Who was
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George H.W. Bush
51st
President of the United States
41st under the US Constitution
George Herbert Walker Bush was inaugurated the 41st president of the
United States on January 20, 1989. Prior to becoming Vice President under Ronald
Reagan, he had held an array of senior public positions. Bush was the first
sitting vice-president of the United States to be elected since Martin Van Buren
in 1836. Anti-incumbent sentiment among voters, the economy, and unemployment
were issues that figured prominently in the defeat of Bush who garnered only 38
percent of the popular vote (less than any incumbent since William H. Taft lost
in 1912) in his bid for re-election in 1992. The Bush administration was noted
for the “wimp” image.
George Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts on June 12, 1924 the second
of five children of Prescott Sheldon Bush and Dorothy Walker Bush. Dorothy was
the daughter of a wealthy investor, and his father Prescott was a partner in an
international banking house who later became the Republican United States
Senator from Connecticut. Growing up in Greenwich, Connecticut, George was
educated in private schools, including the Greenwich Country Day School. He was
a determined and popular student. He later attended the prestigious Phillips
Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. He enlisted in the armed forces on his 18th
birthday and was the youngest pilot in the Navy when he received his wings at
the age of 20. A carrier pilot in the Pacific during World War II, he was shot
down by Japanese antiaircraft fire over the Pacific and was awarded the
Distinguished Flying Cross for bravery in action as well as three Air Medals. He
was discharged in 1945. He married Barbara Pierce in 1945 with whom he had six
children. Turning his energies to completing his education, he enrolled at Yale
University and joined the exclusive Skull and Bones society. He majored in
economics, completing college in three years and graduated with Phi Beta Kappa
honors in 1948. After graduation, he moved the family to Texas embarking on a
career in the oil industry, working in the west Texas oil fields for Dresser
Industries. He and partner John Overby, established the Bush-Overby Development
Company trading oil leases and royalties. In 1954, he became president of the
Zapata Offshore Company.
George became interested in politics like his father and began dabbling in
local Republican politics in Houston. Defeated when he first ran for the United
States Senate in 1964, he went on to become the first Republican to represent
Houston in the House of Representatives in 1966 and served two terms. As a
freshman legislator, he was named to the Powerful House Ways and Means
Committee. While in Congress Bush supported some liberal causes such as giving
18 year olds the right to vote and abolishing the military draft. Despite the
unpopularity of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 with his constituents, he voted for
the Civil Rights Act in 1968. Giving up his seat in the House in 1970, Bush ran
once again for the United States Senate. His opponent, Lloyd Bentsen, won easily
despite campaign help from President Richard M. Nixon. Nixon rewarded Bush for
his Senate campaign efforts with an appointment as Ambassador to the United
Nations. In 1973 Nixon named Bush Chairman of the Republican National Committee.
A succession of other prestigious appointments followed including Chief of the
United States Liaison Office in the People’s Republic of China and Director of
Central Intelligence Agency. In his position as Director of the CIA, Bush needed
to appease angry legislators and restore employee morale. The Senate confirmed
the appointment only on the condition that he not be chosen as a running mate
for President Ford in the next presidential election.
Bush resigned from the CIA in 1977 after Jimmy Carter was elected
president in 1976 to begin his quest for the 1980 Republican presidential
nomination. Bush did well in many of the Republican primaries, but the
popularity of Ronald Reagan grew. Attacks on Reagan’s ultraconservatism failed
to attract a majority of the Republican voters to the Bush campaign. After
losing in the Texas primary, he withdrew from the race and threw his support to
Reagan. At the Republican Convention, former President Gerald Ford was briefly
considered as Reagan’s running mate, but Bush received the nomination as Vice
President. Party leaders admired his comparative youth, experience in foreign
policy and popularity with moderates.
The Reagan-Bush team easily defeated incumbent President Jimmy Carter by a
wide margin. Previous political rivalry and policy differences aside, the team
of Reagan and Bush worked well together throughout their eight-year tenure in
the White House. As Vice President, Bush chaired presidential task forces on
deregulation, combating terrorism, and on coordinating government efforts to
stop drug smuggling in southern Florida. He also visited numerous nations as a
special emissary for the President and headed the National Security Council’s
“crisis management team”. Bush, a moderate conservative, was criticized for
changing his opinions on issues to match the ultraconservative views of the
president. President Reagan valued this loyalty and again selected Bush to be
his running mate in 1984. Garnering an unprecedented 525 electoral votes, they
won re-election by a landslide. Their second term in the White House began on a
wave of popularity. Bush became the first designated acting president of the
United States when on July 13, 1985, Ronald Reagan underwent surgery and the
power of his office was formally transferred to the Vice President.
Formally announcing his second attempt to gain the presidency on October
12, 1987, Bush had already collected major endorsements from the Republican
Party. Due to the Iran-Contra arms scandal, the prestige of the Reagan/Bush
administration suffered major damage. During the campaign charges were made that
Bush was aware of the illegal arms deal. Also, a major problem during the
campaign was the fact that critics considered Bush not tough enough to lead the
country. Finishing third in the Iowa caucuses, the party was doubtful of his
chances but his support grew among the voters who appreciated his loyalty to the
popular president. Early Spring saw Bush ahead of the other Republican
candidates. At the Republican Convention he overwhelmingly won the 1988
Republican nomination on the first ballot and chose the United States Senator
from Indiana, Dan Quayle, as his running mate.
