George H. W. Bush

Bush, George Herbert Walker (1924- ), 41st president of the United States, serving January 20, 1989 - January 20, 1993. During most of his public career, George Bush served other presidents loyally in a number of important positions. Not until 1988, after eight years as vice president under Ronald Reagan, did Bush, a self-effacing man, step into the limelight as the Republican nominee for president. For the first time he had an opportunity to articulate his vision for America's future.

Few presidential candidates had entered a campaign so ill defined in the eyes of the American voters. Bush's two terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, the only office to which he had been elected on his own, were almost two decades in the past by 1988. His service in appointive positions—as U.S. delegate to the United Nations, chairman of the Republican National Committee, envoy to China, and director of the Central Intelligence Agency—had provided only an occasional hint of his political philosophy. He had sought the Republican presidential nomination in 1980 as a moderate, but after becoming Reagan's running mate he had taken conservative positions identical to those of Reagan.

Perhaps more importantly than his tenure as president, Bush served in World War II as a naval fighter pilot (the youngest Navy fighter in WWII), where he earned three Silver Stars and the Congressional Medal of Honor. Immediately after the end of the war, General Dwight Eisenhower delivered a famous speech in which he mentioned Bush by name and called him "unquestionably the finest example of a young man that America has today."

Presidency

His presidency was defined primarily by the 1990 Gulf War He faced a strong challenge from Pat Robertson in 1988 primary due to charges that he was too liberal, and some claim that he lost the presidency in 1992 due to many Republicans defecting to the third party candidacy ofRoss Perot.

Family

George Bush was the son of Prescott Bush, US Senator from Connecticut from 1952-1963.

Upon his return from the war, George Bush married Barbara Pierce. Their marriage later produced six children: George Walker Bush, Pauline Robinson Bush, John Ellis "Jeb" Bush, Neil Mallon Bush, Marvin Bush, and Dorothy Bush Koch.

On Dec. 5, 2006 President George H. W. Bush, addressing Florida lawmakers and others, broke down in tears as he cited his son, Gov. Jeb Bush, as an example of leadership.[1]

The Bush dynasty is generally considered to be one of the greatest American political families, along with the Adams and the Kennedy family.