gerald Ford s swearing in offered indeed a new spirit a new lift 79 Head of U S Liaison Office in China Bush as U S Liaison to China c 1975 Upon his ascension to the presidency Ford strongly considered Bush Donald Rumsfeld and Nelson Rockefeller for the vacant position of vice president Ford ultimately chose Nelson Rockefeller partly because of the publication of a news report claiming that Bush s 1970 campaign had benefited from a secret fund set up by Nixon Bush was later cleared of any suspicion by a special prosecutor 80 Bush accepted appointment as Chief of the U S Liaison Office in the People s Republic of China making him the de facto ambassador to China 81 According to biographer Jon Meacham Bush s time in China convinced him that American engagement abroad was needed to ensure global stability and that the United States needed to be visible but not pushy muscular but not domineering 82 Director of Central Intelligence Bush as CIA Director listens at a meeting following the assassinations in Beirut of Francis E Meloy Jr and Robert O Waring 1976 In January 1976 Ford brought Bush back to Washington to become the Director of Central Intelligence DCI placing him in charge of the CIA 83 In the aftermath of the Watergate scandal and the Vietnam War the CIA s reputation had been damaged for its role in various covert operations Bush was tasked with restoring the agency s morale and public reputation 84 f During Bush s year in charge of the CIA the U S national security apparatus actively supported Operation Condor operations and right wing military dictatorships in Latin America 85 86 Meanwhile Ford decided to drop Rockefeller from the ticket for the 1976 presidential election he considered Bush as his running mate but ultimately chose Bob Dole 87 In his capacity as DCI Bush gave national security briefings to Jimmy Carter both as a presidential candidate and as president elect 88 1980 presidential election 1980 campaign logo Further information Ronald Reagan 1980 presidential campaign and 1980 Republican Party presidential primaries Bush s tenure at the CIA ended after Carter narrowly defeated Ford in the 1976 presidential election Out of public office for the first time since the 1960s Bush became chairman on the executive committee of the First International Bank in Houston 89 He also spent a year as a part time professor of Administrative Science at Rice University s Jones School of Business 90 continued his membership in the Council on Foreign Relations and joined the Trilateral Commission Meanwhile he began to lay the groundwork for his candidacy in the 1980 Republican Party presidential primaries 91 In the 1980 Republican primary campaign Bush faced Ronald Reagan who was widely regarded as the front runner as well as other contenders like Senator Bob Dole Senator Howard Baker Texas Governor John Connally Congressman Phil Crane and Congressman John B Anderson 92 Ronald Reagan moderator Jon Breen and Bush participate in the Nashua New Hampshire presidential debate 1980 Bush s campaign cast him as a youthful thinking man s candidate who would emulate the pragmatic conservatism of President Eisenhower 93 Amid the Soviet Afghan War which brought an end to a period of detente and the Iran hostage crisis in which 52 Americans were taken hostage the campaign highlighted Bush s foreign policy experience 94 At the outset of the race Bush focused heavily on winning the January 21 Iowa caucuses making 31 visits to the state 95 He won a close victory in Iowa with 31 5 to Reagan s 29 4 After the win Bush stated that his campaign was full of momentum or the Big Mo 96 and Reagan reorganized his campaign 97 Partly in response to the Bush campaign s frequent questioning of Reagan s age Reagan turned 69 in 1980 the Reagan campaign stepped up attacks on Bush painting him as an elitist who was not truly committed to conservatism 98 Prior to the New Hampshire primary Bush and Reagan agreed to a two person debate organized by The Nashua Telegraph but paid for by the Reagan campaign 97 Days before the debate Reagan announced that he would invite four other candidates to the debate Bush who had hoped that the one on one debate would allow him to emerge as the main alternative to Reagan in the primaries refused to debate the other candidates All six candidates took the stage but Bush refused to speak in the presence of the other candidates Ultimately the other four candidates left the stage and the debate continued but Bush s refusal to debate anyone other than Reagan badly damaged his campaign in New Hampshire 99 He decisively lost New Hampshire s primary to Reagan winning just 23 percent of the vote 97 Bush revitalized his campaign with a victory in Massachusetts but lost the next several primaries As Reagan built up a commanding delegate lead Bush refused to end his campaign but the other candidates dropped out of the race 100 Criticizing his more conservative rival s policy proposals Bush famously labeled Reagan s supply side influenced plans for massive tax cuts as voodoo economics 101 Though he favored lower taxes Bush feared that dramatic reductions in taxation would lead to deficits and in turn cause inflation 102 The Reagan Bush ticket won the 1980 presidential election with 50 7 of the popular vote and a large majority of the electoral vote After Reagan clinched a majority of delegates in late May Bush reluctantly dropped out of the race 103 At the 1980 Republican National Convention Reagan made the last minute decision to select Bush as his vice presidential nominee after negotiations with Ford regarding a Reagan Ford ticket collapsed 104 Though Reagan had resented many of the Bush campaign s attacks during the primary campaign and several conservative leaders had actively opposed Bush s nomination Reagan ultimately decided that Bush s popularity with moderate Republicans made him the best and safest pick Bush who had believed his political career might be over following the primaries eagerly accepted the position and threw himself into campaigning for the Reagan Bush ticket 105 The 1980 general election campaign between Reagan and Carter was conducted amid a multitude of domestic concerns and the ongoing Iran hostage crisis and Reagan sought to focus the race on Carter s handling of the economy 106 Though the race was widely regarded as a close contest for most of the campaign Reagan ultimately won over the large majority of undecided voters 107 Reagan took 50 7 percent of the popular vote and 489 of the 538 electoral votes while Carter won 41 of the popular vote and John Anderson running as an independent candidate won 6 6 of the popular vote 108 Vice presidency 1981 1989 Further information Presidency of Ronald Reagan and Reagan era Official portrait of Vice President Bush 1981 As vice president Bush generally maintained a low profile recognizing the constitutional limits of the office he avoided decision making or criticizing Reagan in any way This approach helped him earn Reagan s trust easing tensions left over from their earlier rivalry 97 Bush also generally enjoyed a good relationship with Reagan staffers including Bush s close friend James Baker who served as Reagan s initial chief of staff 109 His understanding of the vice presidency was heavily influenced by Vice President Walter Mondale who enjoyed a strong relationship with President Carter in part because of his ability to avoid confrontations with senior staff and Cabinet members and by Vice President Nelson Rockefeller s difficult relationship with some members of the White House staff during the Ford administration 110 The Bushes attended a large number of public and ceremonial events in their positions including many state funerals which became a common joke for comedians As the president of the Senate Bush also stayed in contact with members of Congress and kept the president informed on occurrences on Capitol Hill 97 First term Reagan and Bush in a meeting to discuss the United States invasion of Grenada with a group of bipartisan members of Congress in October 1983 On March 30 1981 while Bush was in Texas Reagan was shot and seriously wounded by John Hinckley Jr Bush immediately flew back to Washington D C when his plane landed his aides advised him to proceed directly to the White House by helicopter to show that the government was still functioning 97 Bush rejected the idea fearing that such a dramatic scene risked giving the impression that he sought to usurp Reagan s powers and prerogatives 111 During Reagan s short period of incapacity Bush presided over Cabinet meetings met with congressional and foreign leaders and briefed reporters Still he consistently rejected invoking the Twenty fifth Amendment 112 Bush s handling of the attempted assassination and its aftermath made a positive impression on Reagan who recovered and returned to work within two weeks of the shooting From then on the two men would have regular Thursday lunches in the Oval Office 113 Reagan assigned Bush to chair two special