George Herbert Walker Bush (1924-2018)/biography

George Herbert Walker Bush (born, ), sometimes known as Bush 41, was the forty-first , serving from 1989 to 1993. Before his presidency, Bush was the forty-third in the administration of. He has also served as the member of the for the  (1967–1971), the  (1971–1973), Chairman of the  (1973–1974),  in the  (1974–1976), and  (1976–1977).

Bush is the son of, who served in the from 1953 to 1963, and. He is the father of, the 43rd and current President of the United States, and , former.

Upon the death of in 2006, Bush became the.

Early years
George Herbert Walker Bush was born at 173 Adams Street in on June 12, 1924. The Victorian house where he was born is privately owned and not open to the public. The Bush family moved from Milton to shortly after his birth.

George began his formal education at the in Greenwich. Beginning in 1936, Bush attended in, where he held a large number of leadership positions including being the president of the senior class and secretary of the student council, president of the community fund-raising group, the Society of Inquiry, a member of the editorial board of the school newspaper, the Philippian, captain of both the varsity baseball and soccer teams. It is said that he was a member of A.U.V., or "Auctoritas, Unitas, Veritas" (Latin for "Authority, Unity, Truth"), an exclusive fraternity.

World War II
After graduating from in June 1942, he joined the  on his 18th  to become an. After completing the 10-month course, he was commissioned as an in the  at  on, , just three days before his 19th birthday, which made him the youngest naval aviator to that date.

After finishing flight training, he was assigned to Torpedo Squadron (VT-51) as photographic officer in September 1943. As part of, his squadron was based on the in the spring of 1944. San Jacinto was part of that participated in operations against  and s in May, and then in the  during June. On, the task force triumphed in one of the largest air battles of the war. Shortly after takeoff Bush's aircraft made a forced water landing. A destroyer rescued the young pilot and his crew, although the plane was lost. On, Bush and another pilot received credit for sinking a small cargo ship off.



After Bush's promotion to Lieutenant Junior Grade on, the San Jacinto commenced operations against the ese in the. On, , Bush piloted one of four  aircraft from VT-51 that attacked the Japanese installations on. For this mission his crew included Radioman Second Class John Delaney and Lieutenant Junior Grade William White, who substituted for Bush's regular gunner. During their attack, four Avengers from VT-51 encountered intense antiaircraft fire. While starting the attack, Bush's aircraft was hit and his engine caught on fire. Despite the fact that his plane was on fire, he completed his attack and released the bombs over his target, scoring several damaging hits. With his engine on fire, Bush flew several miles from the island, where he and one other crew member on the TBM Avenger bailed out of the aircraft. However, the other man's did not open, and he fell to his death. It was never determined which man bailed out with Bush. Both Delaney and White were killed in action. While Bush waited four hours in his inflated raft, several fighters circled protectively overhead until he was rescued by the lifeguard submarine. For this action Bush received the. During the month he remained on the USS Finback, Bush participated in the rescue of other pilots.

Bush subsequently returned to San Jacinto in November 1944 and participated in operations in the. When San Jacinto returned to, the squadron, which had suffered 50% casualties of its pilots, was replaced and sent to the United States. Through 1944, he had flown 58 combat missions for which he received the Distinguished Flying Cross, three s, and the awarded aboard the San Jacinto.

Because of his valuable combat experience, Bush was reassigned to and put in a training wing for new torpedo pilots. He was later assigned as a naval aviator in a new torpedo squadron, VT-153. With the surrender of Japan, he was honorably discharged in September 1945 and then entered.

Marriage, Yale, and Skull and Bones
Almost immediately upon his return from the war in December 1944, George Bush married. Their marriage produced six children:, ("Robin," 1949–1953, died of ), , , , and.

While at Yale, he joined the fraternity and was elected president. He also captained the Yale baseball team, and as a left-handed, played in the first. Late in his junior year he was, like his father (1917), tapped for membership by the. Some people believe that through this organization, also known as "the Order", Bush made connections with other influential people and families which would shape his career.

Bush graduated from Yale in 1948 with a B.S. in economics.



Business ventures
After graduating from Yale, Bush went into the Texas oil exploration business. He was given a position with, a subsidiary of Brown Brothers Harriman, where his father served on the board of directors for 22 years. His son, Neil Mallon Bush, is named after his employer at Dresser,, who was a close family friend dating back to Skull & Bones at Yale in 1918 along with Prescott. Zapata Corporation was created by Bush and the Liedtke brothers in 1953 as.

