George H. W. Bush

George H. W. (Herbert Walker) Bush, Republican, was president of the U.S. from 1989-1993, following Ronald Reagan and preceding William Jefferson Clinton. He is the father of George W. Bush.

His presidency was marked mostly by a poor economy, and the Gulf War with Iraq in which he deliberately made the decision to end the conflict when the original goal of liberating Kuwait was achieved, and to stop short of invading Iraq (That is, he formulated an "exit strategy" before entering). He faced a strong challenge from Pat Robertson in 1988 due to charges that he was too liberal (compared to, say, Hitler) and some claim that he lost the presidency in 1992 due to many Republicans defecting to the Ross Perot camp. He famously described the monetrist policies of Ronald Reagan (the Laffer curve) as "Voodoo Economics" prior to his nomination and election as Vice President.