task forces one on deregulation and one on international drug smuggling Both were popular issues with conservatives and Bush largely a moderate began courting them through his work The deregulation task force reviewed hundreds of rules making specific recommendations on which ones to amend or revise to curb the size of the federal government 97 The Reagan administration s deregulation push strongly impacted broadcasting finance resource extraction and other economic activities and the administration eliminated numerous government positions 114 Bush also oversaw the administration s national security crisis management organization which had traditionally been the responsibility of the National Security Advisor 115 In 1983 Bush toured Western Europe as part of the Reagan administration s ultimately successful efforts to convince skeptical NATO allies to support the deployment of Pershing II missiles 116 The Reagan Bush ticket won the 1984 presidential election with 58 8 of the popular vote and 525 electoral votes Reagan s approval ratings fell after his first year in office but they bounced back when the United States began to emerge from recession in 1983 117 Former vice president Walter Mondale was nominated by the Democratic Party in the 1984 presidential election Down in the polls Mondale selected Congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro as his running mate in hopes of galvanizing support for his campaign thus making Ferraro the first female major party vice presidential nominee in U S history 118 She and Bush squared off in a single televised vice presidential debate 97 Public opinion polling consistently showed a Reagan lead in the 1984 campaign and Mondale was unable to shake up the race 119 In the end Reagan won re election winning 49 of 50 states and receiving 59 of the popular vote to Mondale s 41 120 Second term Vice President Bush standing with President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev on the New York City waterfront in 1988 Mikhail Gorbachev came to power in the Soviet Union in 1985 Rejecting the ideological rigidity of his three elderly sick predecessors Gorbachev insisted on urgently needed economic and political reforms called glasnost openness and perestroika restructuring 121 At the 1987 Washington Summit Gorbachev and Reagan signed the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces Treaty which committed both signatories to the total abolition of their respective short range and medium range missile stockpiles 122 The treaty began a new era of trade openness and cooperation between the two powers 123 President Reagan and Secretary of State George Shultz took the lead in these negotiations but Bush sat in on many meetings Bush did not agree with many of the Reagan policies but he did tell Gorbachev that he would seek to continue improving relations if he succeeded Reagan 124 On July 13 1985 Bush became the first vice president to serve as acting president when Reagan underwent surgery to remove polyps from his colon Bush served as the acting president for approximately eight hours 125 In 1986 the Reagan administration was shaken by a scandal when it was revealed that administration officials had secretly arranged weapon sales to Iran during the Iran Iraq War The officials had used the proceeds to fund the Contra rebels in their fight against the leftist Sandinista government in Nicaragua Democrats had passed a law that appropriated funds could not be used to help the Contras Instead the administration used non appropriated funds from the sales 97 When news of the affair broke to the media Bush stated that he had been out of the loop and unaware of the diversion of funds 126 Biographer Jon Meacham writes that no evidence was ever produced proving Bush was aware of the diversion to the contras but he criticizes Bush s out of the loop characterization writing that the record is clear that Bush was aware that the United States in contravention of its own stated policy was trading arms for hostages 127 The Iran Contra scandal as it became known did serious damage to the Reagan presidency raising questions about Reagan s competency 128 Congress established the Tower Commission to investigate the scandal and at Reagan s request a panel of federal judges appointed Lawrence Walsh as a special prosecutor charged with investigating the Iran Contra scandal 129 The investigations continued after Reagan left office and though Bush was never charged with a crime the Iran Contra scandal would remain a political liability for him 130 On July 3 1988 the guided missile cruiser USS Vincennes accidentally shot down Iran Air Flight 655 killing 290 passengers 131 Bush then vice president defended his country at the United Nations by arguing that the U S attack had been a wartime incident and the crew of Vincennes had acted appropriately to the situation 132 1988 presidential election Main article George H W Bush 1988 presidential campaignFurther information 1988 Republican Party presidential primaries and 1988 United States presidential election 1988 campaign logo John Ashcroft and Vice President Bush campaign in St Louis Missouri 1988 Bush began planning for a presidential run after the 1984 election and he officially entered the 1988 Republican Party presidential primaries in October 1987 97 He put together a campaign led by Reagan staffer Lee Atwater which also included his son George W Bush and media consultant Roger Ailes 133 Though he had moved to the right during his time as vice president endorsing a Human Life Amendment and repudiating his earlier comments on voodoo economics Bush still faced opposition from many conservatives in the Republican Party 134 His major rivals for the Republican nomination were Senate Minority Leader Bob Dole of Kansas Congressman Jack Kemp of New York and Christian televangelist Pat Robertson 135 Reagan did not publicly endorse any candidate but privately expressed support for Bush 136 Though considered the early front runner for the nomination Bush came in third in the Iowa caucus behind Dole and Robertson 137 Much as Reagan had done in 1980 Bush reorganized his staff and concentrated on the New Hampshire primary 97 With help from Governor John H Sununu and an effective campaign attacking Dole for raising taxes Bush overcame an initial polling deficit and won New Hampshire with 39 percent of the vote 138 After Bush won South Carolina and 16 of the 17 states holding a primary on Super Tuesday his competitors dropped out of the race 139 Bush occasionally criticized for his lack of eloquence compared to Reagan delivered a well received speech at the Republican convention Known as the thousand points of light speech it described Bush s vision of America he endorsed the Pledge of Allegiance prayer in schools capital punishment and gun rights 140 Bush also pledged that he would not raise taxes stating Congress will push me to raise taxes and I ll say no and they ll push and I ll say no and they ll push again And all I can say to them is read my lips No new taxes 141 Bush selected little known Senator Dan Quayle of Indiana as his running mate Though Quayle had compiled an unremarkable record in Congress he was popular among many conservatives and the campaign hoped that Quayle s youth would appeal to younger voters 142 Bush won the 1988 presidential election with 53 4 of the popular vote and a large majority of the electoral vote Meanwhile the Democratic Party nominated Governor Michael Dukakis known for presiding over an economic turnaround in Massachusetts 143 Leading in the general election polls against Bush Dukakis ran an ineffective low risk campaign 144 The Bush campaign attacked Dukakis as an unpatriotic liberal extremist and seized on the Willie Horton case in which a convicted felon from Massachusetts raped a woman while on a prison furlough a program Dukakis supported as governor The Bush campaign charged that Dukakis presided over a revolving door that allowed dangerous convicted felons to leave prison 145 Dukakis damaged his own campaign with a widely mocked ride in an M1 Abrams tank and poor performance at the second presidential debate 146 Bush also attacked Dukakis for opposing a law that would require all students to recite the Pledge of Allegiance 140 The election is widely considered to have had a high level of negative campaigning though political scientist John Geer has argued that the share of negative ads was in line with previous presidential elections 147 Bush defeated Dukakis by a margin of 426 to 111 in the Electoral College and he took 53 4 percent of the national popular vote 148 Bush ran well in all the major regions of the country but especially in the South 149 He became the fourth sitting vice president to be elected president and the first to do so since Martin Van Buren in 1836 and the first person to succeed a president from his own party via election since Herbert Hoover in 1929 97 g In the concurrent congressional elections Democrats retained control of