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Bush, George Herbert Walker (1924-...), served as president of the United States from 1989 to 1993. In 1988, he defeated the Democratic Party's presidential candidate, Governor Michael S. Dukakis of Massachusetts. In 1992, Bush was defeated in his bid for a second term by Governor Bill Clinton of Arkansas, his Democratic opponent. Bush had served as vice president under President Ronald Reagan from 1981 to 1989. Bush became president at a time when many Americans were uncertain about their country's future. The federal government was badly in debt, the result of several years of budget deficits (shortages). In addition, the value of goods imported into the United States far exceeded the value of exports, leading many people to fear that the nation was becoming a second-rate economic power. In the 1988 election, Bush took advantage of his association with Reagan, who was an extremely popular president. Bush profited as well from the fact that relations between the United States and the Soviet Union had improved greatly during the Reagan presidency. As president, Bush led the nation during the Persian Gulf War of 1991, in which the United States and its allies defeated Iraq. He also signed important arms-control agreements with the Soviet Union and, after it broke apart, with Russia and other former Soviet republics. But critics claimed that Bush failed to deal effectively with economic and other problems in the United States. Bush was the 14th former vice president who became president. Before his election as vice president, Bush had a long career of government service. A Texas Republican, he served two terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. Bush also held several key appointed positions in the national government. These posts included U.S. ambassador to the United Nations (UN) and director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Bush was a successful businessman in the oil industry before entering politics. A native of New England, Bush was drawn to Texas by the booming oil industry. He worked his way up from equipment clerk to become president of an independent offshore oil drilling firm. Bush liked sports, especially tennis and baseball. He also enjoyed boating, fishing, and spending time with his family at their vacation home in Kennebunkport, Maine. Boyhood. Bush was born on June 12, 1924, in Milton, Massachusetts. He had three brothers-Prescott, Jr., Jonathan, and William-and a sister, Nancy. George's parents were Prescott Sheldon Bush and Dorothy Walker Bush. Prescott Bush was a successful businessman who eventually became a managing partner in an investment banking firm. He later developed an interest in politics. Prescott Bush represented Connecticut in the U.S. Senate from 1952 to 1963. When George was less than a year old, his family moved to Greenwich, Connecticut. His upbringing was comfortable but strict. His family spent summers at the Kennebunkport home of Dorothy Bush's father, George Herbert Walker, for whom young George was named. George attended the private Greenwich Country Day School. He then entered Phillips Academy at Andover, Massachusetts, an exclusive preparatory school. Bush earned good grades and was elected president of the senior class. He also was captain of the baseball and soccer teams. Bush graduated in 1942. War hero. The United States entered World War II (1939-1945) in December 1941. Bush enlisted in the U.S. Naval Reserve. He received flight training and was commissioned an ensign in June 1943. At that time, he was the Navy's youngest pilot. In 1943, Bush became a pilot with Torpedo Bomber Squadron VT-51, aboard the aircraft carrier U.S.S. San Jacinto in the Pacific Ocean. On Sept. 2, 1944, his plane was shot down during an attack on a Japanese-held island. Before parachuting from his plane, Bush scored damaging hits on his target, a radio station. A submarine, the U.S.S. Finback, rescued Bush from the ocean, but his two crew members did not survive. Bush received the Distinguished Flying Cross for his heroism in the incident. He returned to flying after being shot down. Bush later served at the Oceana Naval Air Station in Virginia until the war ended in August 1945. Bush's family. Bush met Barbara Pierce of Rye, New York, at a Christmas dance in 1941. Her father, Marvin Pierce, was the publisher of McCall's and Redbook magazines. George and Barbara were married on Jan. 6, 1945, while Bush was on leave from naval duty. The couple had six children-George; Robin, who died of leukemia; John, called Jeb; Neil; Marvin; and Dorothy. Their son George (known as George W. Bush) was elected governor of Texas in 1994 and reelected in 1998. He was elected president of the United States in 2000, defeating his Democratic opponent, Vice President Al Gore. Jeb Bush was elected governor of Florida in 1998 and reelected in 2002. College education. In the fall of 1945, Bush entered Yale University. He worked hard and did well in his studies. Bush played first base on the Yale baseball team for three seasons. He was captain of the team during his senior year. He graduated from Yale in 1948 with a bachelor's degree in economics. He also was elected to the honor society Phi Beta Kappa. Entry into the oil business. After his graduation from Yale, Bush received an offer to join his father's investment banking firm. But he turned down this secure position to try his luck in the oil fields of Texas. A family friend offered Bush a job at Dresser Industries, an oil equipment company. Bush started with Dresser Industries as an equipment clerk in Odessa, Texas. After a little less than a year, Bush was transferred to California, where he worked as an assemblyman in an oil-equipment factory and as a salesman of drilling bits. In 1950, Bush was transferred back to Texas. He and his family settled in Midland. Independent oilman. In late 1950, Bush left Dresser. He and a friend, John Overbey, formed the Bush-Overbey Oil Development Company. The company bought a percentage of mineral rights on land where oil was drilled and sought investors to finance its ventures. In 1953, Bush and Overbey joined brothers Hugh and William Liedtke and formed the Zapata Petroleum Corporation. The new company absorbed Bush-Overbey. In 1954, the corporation created Zapata Off-Shore Company to drill for oil in the Gulf of Mexico. Bush became president of this company, which was made independent of the Zapata Petroleum Corporation in 1959. That year, Bush moved its headquarters to Houston. Bush's career as an independent oilman made him wealthy. Bush became more interested in politics in the late 1950's. In 1962, he was elected chairman of the Republican Party of Harris County-the county in which most of Houston lies. In 1964, he was the Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate. Democratic incumbent Ralph Yarborough defeated Bush in the general election. In 1966, Bush ran for the U.S. House of Representatives from Texas's