July 7, 2020 (Tuesday)
George H.W. Bush was born June 12, 1924 in Milton, Massachusetts and died November 30, 2018 (aged 94) in Houston, Texas. He married Barbara Pierce and they had six children, George, robin, John Neil, Marvin and Dorothy. He was 64 years old when he became president. He served as president 1989-1993. He was a Republican.
George H. W. Bush is most known for being president during the Persian Gulf War. He is also famous for his two sons; George W. Bush, who was also president of the United States, and Jeb Bush, Governor of Florida. Two men named “George Bush” served as president and came to be known fondly as “Bush41” and “Bush43.’
George H. W. Bush was born in Massachusetts, but grew up in Connecticut. His father was a U.S. Senator and a Wall Street executive. George’s success started early as he was president of his senior class in high school and also captain of the baseball team.
When George graduated from high school he had planned to go to Yale University, but when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in World War II, George decided to join the Navy. He was only 18 years old when he finished his training and became a Navy pilot, making him the Navy’s youngest pilot ever. George flew a number of combat missions with the Navy including one where his plane was shot down and he was rescued from his floating raft by a submarine in the ocean.
Upon leaving the Navy, George attended Yale University where he graduated with honors after just two and a half years. He played first baseman for the baseball team at Yale and led them to two College World Series. After college, George and his wife Barbara moved to Texas where he worked in the oil industry for many years.
Bush decided to follow his father into political office. He was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1966. After four years, he gave up his seat to run for senate at President Nixon’s request. However, he lost the election. Nixon then appointed Bush to be Ambassador to the United Nations.
George served in a number of political positions during the coming years including Chairman of the Republican Party, special envoy to China, and Director of the CIA. During Jimmy Carter’s administration he went back to work in Texas and also began making his plans to run for president.
Bush ran for president in 1980, but fell behind to Ronald Reagan in the Republican primary. However, Reagan chose Bush to be his running mate and soon George was elected to vice president. After two terms as vice president with Ronald Reagan, Bush ran for president and won the election in 1988.
When George H. W. Bush took the office of president, the world was undergoing a major change. The Soviet Union was collapsing and with it communism in Eastern Europe. New nations were forming out of the Soviet Union and the United States began to slowly establish relations with them.
In the country of Panama, the leader Manuel Noriega had seized power after losing the democratic elections. He also was known to have helped to traffic drugs into the United States. In order to capture Noriega and bring the Panama Canal back under stable leadership, the U.S. invaded Panama and seized Noriega bringing him back to the U.S. to stand charges.
On August 1, 1990 Iraq, ruled by the dictator Saddam Hussein, invaded the small oil rich country of Kuwait. Led by the United States, a national coalition of forces fought back Iraqi forces. Saddam’s army was soon crushed and he was forced out of Kuwait. Many restrictions were put on Saddam’s government including regular inspections by the United Nations.
The economy began to struggle near the end of Bush’s term. He had to go back on his campaign promise of “no new taxes” in order to try and keep the national deficit down. As a result, he lost the next election to Bill Clinton.
Bush retired to Texas after leaving the presidency. He worked with fellow former president Bill Clinton to help raise funds for the victims of Hurricane Katrina and the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami. He also followed his sons’ political careers. One son, George W. Bush, became the 43rd president of the United States, while the other son, Jeb Bush, was a long time governor of Florida. George H.W. Bush died on November 30, 2018.
George H.W. Bush – President 1989-1993
At the close of each Tuesday blog I write about the presidents, in the order of their service. Bush41 was the 41st – 4 more remain.