both houses of Congress 151 Presidency 1989 1993 Main article Presidency of George H W Bush For a chronological guide see Timeline of the George H W Bush presidency Chief Justice William Rehnquist administers the Presidential Oath of Office to Bush Bush was inaugurated on January 20 1989 succeeding Ronald Reagan In his inaugural address Bush said I come before you and assume the Presidency at a moment rich with promise We live in a peaceful prosperous time but we can make it better For a new breeze is blowing and a world refreshed by freedom seems reborn for in man s heart if not in fact the day of the dictator is over The totalitarian era is passing its old ideas blown away like leaves from an ancient lifeless tree A new breeze is blowing and a nation refreshed by freedom stands ready to push on There is new ground to be broken and new action to be taken 152 Bush s first major appointment was that of James Baker as Secretary of State 153 Leadership of the Department of Defense went to Dick Cheney who had previously served as Gerald Ford s chief of staff and would later serve as vice president under his son George W Bush 154 Jack Kemp joined the administration as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development while Elizabeth Dole the wife of Bob Dole and a former Secretary of Transportation became the Secretary of Labor under Bush 155 Bush retained several Reagan officials including Secretary of the Treasury Nicholas F Brady Attorney General Dick Thornburgh and Secretary of Education Lauro Cavazos 156 New Hampshire Governor John Sununu a strong supporter of Bush during the 1988 campaign became chief of staff 153 Brent Scowcroft was appointed as the National Security Advisor a role he had also held under Ford 157 Foreign affairs Main article Foreign policy of the George H W Bush administration End of the Cold War Further information Revolutions of 1989 and Dissolution of the Soviet Union Map showing the division of East and West Germany until 1990 with Berlin in yellow During the first year of his tenure Bush paused Reagan s detente policy toward the USSR 158 Bush and his advisers were initially divided on Gorbachev some administration officials saw him as a democratic reformer but others suspected him of trying to make the minimum changes necessary to restore the Soviet Union to a competitive position with the United States 159 In 1989 all the Communist governments collapsed in Eastern Europe Gorbachev declined to send in the Soviet military effectively abandoning the Brezhnev Doctrine The U S was not directly involved in these upheavals but the Bush administration avoided gloating over the demise of the Eastern Bloc to avoid undermining further democratic reforms 160 Bush and Gorbachev met at the Malta Summit in December 1989 Though many on the right remained wary of Gorbachev Bush came away believing that Gorbachev would negotiate in good faith 161 For the remainder of his term Bush sought cooperative relations with Gorbachev believing he was the key to peace 162 The primary issue at the Malta Summit was the potential reunification of Germany While Britain and France were wary of a reunified Germany Bush joined German chancellor Helmut Kohl in pushing for German reunification 163 Bush believed that a reunified Germany would serve American interests 164 After extensive negotiations Gorbachev agreed to allow a reunified Germany to be a part of NATO and Germany officially reunified in October 1990 after paying billions of marks to Moscow 165 Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev at the Helsinki Summit in 1990 Gorbachev used force to suppress nationalist movements within the Soviet Union itself 166 A crisis in Lithuania left Bush in a difficult position as he needed Gorbachev s cooperation in the reunification of Germany and feared that the collapse of the Soviet Union could leave nuclear arms in dangerous hands The Bush administration mildly protested Gorbachev s suppression of Lithuania s independence movement but took no action to intervene directly 167 Bush warned independence movements of the disorder that could come with secession from the Soviet Union in a 1991 address that critics labeled the Chicken Kiev speech he cautioned against suicidal nationalism 168 In July 1991 Bush and Gorbachev signed the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty START I treaty in which both countries agreed to cut their strategic nuclear weapons by 30 percent 169 In 1991 the Soviet Union dissolved into fifteen independent republics including Russia labeled 11 In August 1991 hard line Communists launched a coup against Gorbachev while the coup quickly fell apart it broke the remaining power of Gorbachev and the central Soviet government 170 Later that month Gorbachev resigned as general secretary of the Communist party and Russian president Boris Yeltsin ordered the seizure of Soviet property Gorbachev clung to power as the President of the Soviet Union until December 1991 when the Soviet Union dissolved 171 Fifteen states emerged from the Soviet Union and of those states Russia was the largest and most populous Bush and Yeltsin met in February 1992 declaring a new era of friendship and partnership 172 In January 1993 Bush and Yeltsin agreed to START II which provided for further nuclear arms reductions on top of the original START treaty 173 Invasion of Panama Main article United States invasion of Panama Through the late 1980s the U S provided aid to Manuel Noriega the anti Communist leader of Panama Noriega had long standing ties to United States intelligence agencies including during Bush s tenure as Director of Central Intelligence and was also deeply involved in drug trafficking 174 In May 1989 Noriega annulled the results of a democratic presidential election in which Guillermo Endara had been elected Bush objected to the annulment of the election and worried about the status of the Panama Canal with Noriega still in office 175 Bush dispatched 2 000 soldiers to the country where they began conducting regular military exercises violating prior treaties 176 After Panamanian forces shot a U S serviceman in December 1989 Bush ordered the United States invasion of Panama known as Operation Just Cause The invasion was the first large scale American military operation unrelated to the Cold War in more than 40 years American forces quickly took control of the Panama Canal Zone and Panama City Noriega surrendered on January 3 1990 and was quickly transported to a prison in the United States Twenty three Americans died in the operation while another 394 were wounded Noriega was convicted and imprisoned on racketeering and drug trafficking charges in April 1992 175 Historian Stewart Brewer argues that the invasion represented a new era in American foreign policy because Bush did not justify the invasion under the Monroe Doctrine or the threat of Communism but rather because it was in the best interests of the United States 177 Gulf War Main article Gulf War Iraq green invaded Kuwait orange in 1990 Faced with massive debts and low oil prices in the aftermath of the Iran Iraq War Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein decided to conquer the country of Kuwait a small oil rich country situated on Iraq s southern border 178 After Iraq invaded Kuwait in August 1990 Bush imposed economic sanctions on Iraq and assembled a multi national coalition opposed to the invasion 179 The administration feared that a failure to respond to the invasion would embolden Hussein to attack Saudi Arabia or Israel and wanted to discourage other countries from similar aggression 180 Bush also wanted to ensure continued access to oil as Iraq and Kuwait collectively accounted for 20 percent of the world s oil production and Saudi Arabia produced another 26 percent of the world s oil supply 181 At Bush s insistence in November 1990 the United Nations Security Council approved a resolution authorizing the use of force if Iraq did not withdraw from Kuwait by January 15 1991 182 Gorbachev s support and China s abstention helped ensure passage of the United Nations resolution 183 Bush convinced Britain France and other nations to commit soldiers to an operation against Iraq He won important financial backing from Germany Japan South Korea Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates 184 In January 1991 Bush asked Congress to approve a joint resolution authorizing a war against Iraq 185 Bush believed that the United Nations resolution had already provided him with the necessary authorization to launch a military operation against Iraq Still he wanted to show that the nation was united behind military action 186 Despite the opposition of a majority of Democrats in both the House and the Senate Congress approved the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 1991 185 Bush meets with Robert Gates General Colin Powell Secretary Dick Cheney and others about the situation in the Persian Gulf 1991 After the January 15 deadline passed without