Prior to his nomination, Bush had consistently run behind Dukakis in the
polls. Doubts had been raised about Quayle’s qualifications. Late polls pointed
to a landslide victory for the Democrat candidate Dukakis. The Bush-Quayle
campaign focused on the supposed weakness of opponent, Massachusetts Governor
Michael Dukakis. Bush denounced his opponent for “liberalism” and campaigned on
the promise of no new taxes. Benefiting from the popularity and active
participation in the campaign by President Reagan, Bush defeated Dukakis in the
general election and became the first incumbent vice president to win election
since Martin Van Buren won in 1836. The Bush inauguration was the most expensive
in the nation’s history. His inaugural address called for a “kinder, gentler
nation” and invoked his campaign image of a “thousand points of light.” For his
cabinet, Bush’s choices were mostly familiar insiders, despite his pledge to
bring “fresh faces” into the government. Bush set a record for the number of
women appointed to top federal posts. Most significant of these appointments was
that of Elizabeth H. Dole as Secretary of Labor.
Bush faced a changing world during his first two years in office. Known to
act decisively abroad, he was cautious in domestic affairs. Bush negotiated a
treaty with Russia reducing nuclear arms and sent American troops into Panama to
overthrow the corrupt regime of General Manuel Noriega. But, the greatest test
of his presidency came with the invasion of Kuwait by Iraqi President Saddam
Hussein on August 2, 1990. Stationing American troops in the Persian Gulf to
defend Saudi Arabia, Bush won support throughout the world. He issued an
economic embargo of Iraq. The American troops were joined by troops from the
allied nations. On January 16, 1991, Bush ordered a massive bombing attack
dubbed Dessert Storm on Iraq followed by a swift ground assault on February
24th. Iraq surrendered four days later. Bush’s popularity soared after this
attack.
Despite the popularity of this military triumph, Bush was not able to
handle the discontent at home and, unfortunately, domestic problems began to
arise. A major issue centered on his memorable campaign pledge, “Read my lips:
no new taxes.” In 1990 he engaged in a prolonged battle with Congress over his
fiscal 1991 budget which cut back domestic programs and maintained military
funding. The budget received much criticism from Congress and Bush finally had
to concede that any agreement with Congress would require a tax revenue
increase. He signed a deficit reduction bill that slowed the growth of spending
but also increased taxes.
Adding to his problems, Bush vetoed a bill increasing the minimum wage to
$4.55 an hour. However, a two-tiered wage increase, the first since 1981, went
into effect on April 1, 1990. He vetoed the Civil Rights Act of 1990 claiming it
would lead to hiring quotas. He made a sweeping reform of immigration laws and
signed bills for clean air and the largest expansion ever of the Head Start
pre-school program, bolstering campaign pledges to become the “environmental
president” and the “education president”. With the United States deficit
increased, Bush proposed a cut in defense spending. He also announced that in
order to revive the lagging economy he was lowering income tax withholding and
reducing many popular social programs such as housing for the elderly and
disabled and support for health services. The nation’s output fell to recession
levels in July 1990. All this fueled popular discontent. By January 1992, Bush’s
approval rating had dropped to half what it had been in early 1991. The
remainder of his term was dogged by persistent economic stagnation.
Facing a strong challenge from conservative Patrick Buchanan in the
Republican primaries of 1992, Bush, however, was able to beat off the challenge
and received the Republican nomination. Slow in gearing up for the campaign in
the fall, the Bush/Quayle ticket was attacked on the economy, health care and
the environment by opponents Bill Clinton and Al Gore. After weeks of lackluster
campaigning, Bush resorted to strident attacks in the end. The popularity of
Bush and Quayle continued to decline and they were accused of being out of touch
with reality for their positions on the riots in Los Angeles in late April and
early May. Also, Quayle’s accusation that the breakdown of family values lay
with the inner cities did little to help their campaign. In the election of
November 3, 1992, William Jefferson Clinton defeated George W. Bush by a
plurality of 43% to 38%.
In his last weeks in office Bush continued to remain active in foreign
policy and sent troops to feed the starving in Somalia and restore order. He
ordered air strikes against Iraq and well as signing an arms reduction treaty
with Boris Yeltsin of Russia.
George Bush brought to the White House a dedication to traditional
American values and a determination to direct them toward making the United
States "a kinder and gentler nation."
Presidents of the Continental
Congress
United Colonies of The United States
Peyton Randolph September 5, 1774 to
October 22, 1774
and May 20 to May 24, 1775
Henry Middleton October 22, 1774 to October 26, 1774
The Vice President
Speaker of the House
President pro tempore of the Senate
Secretary of State
Secretary of the Treasury
Secretary of Defense
Attorney General
Secretary of the Interior
Secretary of Agriculture
Secretary of Commerce
Secretary of Labor
Secretary of Health and Human Services
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
Secretary of Transportation
Secretary of Energy
Secretary of Education
Secretary of Veterans Affairs
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Mamie D. Eisenhower
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