Campaigns for Senate and Congress
In 1964, Bush won the Republican Party's nomination for the U.S. Senate from Texas. His opponent was the incumbent Democratic Senator. Yarborough made several personal attacks against Bush, calling him a "tool of the eastern kingmakers" and a right-wing extremist. Bush lost the general election.

Bush did not give up on elective politics and was elected in 1966 to the from the 7th District of Texas, defeating Democrat Frank Briscoe with 57% of the vote. Despite being a first-term congressman, Bush was appointed to the powerful.



In 1970, President Nixon convinced Bush to relinquish his House seat to again run for the Senate against Democratic Senator Ralph Yarborough, a fierce Nixon critic. In the Republican primary, Bush easily defeated conservative Robert Morris, a defeated 1964 candidate, by a margin of 87.6% to 12.4%. However, former Congressman, a native of , defeated Yarborough in the Democratic primary, 816,641 votes (53%) to 724,122 (47%). Yarborough then endorsed Bentsen. With Yarborough defeated in the primary, Nixon's support for Bush's campaign waned.

Because there was no presidential election in 1970, turnout in Texas was unusually low in the general election. Bentsen defeated Bush by a margin similar to that in his primary victory over Yarborough. Ironically, Bentsen later became the Democratic Party nominee for Vice President in the on a ticket with Massachusetts Governor  and lost to Bush.

1970s
After the 1970 election loss, President appointed Bush to, at which he served from 1971 to 1973.

After Nixon was re-elected President in 1972, he asked Bush to become Chairman of the. Bush held this position during the, when the popularity of both Nixon and the Republican Party plummeted. Bush defended Nixon steadfastly, but later as Nixon's complicity became clear he focused more on defending the Republican Party while still maintaining loyalty to Nixon.

After Nixon's resignation in 1974, Vice President Gerald R. Ford became President, and Bush was one of the two leading contenders to be appointed vice president by Ford, but he lost to the other leading contender,. Bush had the support of many conservative elements in the Republican Party, particularly, against Rockefeller for the Vice Presidency. Ford appointed Bush to be Chief of the U.S. Liaison Office in the People's Republic of China. (Since the United States at the time maintained official relations with the on  and not the, the Liaison Office did not have the official status of an embassy and Bush did not formally hold the position of "ambassador" even though he unofficially acted as one.)

In 1976, Ford brought Bush back to Washington to become. Bush claimed the appointment was "a real shocker" and denied any prior involvement with the agency.

Interestingly, initially Bush's confirmation as was opposed by many pundits and politicians still reeling from the Watergate scandal (when Bush was head of the, and a steadfast defender of ) and the  investigating whether CIA-ordered foreign assassinations were being directed towards domestic officials, including President Kennedy. Many arguments against Bush's initial confirmation were that he was too partisan for the office. ,, and Senator were some notable figures opposed to Bush's nomination. After a pledge by Bush not to run for either President or Vice President in 1976, opposition to his nomination died down.

Bush served in this role for 355 days, from, to ,. The CIA had been rocked by a series of revelations, including revelations based on investigations by the Senate's, about the CIA's illegal and unauthorized activities, and Bush was credited with helping to restore the agency's morale. In his capacity as DCI, Bush gave national security briefings to both as a Presidential candidate and as President-elect, and discussed the possibility of remaining in that position in a Carter administration.

After a Democratic administration took power in 1977, Bush became Chairman of the First International Bank in Houston. He also became an adjunct professor of Administrative Science at in the Jones School of Business in 1978, the year it opened. The course, Organization Theory, involved lectures from Bush regarding the organizations he headed—the Central Intelligence Agency, the National Republican Party, a U.S. congressional office, the USA Representative Office to China, and an oil exploration company. Just months before Bush hit the presidential campaign trail, he was also candid about his internal debate to enter the primaries.

He also became a board member of the.

1980 presidential campaign and Vice Presidency
In the, Bush ran for the presidency, stressing his wide range of government experience. In the contest for the nomination, despite Bush's establishment backing, the front-runner was, former actor and  who was running for his third presidential bid.