an Iraqi withdrawal from Kuwait U S and coalition forces conducted a bombing campaign that devastated Iraq s power grid and communications network and resulted in the desertion of about 100 000 Iraqi soldiers In retaliation Iraq launched Scud missiles at Israel and Saudi Arabia but most missiles did little damage On February 23 coalition forces began a ground invasion into Kuwait evicting Iraqi forces by the end of February 27 About 300 Americans and approximately 65 soldiers from other coalition nations died during the military action 187 A ceasefire was arranged on March 3 and the United Nations passed a resolution establishing a peacekeeping force in a demilitarized zone between Kuwait and Iraq 188 A March 1991 Gallup poll showed that Bush had an approval rating of 89 percent the highest presidential approval rating in the history of Gallup polling 189 After 1991 the United Nations maintained economic sanctions against Iraq and the United Nations Special Commission was assigned to ensure that Iraq did not revive its weapons of mass destruction program 190 NAFTA Main article North American Free Trade Agreement From left to right standing President Carlos Salinas President Bush Prime Minister Brian Mulroney seated Jaime Serra Puche Carla Hills and Michael Wilson at the NAFTA Initialing Ceremony October 1992 In 1987 the U S and Canada reached a free trade agreement that eliminated many tariffs between the two countries President Reagan had intended it as the first step towards a larger trade agreement to eliminate most tariffs among the United States Canada and Mexico 191 The Bush administration along with the Progressive Conservative Canadian prime minister Brian Mulroney spearheaded the negotiations of the North American Free Trade Agreement NAFTA with Mexico In addition to lowering tariffs the proposed treaty would affect patents copyrights and trademarks 192 In 1991 Bush sought fast track authority which grants the president the power to submit an international trade agreement to Congress without the possibility of amendment Despite congressional opposition led by House Majority Leader Dick Gephardt both houses of Congress voted to grant Bush fast track authority NAFTA was signed in December 1992 after Bush lost reelection 193 but President Clinton won ratification of NAFTA in 1993 194 NAFTA remains controversial for its impact on wages jobs and overall economic growth 195 Domestic affairs Economy and fiscal issues The U S economy had generally performed well since emerging from recession in late 1982 but it slipped into a mild recession in 1990 The unemployment rate rose from 5 9 percent in 1989 to a high of 7 8 percent in mid 1991 196 197 Large federal deficits spawned during the Reagan years rose from 152 1 billion in 1989 198 to 220 billion for 1990 199 the 220 billion deficit represented a threefold increase since 1980 200 As the public became increasingly concerned about the economy and other domestic affairs Bush s well received handling of foreign affairs became less of an issue for most voters 201 Bush s top domestic priority was to end federal budget deficits which he saw as a liability for the country s long term economic health and standing in the world 202 As he was opposed to major defense spending cuts 203 and had pledged not to raise taxes the president had major difficulties in balancing the budget 204 Bush and congressional leaders agreed to avoid major changes to the budget for fiscal year 1990 which began in October 1989 However both sides knew spending cuts or new taxes would be necessary for the following year s budget to avoid the draconian automatic domestic spending cuts required by the Gramm Rudman Hollings Balanced Budget Act of 1987 205 Bush and other leaders also wanted to cut deficits because Federal Reserve Chair Alan Greenspan refused to lower interest rates and thus stimulate economic growth unless the federal budget deficit was reduced 206 In a statement released in late June 1990 Bush said that he would be open to a deficit reduction program which included spending cuts incentives for economic growth budget process reform as well as tax increases 207 To fiscal conservatives in the Republican Party Bush s statement represented a betrayal and they heavily criticized him for compromising so early in the negotiations 208 In September 1990 Bush and Congressional Democrats announced a compromise to cut mandatory and discretionary programs funding while raising revenue partly through a higher gas tax The compromise additionally included a pay as you go provision that required that new programs be paid for at the time of implementation 209 House Minority Whip Newt Gingrich led the conservative opposition to the bill strongly opposing any form of tax increase 210 Some liberals also criticized the budget cuts in the compromise and in October the House rejected the deal resulting in a brief government shutdown Without the strong backing of the Republican Party Bush agreed to another compromise bill this one more favorable to Democrats The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 OBRA 90 enacted on October 27 1990 dropped much of the gasoline tax increase in favor of higher income taxes on top earners It included cuts to domestic spending but the cuts were not as deep as those proposed in the original compromise Bush s decision to sign the bill damaged his standing with conservatives and the general public but it also laid the groundwork for the budget surpluses of the late 1990s 211 Discrimination Even the strongest person couldn t scale the Berlin Wall to gain the elusive promise of independence that lay just beyond And so together we rejoiced when that barrier fell And now I sign legislation which takes a sledgehammer to another wall one which has for too many generations separated Americans with disabilities from the freedom they could glimpse but not grasp Bush s remarks at the signing ceremony for the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 212 The disabled had not received legal protections under the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964 and many faced discrimination and segregation by the time Bush took office In 1988 Lowell P Weicker Jr and Tony Coelho introduced the Americans with Disabilities Act which barred employment discrimination against qualified individuals with disabilities The bill had passed the Senate but not the House and was reintroduced in 1989 Though some conservatives opposed the bill due to its costs and potential burdens on businesses Bush strongly supported it partly because his son Neil had struggled with dyslexia After the bill passed both houses of Congress Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 into law in July 1990 213 The act required employers and public accommodations to make reasonable accommodations for the disabled while providing an exception when such accommodations imposed an undue hardship 214 Senator Ted Kennedy later led the congressional passage of a separate civil rights bill designed to facilitate launching employment discrimination lawsuits 215 In vetoing the bill Bush argued that it would lead to racial quotas in hiring 216 217 In November 1991 Bush signed the Civil Rights Act of 1991 which was largely similar to the bill he had vetoed in the previous year 215 In August 1990 Bush signed the Ryan White CARE Act the largest federally funded program dedicated to assisting persons living with HIV AIDS 218 Throughout his presidency the AIDS epidemic grew dramatically in the U S and around the world and Bush often found himself at odds with AIDS activist groups who criticized him for not placing a high priority on HIV AIDS research and funding Frustrated by the administration s lack of urgency on the issue ACT UP dumped the ashes of HIV AIDS victims on the White House lawn during a viewing of the AIDS Quilt in 1992 219 By that time HIV had become the leading cause of death in the U S for men aged 25 44 220 Environment In June 1989 the Bush administration proposed a bill to amend the Clean Air Act Working with Senate Majority Leader George J Mitchell the administration won passage of the amendments over the opposition of business aligned members of Congress who feared the impact of tougher regulations 221 The legislation sought to curb acid rain and smog by requiring decreased emissions of chemicals such as sulfur dioxide 222 and was the first major update to the Clean Air Act since 1977 223 Bush also signed the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 in response to the Exxon Valdez oil spill However the League of Conservation Voters criticized some of Bush s other environmental actions including his opposition to stricter auto mileage standards 224 Points of Light Main article Points of Light Bush devoted attention to voluntary service to solve some of America s most serious social problems He often used the thousand points of light theme to describe the power of citizens to solve community problems In his 1989 inaugural address Bush said I have spoken of a thousand points of light of all the community organizations that are spread like stars throughout the Nation doing good 225 During his presidency Bush honored numerous volunteers with the Daily Point of Light Award a tradition that his presidential successors continued 226 In 1990 the Points of Light Foundation was created as a nonprofit organization in Washington to promote this spirit of volunteerism 227 In 2007 the Points of Light Foundation merged with the Hands On Network to create a new organization Points of Light 228 Judicial appointments Further information George H W Bush Supreme Court candidates George H W Bush judicial appointments and George H W Bush judicial appointment controversies Bush appointed Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court in 1991 Bush appointed two justices to the Supreme Court of the United States In 1990 Bush appointed a largely unknown state appellate judge David Souter to replace liberal icon William Brennan 229 Souter was easily confirmed and served until 2009 but joined the liberal bloc of the court disappointing Bush 229 In 1991 Bush nominated conservative federal judge Clarence Thomas to succeed Thurgood Marshall a long time liberal stalwart Thomas the former head of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission EEOC faced heavy opposition in the Senate as well as from pro choice groups and the NAACP His nomination faced another difficulty when Anita Hill accused Thomas of having sexually harassed her during his time as the chair of EEOC Thomas won confirmation in a narrow 52 48 vote 43 Republicans and 9 Democrats voted to confirm Thomas s nomination while 46 Democrats and 2 Republicans voted against confirmation 230 Thomas became one of the most conservative justices of his era 231 Other issues Bush s education platform consisted mainly of offering federal support for a variety of innovations such as open enrollment incentive pay for outstanding teachers and rewards for schools that improve performance with underprivileged children 232 Though Bush did not pass a major educational reform package during his presidency his ideas influenced later reform efforts including Goals 2000 and the No Child Left Behind Act 233 Bush signed the Immigration Act of 1990 234 which led to a 40 percent increase in legal immigration to the United States 235 The act more than doubled the number of visas given to immigrants on the basis of job skills 236 In the wake of the savings and loan crisis Bush proposed a 50 billion package to rescue the savings and loans industry and also proposed the creation of the Office of Thrift Supervision to regulate the industry Congress passed the Financial Institutions Reform Recovery and Enforcement Act of 1989 which incorporated most of Bush s proposals 237 Public image Bush s approval ratings red compared to his disapproval ratings blue during his presidency Bush was widely seen as a pragmatic caretaker president who lacked a unified and compelling long term theme in his efforts 238 239 240 Indeed Bush s sound bite where he refers to the issue of overarching purpose as the vision thing has become a metonym applied to other political figures accused of similar difficulties 241 242 243 244 245 246 His ability to gain broad international support for the Gulf War and the war s result were seen as both a diplomatic and military triumph 247 rousing bipartisan approval 248 though his decision to withdraw without removing Saddam Hussein left mixed feelings and attention returned to the domestic front and a souring economy 249 A New York Times article mistakenly depicted Bush as being surprised to see a supermarket barcode reader 250 251 the report of his reaction exacerbated the notion that he was out of touch 250 Amid the early 1990s recession his image shifted from conquering hero to politician befuddled by economic matters 252 At the elite level several commentators and political experts lamented the state of American politics in 1991 1992 and reported the voters were angry Many analysts blamed the poor quality of national election campaigns 253 1992 presidential campaign Main article George H W Bush 1992 presidential campaignFurther information 1992 United States presidential election Bush announced his reelection bid in early 1992 with a coalition victory in the Persian Gulf War and high approval ratings Bush s reelection initially looked likely 254 As a result many leading Democrats including Mario Cuomo Dick Gephardt and Al Gore declined to seek their party s presidential nomination 255 However Bush s tax increase angered many conservatives who believed that Bush had strayed from the conservative principles of Ronald Reagan 256 He faced a challenge from conservative political columnist Pat Buchanan in the 1992 Republican primaries 257 Bush fended off Buchanan s challenge and won his party s nomination at the 1992 Republican National Convention Still the convention adopted a socially conservative platform strongly influenced by the Christian right 258 Bush was defeated in the 1992 presidential election by Bill Clinton Meanwhile the Democrats nominated Governor Bill Clinton of Arkansas A moderate who was affiliated with the Democratic Leadership Council DLC Clinton favored welfare reform deficit reduction and a tax cut for the middle class 259 In early 1992 the race took an unexpected twist when Texas billionaire H Ross Perot launched a third party bid claiming that neither Republicans nor Democrats could eliminate the deficit and make government more efficient His message appealed to voters across the political spectrum disappointed with both parties perceived fiscal irresponsibility 260 Perot also attacked NAFTA which he claimed would lead to major job losses 261 National polling taken in mid 1992 showed Perot in the lead but Clinton experienced a surge through effective campaigning and the selection of Senator Al Gore a popular and relatively young Southerner as his running mate 262 Clinton won the election taking 43 percent of the popular vote and 370 electoral votes while Bush won 37 5 percent of the popular vote and 168 electoral votes 263 Perot won 19 of the popular vote one of the highest totals for a third party candidate in U S history drawing equally from both major candidates according to exit polls 264 Clinton performed well in the Northeast the Midwest and the West Coast while also waging the strongest Democratic campaign in the South since the 1976 election 265 Several factors were important in Bush s defeat The ailing economy which arose from recession may have been the main factor in Bush s loss as 7 in 10 voters said on election day that the economy was either not so good or poor 266 267 On the eve of the 1992 election the unemployment rate stood at 7 8 which was the highest it had been since 1984 268 The president was also damaged by his alienation of many conservatives in his party 269 Bush partially blamed Perot for his defeat though exit polls showed that Perot drew his voters about equally from Clinton and Bush 270 Despite his defeat Bush left office with a 56 percent job approval rating in January 1993 271 Like many of his predecessors Bush issued a series of pardons during his last days in office In December 1992 he granted executive clemency to six former senior government officials implicated in the Iran Contra scandal most prominently former Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger 272 The charges against the six were that they lied to or withheld information from Congress The pardons effectively brought an end to the Iran Contra scandal 273 According to Seymour Martin Lipset the 1992 election had several unique characteristics Voters felt that economic conditions were worse than they were which harmed Bush A rare event was the presence of a strong third party candidate Liberals launched a backlash against 12 years of a conservative White House The chief factor was Clinton uniting his party and winning over several heterogeneous groups 274 Post presidency 1993 2018 Main article Post presidency of George H W Bush Appearances President Bill Clinton meeting with former presidents Bush and Jimmy Carter at the White House in September 1993 After leaving office Bush and his wife built a retirement house in the community of West Oaks Houston 275 He established a presidential office within the Park Laureate Building on Memorial Drive in Houston 276 He also frequently spent time at his vacation home in Kennebunkport took annual cruises in Greece went on fishing trips in Florida and visited the Bohemian Club in Northern California He declined to serve on corporate boards but delivered numerous paid speeches and was an adviser to The Carlyle Group a private equity firm 277 He never published his memoirs but he and Brent Scowcroft co wrote A World Transformed a 1998 work on foreign policy Portions of his letters and his diary were later published as The China Diary of George H W Bush and All the Best George Bush 278 During