In the primary election, Bush represented the centrist wing in the GOP, whereas Reagan represented the conservative wing. He labeled Reagan's -influenced plans for massive s "." During the election, Reagan once famously described Bush as a " Republican," in response to which Bush opened his jacket at a press conference, smiling, to reveal a logo. Bush won the to start the primary season, then told the press that he had "Big Mo" (or ). However, Reagan came back to decisively win the, and Bush's "mo" subsided. With a growing popularity among the Republican voting base, Reagan won most of the remaining primaries as well as the nomination.

After some preliminary discussion of choosing former President as his running mate, Reagan selected Bush as his Vice Presidential nominee, placing him on the winning Republican presidential ticket of.

, the Reagan-Bush ticket won again in a landslide in against the Democrats' - ticket.

During his second term as Vice President, Bush became the first Vice President to become when, on, , President  underwent surgery to remove polyps from his colon. Bush served as Acting President for approximately eight hours, most of which he passed playing tennis.

When the broke in 1986, Bush, like the president, stated that he had been "out of the loop" and unaware of the Iran initiatives related to arms trading.

1988 presidential campaign
In 1988, after nearly eight years as Vice President, Bush again ran for President. His challengers for the Republican presidential nomination included U.S. Senator and Conservative Christian televangelist.

Though considered the early frontrunner for the Republican nomination, Bush came in third in the Iowa caucus, beaten by winner Dole and runner-up Robertson. However, Bush rebounded to win the New Hampshire primary, perhaps partly because of television commercials portraying Dole as a tax raiser. Once the multiple-state primaries such as Super Tuesday began, Bush's organizational strength and fundraising lead were impossible for the other candidates to match, and the nomination was his.

Leading up to the, there was much speculation as to Bush's choice of running mate. In a move anticipated by few and later criticized by many, Bush chose little-known U.S. Senator of. On the eve of the convention, Bush trailed Democratic nominee, then governor, by double digits in most polls.

Bush, often criticized for his lack of eloquence when compared to Reagan, surprised many by giving perhaps the best speech of his public career, widely known as the "Thousand points of light" speech for his use of that phrase to describe his vision of American community. Bush's acceptance speech and a generally well-managed Convention catapulted him ahead of Dukakis in the polls, and he held the lead for the rest of the race. Bush's acceptance speech at the convention included the famous pledge, Read my lips: no new taxes.

The campaign was noted for its highly negative television advertisements. One advertisement run by the Bush campaign showed Dukakis awkwardly riding in a. Bush blamed Dukakis for polluting the as the Massachusetts governor. Bush also pointed out that Dukakis was opposed to the law that would require all students to say the pledge of allegiance. Another, produced and placed by an independent group supporting Bush, referred to murderer, a man who had committed a rape and assault while on a weekend furlough from a life sentence being served in Massachusetts.

Dukakis's unconditional opposition to also led to a pointed question during the U.S. presidential debates. Moderator Bernard Shaw asked Dukakis hypothetically if Dukakis would support the death penalty if his wife were raped and murdered. Dukakis's response appeared to many oddly wooden and technical, and contributed toward the characterization of him as "soft on crime." These images helped enhance Bush's stature as a possible compared to the Massachusetts governor.

Bush beat and  soundly in the, by 426 to 111 (Bentsen received one vote). In the nationwide popular vote, Bush took 53.4% of the ballots cast while Dukakis gained 45.6%. Bush was the first serving Vice President to be elected President since in 1836.

Foreign policy
Foreign policy drove the Bush Presidency from its first days. In his, , Inaugural Address upon taking the Presidency, 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."

Leading up to the first Gulf War, on, , President Bush addressing a joint session of Congress stated: "Out of these troubled times, our fifth objective &mdash; a New World Order &mdash; can emerge: a new era"

With these words President Bush gave the order to start the military action which would later be known as the.

Manuel Noriega
Operation Just Cause was the U.S. military invasion of Panama that deposed General in December 1989. Involving an expeditionary force of 25,000 troops and state-of-the-art military equipment, the invasion was the largest American military operation since the. General Manuel Noriega was at one time a U.S. ally, who was increasingly using Panama to facilitate the drug traffic from to the United States. In the 1980s, dictator Manuel Noriega was one of the most recognizable names in the United States, being constantly covered by the press. The deteriorating situation in Panama was a growing embarrassment for the Reagan Administration, which President Bush inherited. The military implementation took place under supervision of Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General who&mdash;as National Security Advisor for President Reagan&mdash;knew well the Panama situation and dictator Noriega. The invasion was preceded by massive protests in Panama against Noriega. Bush's Secretary of Defense visited American troops in Panama right after the invasion. President Bush visited Panama with his wife in June 1992, to give support to the first post-invasion Panamanian government.