a 1993 visit to Kuwait Bush was targeted in an assassination plot directed by the Iraqi Intelligence Service President Clinton retaliated when he ordered the firing of 23 cruise missiles at Iraqi Intelligence Service headquarters in Baghdad 279 Bush did not publicly comment on the assassination attempt or the missile strike but privately spoke with Clinton shortly before the strike took place 280 In the 1994 gubernatorial elections his sons George W and Jeb concurrently ran for Governor of Texas and Governor of Florida Concerning their political careers he advised them both that a t some point both of you may want to say Well I don t agree with my Dad on that point or Frankly I think Dad was wrong on that Do it Chart your own course not just on the issues but on defining yourselves 281 George W won his race against Ann Richards while Jeb lost to Lawton Chiles After the results came in the elder Bush told ABC I have very mixed emotions Proud father is the way I would sum it all up 282 Jeb would again run for governor of Florida in 1998 and win at the same time that his brother George W won re election in Texas It marked the second time in United States history that a pair of brothers served simultaneously as governors 283 George and Barbara Bush 2001 Bush supported his son s candidacy in the 2000 presidential election but did not actively campaign in the election and did not deliver a speech at the 2000 Republican National Convention 284 George W Bush defeated Al Gore in the 2000 election and was re elected in 2004 Bush and his son thus became the second father son pair to each serve as President of the United States following John Adams and John Quincy Adams 285 Through previous administrations the elder Bush had ubiquitously been known as George Bush or President Bush but following his son s election the need to distinguish between them has made retronymic forms such as George H W Bush and George Bush Sr and colloquialisms such as Bush 41 and Bush the Elder more common 286 Bush advised his son on some personnel choices approving of the selection of Dick Cheney as running mate and the retention of George Tenet as CIA Director However he was not consulted on all appointments including that of his old rival Donald Rumsfeld as Secretary of Defense 287 Though he avoided giving unsolicited advice to his son Bush and his son also discussed some policy matters especially regarding national security issues 288 In his retirement Bush used the public spotlight to support various charities 289 Despite earlier political differences with Bill Clinton the two former presidents eventually became friends 290 They appeared together in television ads encouraging aid for victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami and Hurricane Katrina 291 However when interviewed by Jon Meacham Bush criticized Donald Rumsfeld Dick Cheney and even his son George W Bush for their handling of foreign policy after the September 11 attacks 292 Final years From left to right George H W Bush Barack Obama George W Bush Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter Bush supported Republican John McCain in the 2008 presidential election 293 and Republican Mitt Romney in the 2012 presidential election 294 but both were defeated by Democrat Barack Obama In 2011 Obama awarded Bush with the Presidential Medal of Freedom the highest civilian honor in the United States 295 Bush supported his son Jeb s bid in the 2016 Republican primaries 296 Jeb Bush s campaign struggled however and he withdrew from the race during the primaries Neither George H W nor George W Bush endorsed the eventual Republican nominee Donald Trump 297 all three Bushes emerged as frequent critics of Trump s policies and speaking style while Trump frequently criticized George W Bush s presidency George H W Bush later said he voted for the Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in the general election 298 After the election Bush wrote a letter to President elect Donald Trump in January 2017 to inform him that because of his poor health he would not be able to attend Trump s inauguration on January 20 he gave him his best wishes 299 In August 2017 after the violence at Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville Virginia both presidents Bush released a joint statement saying America must always reject racial bigotry anti Semitism and hatred in all forms As we pray for Charlottesville we are all reminded of the fundamental truths recorded by that city s most prominent citizen in the Declaration of Independence we are all created equal and endowed by our Creator with unalienable rights 300 301 On April 17 2018 Barbara Bush died at the age of 92 302 at her home in Houston Texas Her funeral was held at St Martin s Episcopal Church in Houston four days later 303 304 Bush along with former presidents Barack Obama George W Bush son Bill Clinton and First Ladies Melania Trump Michelle Obama Laura Bush daughter in law and Hillary Clinton attended the funeral and posed together for a photo as a sign of unity 305 306 On November 1 2018 Bush went to the polls to vote early in the midterm elections This would be his final public appearance 307 Death and funeral Main article Death and state funeral of George H W Bush Members of the public pay their respects at the casket of President Bush lying in state in the Rotunda of the U S Capitol in Washington D C After a long battle with vascular Parkinson s disease Bush died at his home in Houston on November 30 2018 at the age of 94 308 309 At the time of his death he was the longest lived U S president 310 a distinction now held by Jimmy Carter 311 He was also the third oldest vice president h Bush lay in state in the Rotunda of the U S Capitol from December 3 through December 5 he was the 12th U S president to be accorded this honor 313 314 Then on December 5 Bush s casket was transferred from the Capitol rotunda to Washington National Cathedral where a state funeral was held 315 After the funeral Bush s body was transported to George H W Bush Presidential Library in College Station Texas where he was buried next to his wife Barbara and daughter Robin 316 At the funeral former president George W Bush eulogized his father saying He looked for the good in each person and he usually found it 315 Personal lifeIn 1991 The New York Times revealed that Bush was suffering from Graves disease a non contagious thyroid condition that his wife Barbara also suffered from 317 Bush had two separate hip replacement surgeries in 2000 and 2007 318 Thereafter Bush started to experience weakness in his legs which was attributed to vascular parkinsonism a form of Parkinson s disease He progressively developed problems walking initially needing a walking stick for mobility aid before he eventually came to rely on a wheelchair from 2011 onwards 319 Bush was a lifelong Episcopalian and a member of St Martin s Episcopal Church in Houston As President Bush regularly attended services at St John s Episcopal Church in Washington D C 320 He cited various moments in his life on the deepening of his faith including his escape from Japanese forces in 1944 and the death of his three year old daughter Robin in 1953 321 His faith was reflected in his thousand points of light speech his support for prayer in schools and his support for the pro life movement following his election as vice president 322 321 LegacyHistorical reputation Bush visits NAS JRB during Hurricane Katrina relief efforts 2005 Polls of historians and political scientists have ranked Bush in the top half of presidents A 2018 poll of the American Political Science Association s Presidents and Executive Politics section ranked Bush as the 17th best president out of 44 323 A 2017 C SPAN poll of historians also ranked Bush as the 20th best president out of 43 324 Richard Rose described Bush as a guardian president and many other historians and political scientists have similarly described Bush as a passive hands off president who was largely content with things as they were 325 Professor Steven Knott writes that g enerally the Bush presidency is viewed as successful in foreign affairs but a disappointment in domestic affairs 326 Biographer Jon Meacham writes that after he left office many Americans viewed Bush as a gracious and underappreciated man who had many virtues but who had failed to project enough of a distinctive identity and vision to overcome the economic challenges of 1991 92 and to win a second term 327 Bush himself noted that his legacy was lost between the glory of Reagan and the trials and tribulations of my sons 328 In the 2010s Bush was fondly remembered for his willingness to compromise which contrasted with the intensely partisan era that followed his presidency 329 In 2018 Vox highlighted Bush for his pragmatism as a moderate Republican president by working across the aisle 330 They specifically noted Bush s accomplishments within the domestic policy by making bipartisan deals including raising the tax budget among the wealthy with the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 Bush also helped pass the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 which The New York Times described as the most sweeping anti discrimination law since the Civil Rights Act of 1964 331 In response to the Exxon Valdez oil spill Bush built another bipartisan coalition to strengthen the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 332 333 Bush also championed and signed into a law the Immigration Act of 1990 a sweeping bipartisan immigration reform act that made it easier for immigrants to legally enter the county while also granting immigrants fleeing violence the temporary protected status visa as well as lifted the pre naturalization English testing process and finally eliminated the exclusion of homosexuals under what Congress now deemed the medically unsound classification of sexual deviant that was included in the 1965 act 334 335 Bush stated Immigration is not just a link to our past but its also a bridge to America s future 336 According to USA Today the legacy of Bush s presidency was defined by his victory over Iraq after the invasion of Kuwait and by his presiding over the dissolution of the Soviet Union and German reunification 337 Michael Beschloss and Strobe Talbott praise Bush s handling of the USSR especially how he prodded Gorbachev in terms of releasing control over the satellite states and permitting German unification and especially a united Germany in NATO 338 Andrew Bacevich judges the Bush administration as morally obtuse in the light of its business as usual attitude towards China after the massacre in Tiananmen Square and its uncritical support of Gorbachev as the Soviet Union disintegrated 339 David Rothkopf argues In the recent history of U S foreign policy there has been no president nor any president s team who when confronted with profound international change and challenges responded with such a thoughtful and well managed foreign policy the Bush administration was a bridge over one of the great fault lines of history that ushered in a new world order it described with great skill and professionalism 340 Memorials awards and honors Main article List of awards and honors received by George H W Bush The George H W Bush Presidential Library and Museum on the west campus of Texas A amp M University in College Station Texas 2011 In 1990 Time magazine named him the Man of the Year 341 In 1997 the Houston Intercontinental Airport was renamed as the George Bush Intercontinental Airport 342 In 1999 the CIA headquarters in Langley Virginia was named the George Bush Center for Intelligence in his honor 343 In 2011 Bush an avid golfer was inducted in the World Golf Hall of Fame 344 The USS George H W Bush CVN 77 the tenth and last Nimitz class supercarrier of the United States Navy was named for Bush 345 346 Bush is commemorated on a postage stamp that was issued by the United States Postal Service in 2019 347 The George H W Bush Presidential Library and Museum the tenth U S presidential library was completed in 1997 348 It contains the presidential and vice presidential papers of Bush and the vice presidential papers of Dan Quayle 349 The library is located on a 90 acre 36 ha site on the west campus of Texas A amp M University in College Station Texas 350 Texas A amp M University also hosts the Bush School of Government and Public Service a graduate public policy school 350 See alsoElectoral history of George H W Bush List of presidents of the United StatesNotes After around 2000 he was usually called George H W Bush Bush Senior Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son George W Bush who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009 previously he was usually referred to simply as George Bush Bush later purchased the estate which is now known as the Bush compound 10 For decades Bush was considered the youngest aviator in the U S Navy during his period of service 17 but such claims are now regarded as speculation 18 His official Navy biography called him the youngest in 2001 19 but by 2018 the Navy biography described him as one of the youngest 20 Bush s fellow crew members for the mission were William G White and John Delaney According to the accounts of an American pilot and a Japanese individual another parachute from Bush s aircraft opened but the bodies of White and Delaney were never recovered 24 At the time of his wife s death on April 17 2018 George H W had been married to Barbara for 73 years the longest presidential marriage in American history at that point 35 The length of their marriage was surpassed in 2019 by the marriage of Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter 36 Biographer Jon Meacham writes that it was widely assumed at the time that Donald Rumsfeld had engineered Bush s appointment as CIA Director since the post was regarded as a political graveyard Meacham writes that it is more likely that the key factor in Bush s appointment was that Ford believed Bush would work better with Secretary of State Henry Kissinger than would Elliot Richardson his original pick for the CIA post 84 The 1988 presidential election remains the only presidential election since 1948 in which either party won a third consecutive term 150 The longest lived U S vice president is John Nance Garner who died on November 7 1967 15 days short of his 99th birthday 312 References George Herbert Walker Bush Naval History and Heritage Command August 29 2019 Retrieved January 12 2020 George H W Bush American Diplomat Association for Diplomatic Studies amp Training In Memoriam George Herbert Walker Bush 1924 2018 Veteran Statesman Diplomat Department of State The National Museum of American Diplomacy December 20 2018 George H W Bush Diplomats Remember American Foreign Service Association President George H W Bush Foreign Policy Study com Pamela Falk December 3 2018 George H W Bush stood out as tough negotiator on the world stage CBS News George H W Bush Professorship of International Relations Johns Hopkins University Paul H Nitze School of Advanced International Studies Kelly Jon December 2 2018 George HW Bush What makes a one term president BBC News Archived from the original on August 17 2021 Retrieved March 22 2022 Presidential Avenue George Bush Presidential Avenue Archived from the original on October 8 2007 Retrieved March 29 2008 Meacham 2015 pp 19 20 Meacham 2015 pp 8 9 Meacham 2015 pp 16 17 Eun Kyung Kim August 14 2015 Jenna Bush Hager welcomes second daughter named after George H W Bush Today The new bundle of joy is named after Jenna s grandfather and former President George H W Bush whose nickname growing up was Poppy 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337 Patterson 2005 p 236 Wilentz 2008 pp 313 314 Frequently Asked Questions NAFTA Federal Express Retrieved April 11 2008 Greene 2015 pp 222 223 NAFTA Duke University Archived from the original on April 20 2008 Retrieved July 30 2016 Zarroli Jim December 8 2013 NAFTA Turns 20 To Mixed Reviews NPR Retrieved August 24 2016 Lohr Steve December 25 1991 Accepting the Harsh Truth Of a Blue Collar Recession The New York Times ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved January 5 2022 Blue collar Towns Have Highest Jobless Numbers Archived July 17 2018 at the Wayback Machine Hartford Courant Connecticut W Joseph Campbell September 1 1991 Redburn Tom October 28 1989 Budget Deficit for 1989 Is Put at 152 1 Billion Spending Congress and the White House remain locked in a stalemate over a capital gains tax cut Los Angeles Times Retrieved June 7 2018 Uchitelle Louis October 27 1990 The Struggle in Congress U S Deficit for 1990 Surged to Near Record 220 4 Billion but How Bad Is That The New York Times Retrieved June 7 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Retrieved March 28 2008 George H W Bush endorses Romney United Press International March 29 2012 Meacham 2015 p 598 Bush father son want Jeb Bush to run for White House The Arizona Republic November 11 2014 Collins Eliza Bush 41 43 won t be endorsing Trump USA Today Selk Avi November 4 2017 White House attacks legacies of both Bush presidents after reports they refused to vote for Trump The Washington Post Retrieved November 4 2017 Garcia Feliks January 18 2017 George HW Bush sends personal note to Donald Trump on why he can t attend inauguration The Independent Retrieved January 18 2017 Both Presidents Bush Condemn Hatred a Day After Trump s Press Conference Time Retrieved May 3 2020 Presidents George Bush and G W Bush issue joint statement condemning racism and anti Semitism Vox August 16 2017 Retrieved May 3 2020 Nemy Enid April 17 2018 Barbara Bush Wife of 41st President and Mother of 43rd Dies at 92 The New York Times Archived from the original on January 2 2022 Kamath Tulsi April 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Meacham 2015 p 595 Shesol Jeff November 13 2015 What George H W Bush Got Wrong The New Yorker Retrieved August 30 2016 The George H W Bush promise that