Gulf War


As President, Bush is perhaps best known internationally for leading the United Nations coalition in the 1990–1991. In 1990,, led by invaded its oil-rich neighbor to the south,. The broad coalition, in an operation known as, sought to remove Iraqi forces from Kuwait and ensure that Iraq did not invade. Bush summed up his position succinctly when he said, "This aggression will not stand," and, "This is not a war for oil. This is war against aggression." On, the UN passed a resolution establishing a deadline that authorized the nations allied with Kuwait 'to use all necessary means' if Iraq did not withdraw from Kuwait by ,. Fighting began on, , when U.S.-led air units launched a devastating series of air attacks against Iraq, with this operation referred to as. On February 24, coalition ground troops attacked Iraq, and on February 26, Iraqi forces began retreating from Kuwait. Coalition troops pursued the retreating Iraqi troops into Iraq, to within 150 miles (240 km) of Baghdad before withdrawing. President Bush declared a cease-fire on February 27.

In a foreign policy move that would later be questioned, President Bush achieved his stated objectives of liberating Kuwait and forcing Iraqi withdrawal, then ordered a cessation of combat operations &mdash;allowing Saddam Hussein to stay in power. Bush later explained that he did not give the order to overthrow the Iraqi government because it would have "incurred incalculable human and political costs... We would have been forced to occupy Baghdad and, in effect, rule Iraq".

Post-Soviet breakup
After the in 1991, President Bush and Soviet President  declared a U.S.-Soviet strategic partnership at the summit that July, marking the end of the. President Bush declared that U.S.-Soviet cooperation during the Persian Gulf War in 1990–1991 had laid the groundwork for a partnership in resolving bilateral and world problems.
 * Arms control: ,
 * Arms control: ,

NAFTA


Bush's government, along with the  , spearheaded the negotiations of the  (NAFTA). Bush's primary negotiator was Trade Secretary. While initial signing was possible during his term, negotiations made slow but steady progress during Bush's term. President Clinton would go on to make the passage of NAFTA a priority for his administration, despite its conservative and Republican roots &mdash; with the addition of two side agreements &mdash; to achieve its passage in 1993.

Pardons
As other Presidents have done, Bush issued a series of pardons during his last days in office. On, , he pardoned six former government employees implicated in the Iran-Contra scandal - most prominently former Secretary of Defense. Weinberger had been scheduled to stand trial on, , for lying to Congress regarding his knowledge of arms sales to and concealing 1700 pages of his personal diary detailing discussions with other officials about the arms sales.

As Weinberger's private notes contained references to Bush's endorsement of the secret shipments to Iran, some believe that Bush's pardon was an effort to prevent an order for Bush to appear before a or possibly to avoid an indictment. Weinberger's indictment stated that Weinberger's notes contradicted Bush's assertions that he had only peripheral knowledge of the deal. Lawrence Walsh, the assigned to the case, charged that "the Iran-contra cover-up, which has continued for more than six years, has now been completed." Walsh likened the pardons to President 's. Bush responded that the Walsh probe constituted an attempt to criminalize a policy dispute between the legislative and executive branches. In addition to Weinberger, Bush pardoned, , , , and , all of whom had been indicted and/or convicted of charges by the Independent Counsel. He is also known to have given executive clemency to Aslam P. Adam, a convicted heroin dealer. Additionally, Bush pardoned, a known anti- who was linked to the bombing of  in , , and had been previously convicted of firing a  at a Polish  in  harbor.

Supreme Court appointments
Bush appointed the following Justices to the :
 *  – 1990
 *  – 1991

1992 re-election campaign
The tail end of the, that had plagued most of Bush's term in office, was a contributing factor to his defeat in the to   of. The coalition victory in the Persian Gulf War led to a feeling that Bush's re-election was almost assured, but the economic recession coupled with a perceived failure to end the war properly reduced his popularity. Bush was also perceived as being "out of touch" with the American worker. One incident that was said to lend credence to this suspicion occurred during a technology trade show in which Bush appeared "amazed" upon seeing a demonstration of a. However,, the reporter who broke the story was not present during the demonstration. He had relied on his own interpretation of a by. The ' stood by its interpretation of the event, but ' and of , as well as the man who demonstrated the product for Bush, all took issue with Rosenthal's characterization. Nevertheless, media outlets reported the story as it tied in with and supported the notion that the president was out of touch with the common man.

Several other factors were key in his defeat, including agreeing in 1990 to raise taxes despite his famous "Read my lips: no new taxes" pledge not to institute any new taxes. In doing so, Bush alienated many members of his conservative base, losing their support for his re-election. Bush raised taxes in an attempt to address an ever-increasing budget deficit, which some attributed to the Reagan tax cuts and military spending of the 1980s. George Bush had been supported in 1988 by conservatives to continue the Reagan revolution, and was seen as a failure in this regard. Ironically, Bush had previously admonished Reagan's supply side tax cuts in the 1980 presidential primary when he referred to Reagan's tax proposals as "voodoo economics."

won 19% of the popular vote, the highest total for a third-party candidate since on the ticket of the. In early 1992 a Gallup poll found the President's to be at an all-time low, 29%. Despite his defeat, George H. W. Bush left office in 1993 with a 56% job approval rating.

Post-Presidency
Since his 1992 election campaign, Bush has retired to be with his wife at their home in the exclusive neighborhood of in, with a presidential office nearby. They summer at in,. Bush holds his own fishing tournament in, an island in the.

Since 1992, Bush has made many public appearances, and even more so in the eight years of his son's Presidential term. He and Mrs. Bush attended the in June 2004, and  in January 2007. One month later, he was awarded the in  by former First Lady.

In 1993, Bush was awarded an honorary  by.

Bush was also present in various ceremonies during the construction of, which is the last  of the , and one of the few that are named after persons that are living at the time of the vessel's christening.

Quotes

 * "This aggression will not stand."
 * "Read my lips: No new taxes."
 * "If you don't feel something strongly you're not going to achieve."
 * "Americans should be more like and less like ."
 * "After a deluded gunman assassinated President Kennedy, our nation turned to Gerald Ford and a select handful of others to make sense of that madness. And the conspiracy theorists can say what they will, but the Warren Commission report will always have the final definitive say on this tragic matter. Why? Because Jerry Ford put his name on it and Jerry Ford’s word was always good." Eulogy for, ,

Texas A&M University
is home to both the and the. This tenth presidential library was built between 1995 and 1997 and contains the presidential and vice-presidential papers of and the vice-presidential papers of. The school, offers a master's degree in public policy and one in international affairs as well as two research degrees, officially launched in 1997. It became a separate school within the university in 1999.

Presidential Library
The is the  named for Bush. It was dedicated on, and opened to the public shortly thereafter. It was designed by the architectural firm of.

The George Bush Presidential Library and Museum is located on a ninety-acre site on the west campus of in,. The Library and Museum is situated on a plaza adjoining the Presidential Conference Center and the Texas A&M Academic Center. It operates under the administration of the under the provisions of the Presidential Libraries Act of 1955.

George Bush School of Government and Public Service
The George Bush School of Government and Public Service is a graduate at  in. It is named for former President. The Bush School is part of the George Bush Presidential Library complex. The graduate school offers four programs: two programs (Public Service Administration and International Affairs) and two certificate programs (Advanced International Affairs and ). The Masters Program in International Affairs (MPIA) program offers a choice of concentration on either Affairs or International  and. The MPIA program requires the graduate students to pass a foreign language exam in order to graduate. In addition, the school offers both certificate programs online. Texas A&M has begun planning and faculty collaboration that would expand the current Certificate in Homeland Security Program into a Master of Science in Homeland Security Program, coordinated by the, recognized as a national leader in the emerging field of homeland security strategy and policy. Dr., and former , was the school's first  before becoming president of the university.

Books
Note: All The Best is not a and Bush has declared that he will not be writing one.
 *  1998 ISBN 0-679-43248-5
 * All The Best, George Bush: My Life and Other Writings 1999 ISBN 068483958X
 * Heartbeat: George Bush in His Own Words: George Bush in His Own Words (compiled by Jim McGrath) 2003 ISBN 0806524979