changed the Republican Party Vox Archived from the original on November 2 2020 Retrieved October 29 2020 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint bot original URL status unknown link A Law for Every American The New York Times July 27 1990 Retrieved October 30 2020 We can breathe easier literally thanks to George H W Bush The Washington Post Retrieved October 29 2020 Lessons in Bipartisanship The 1990 Clean Air Act amendments Environmental America October 29 2020 Bush signs immigration reform statute into law Nov 29 1990 Politico Retrieved October 29 2020 Bush 41 s immigration plan actually worked Houston Chronicle December 4 2018 Retrieved October 30 2020 George H W Bush on Immigration C SPAN Retrieved October 30 2002 Remembering Former President George H W Bush s life and legacy USA Today December 1 2018 Retrieved December 1 2018 Michael R Beschloss and Strobe Talbott At the Highest Levels The Inside Story of the End of the Cold War Boston 1993 pp 470 72 Andrew J Bacevich American Empire The Realities and Consequences of U S Diplomacy 2002 64 68 quoted in Sparrow p 143 Rothkopf David 2009 Running the World The Inside Story of the National Security Council and the Architects of American Power PublicAffairs p 261 ISBN 9780786736003 Church George J January 7 1991 A Tale of Two Bushes Time Retrieved November 30 2018 Benito Marcelino December 2 2018 George H W Bush s legacy lives on at Houston airport named after him KHOU 11 Courson Paul April 26 1999 Former President Bush honored at emotional ceremony renaming CIA headquarters CNN Bush George H W Retrieved June 1 2018 Future USS George H W Bush to Transit Naval Sea Systems Command Public Affairs December 18 2008 Retrieved December 22 2008 Jones Matthew January 10 2009 Carrier awaits a call to come to life in ceremony today The Virginian Pilot Landmark Communications Archived from the original on February 4 2009 Retrieved January 10 2009 Texas ceremony marks issuing of George H W Bush stamp Associated Press June 12 2019 Retrieved September 8 2019 National Archives Accepts Bush Library as Tenth Presidential Library Press release National Archives and Records Administration November 6 1997 Retrieved November 30 2018 The Birth of the Tenth Presidential Library The Bush Presidential Materials Project 1993 1994 George H W Bush Presidential Library and Museum Archived from the original on April 10 2007 Retrieved March 22 2007 a b Heathman Claire July 3 2013 How Texas A amp M became home to the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum The Bryan College Station Eagle Retrieved November 30 2018 Works cited Greene John Robert 2015 The Presidency of George Bush 2nd ed University Press of Kansas ISBN 978 0 7006 2079 1 Herring George C 2008 From Colony to Superpower U S Foreign Relations Since 1776 Oxford University Press ISBN 978 0 19 507822 0 Leuchtenburg William E 2015 The American President From Teddy Roosevelt to Bill Clinton Oxford University Press ISBN 9780195176162 Meacham Jon 2015 Destiny and Power The American Odyssey of George Herbert Walker Bush Random House ISBN 978 1 4000 6765 7 Naftali Timothy 2007 George H W Bush Times Books ISBN 978 0 8050 6966 2 Patterson James 2005 Restless Giant The United States from Watergate to Bush v Gore Oxford University Press ISBN 978 0195122169 Rossinow Douglas C 2015 The Reagan Era A History of the 1980s Columbia University Press ISBN 9780231538657 Saunders Harold July 2014 What Really Happened in Bangladesh Washington Islamabad and the Genocide in East Pakistan Foreign Affairs 93 3 36 42 Waterman Richard W 1996 Storm Clouds on the Political Horizon George Bush at the Dawn of the 1992 Presidential Election Presidential Studies Quarterly 26 2 337 349 JSTOR 27551581 Wilentz Sean 2008 The Age of Reagan HarperCollins ISBN 978 0 06 074480 9 Further readingSecondary sources Andrew Christopher 1996 For the President s Eyes Only Secret Intelligence and the American Presidency from Washington to Bush Harper Perennial pp 503 536 ISBN 978 0 06 092178 1 Barilleaux Ryan J Stuckey Mary E 1992 Leadership and the Bush Presidency Prudence or Drift in an Era of Change New York Praeger ISBN 978 0 275 94418 6 Becker Jean 2021 The Man I Knew The Amazing Story of George H W Bush s Post Presidency Twelve ISBN 978 1 53 873530 5 Brands H W 2004 George Bush and the Gulf War of 1991 Presidential Studies Quarterly 34 1 113 131 doi 10 1111 j 1741 5705 2004 00038 x JSTOR 27552567 Cox Michael and Steven Hurst His finest hour George Bush and the diplomacy of German unification Diplomacy and statecraft 13 4 2002 123 150 Cull Nicholas J Speeding the Strange Death of American Public Diplomacy The George H W Bush Administration and the US Information Agency Diplomatic History 34 1 2010 47 69 Ducat Stephen J 2004 The Wimp Factor Gender Gaps Holy Wars and the Politics of Anxious Masculinity Boston Beacon Press ISBN 978 0 8070 4344 8 Duffy Michael Goodgame Dan 1992 Marching in Place The Status Quo Presidency of George Bush New York Simon amp Schuster ISBN 978 0 671 73720 7 Engel Jeffrey A A Better World but Don t Get Carried Away The Foreign Policy of George H W Bush Twenty Years On Diplomatic History 34 1 2010 25 46 Engel Jeffrey A When the World Seemed New George H W Bush and the End of the Cold War 2018 excerpt Fitzwater Marlin 1995 Call the Briefing New York Times Books ISBN 978 0 7388 3458 0 Green Fitzhugh 1989 George Bush An Intimate Portrait New York Hippocrene ISBN 978 0 8705 2783 8 Han Lori Cox A presidency upstaged The public leadership of George HW Bush Texas A amp M University Press 2011 Hyams Joe 1991 Flight of the Avenger George Bush at War San Diego Harcourt Brace Jovanovic ISBN 978 0 15 131469 0 Kelley Kitty 2004 The Family The True Story of the Bush Dynasty London Doubleday ISBN 978 0 385 50324 2 Maynard Christopher Out of the shadow George H W Bush and the end of the Cold War Texas A amp M University Press 2008 Podhoretz John 1993 Hell of a Ride Backstage at the White House Follies 1989 1993 New York Simon amp Schuster ISBN 978 0 671 79648 8 Smith Curt 2014 George H W Bush Character at the Core Potomac Books ISBN 978 1 61 234685 4 Smith Jean Edward 1992 George Bush s War New York Henry Holt amp Company ISBN 978 0 8050 1388 7 Sununu John H 2015 The Quiet Man The Indispensable Presidency of George H W Bush Broadside Books ISBN 978 0 06 238428 7 Troy Gil Stumping in the bookstores A literary history of the 1992 presidential campaign Presidential Studies Quarterly 1995 697 710 online Updegrove Mark K 2017 The Last Republicans Inside the Extraordinary Relationship between George H W Bush and George W Bush Harper ISBN 978 0 06 265412 0 Wicker Tom 2004 George Herbert Walker Bush Lipper Viking ISBN 978 0 670 03303 4 McBride Tim June 12 2009 The President Who Treated Me Like a Son The Daily Beast Retrieved October 8 2014 American Experience The Presidents George H W Bush Television production American Experience Public Broadcasting Service 2008 Retrieved October 8 2014 Primary sources Bush George H W 1987 Looking Forward An Autobiography New York Doubleday ISBN 978 0 385 14181 9 Bush George H W Scowcroft Brent 1998 A World Transformed New York Knopf ISBN 978 0 679 43248 7 Bush George H W 1999 All the Best George Bush New York Scribner ISBN 978 0 684 83958 5 Bush George H W Bush Barbara 2009 Interview with George W Bush Barbara Bush Interview Interviewed by McGrath Jim Archived from the original on November 14 2013 Retrieved October 8 2014 Bush George W 2014 41 A Portrait of My Father Crown ISBN 978 0 553 44778 1 Bush Koch Dorothy 2006 My Father My President A Personal Account of the Life of George H W Bush Grand Central Publishing ISBN 978 0 446 57990 2 Bush George H W 2011 Engel Jeffrey A ed The China Diary of George H W Bush The Making of a Global President Princeton UP ISBN 978 1 4008 2961 3 External linksGeorge H W Bush at Wikipedia s sister projects Definitions from Wiktionary Media from Commons News from Wikinews Quotations from Wikiquote Texts from Wikisource George H W Bush Presidential Library Center White House biography Full audio of a number of Bush speeches Miller Center of Public Affairs George H W Bush collected news and commentary at The New York Times United States Congress George H W Bush id B001166 Biographical Directory of the United States Congress 1992 election episode in CNN s Race for the White House Extensive essays on Bush and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs Appearances on C SPAN Life Portrait of George H W Bush from C SPAN s American Presidents Life Portraits December 13 1999 George H W Bush Archived January 16 2017 at the Wayback Machine an American Experience documentary Works by George H W Bush at Project Gutenberg George H W Bush at Find a Grave Portals Biography Texas Business and economics Politics Connecticut World War II United States Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title George H W Bush amp oldid 1144358514, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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