Seventh Congressional District. He defeated his Democratic opponent, Frank Briscoe. Bush generally voted conservatively in the House. But he supported some liberal bills, including one calling for elimination of the military draft. He also supported a bill to guarantee open housing to minorities. Bush was reelected to the House without opposition in 1968. In 1970, partly due to encouragement by President Richard M. Nixon, Bush gave up his seat in the House to make another run for the Senate. But he was defeated in the general election by Democrat Lloyd Bentsen. United Nations ambassador. President Nixon appointed Bush U.S. ambassador to the UN in December 1970. In 1971, Bush worked to allow Nationalist China to keep its position in the UN. He supported a "dual representation" plan that would accept the entry of Communist China to the UN while preserving Nationalist China's position there. However, the members of the UN voted to expel Nationalist China. Bush's efforts were complicated by gestures of friendship made toward Communist China by the Nixon administration. Republican Party chairman. After President Nixon's reelection in 1972, he named Bush to head the Republican National Committee. Bush took over the post in January 1973-just before the events of the Watergate scandal became known to the public. The scandal involved illegal activities by key Republicans who were working to reelect Nixon. Their actions included burglary, wiretapping, and sabotage, and the subsequent cover-up of these criminal activities (see WATERGATE). Bush believed Nixon's claim that he had played no part in either the break-in or the cover-up, and he defended the president against harsh criticism. Bush also worked to separate the illegal actions of a few Republicans from the integrity of the Republican Party. But secret White House tape recordings later provided convincing evidence that Nixon had played a part in the Watergate scandal, and Nixon faced almost certain impeachment by the House and removal from office by the Senate. On Aug. 7, 1974, Bush requested Nixon's resignation in the name of the Republican Party. Nixon announced his resignation the following day. He officially left office on August 9. Envoy to China. In 1974, Nixon's successor, Gerald R. Ford, let Bush select his next government assignment. Bush chose to head the United States Liaison Office in Beijing, the capital of Communist China. Bush worked to continue developing relations between the two countries, which had opened diplomatic offices in each other's capitals in 1973. CIA director. In November 1975, President Ford requested that Bush return to Washington to head the Central Intelligence Agency. Bush accepted. The Senate confirmed his appointment in January 1976 after imposing the condition that Bush not be considered as a candidate for vice president in 1976. When Bush took over the CIA, congressional committees were carefully examining its past activities. Bush's most vital contribution was in raising staff morale during this difficult period. He worked to improve the management of the agency. Bush left the CIA in January 1977, having resigned after the election of Democratic President Jimmy Carter in November 1976. Campaign for the presidential nomination. In the fall of 1977, Bush and his advisers began to raise funds for the 1980 campaign for the presidency. Bush officially announced his candidacy in May 1979. In January 1980, Bush defeated his chief rival for the nomination, former California Governor Ronald Reagan, in the Iowa caucuses, the first contest in the nominating process. But Bush could not maintain this advantage, as Reagan accumulated victories in primary elections. Bush withdrew his candidacy on May 26, 1980. Vice presidential candidate. The Republican National Convention, held in Detroit in July 1980, officially nominated Reagan as the party's presidential candidate. Reagan invited Bush to be his vice presidential running mate. Bush accepted and was formally nominated. Bush did not completely share Reagan's views on such issues as cutting federal taxes, abortion, and the Equal Rights Amendment. However, Bush minimized his differences with Reagan during the campaign. Reagan and Bush defeated the Democratic ticket of President Jimmy Carter and Vice President Walter Mondale in the general election in November 1980. Reagan's first administration. Reagan and Bush quickly established a warm, friendly working relationship. Bush was given an office in the White House and allowed free access to the president. Reagan gave Bush a more active role than most previous vice presidents had enjoyed. Bush attended daily security briefings held for the president and received key intelligence information. Reagan appointed Bush chairman of several important groups, including the National Security Council's crisis management team and a special task force that investigated drug smuggling and illegal immigration in Florida. Bush attended Reagan's Cabinet meetings. But he rarely spoke there, so as not to differ publicly with the president. Rather than contradict Reagan, Bush advised him privately and confidentially. In particular, Bush encouraged Reagan to be open to the possibility of negotiation with the Soviet Union. On March 30, 1981, Reagan was shot in an attempted assassination. The event thrust Bush into the national spotlight. Just after the shooting, Bush assured the United States and the world that national affairs were under control. Bush also took over some of Reagan's public duties during the president's recovery. Bush's performance won him much respect during this period. Reagan's second administration. Reagan and Bush easily won renomination at the 1984 convention of the Republican Party in Dallas. The Democrats nominated former Vice President Mondale for president and Representative Geraldine Ferraro of New York for vice president. Reagan and Bush won the general election by a landslide. During the second Reagan administration, Bush continued to influence Reagan. On July 13, 1985, Bush served as acting president for about eight hours when Reagan underwent cancer surgery. The Republican nomination. Bush entered the 1988 campaign with distinct advantages over his Republican rivals. He had served as vice president under a popular president, and his name was well known among voters. Bush also had a well-organized, well-financed campaign. His rivals included Senator Robert Dole of Kansas and Pat Robertson, a former television evangelist. Dole dealt Bush a surprising defeat in the Iowa caucuses in February 1988. He questioned Bush's claim of ignorance in the Iran-contra affair-a complex, illegal scheme in which officials in the United States indirectly sold weapons to Iran and then used the profits to help the contras, a group of rebels fighting to overthrow the government of Nicaragua. But Bush quickly recovered with a string of primary victories. The remaining Republican candidates soon withdrew because Bush had won enough delegates to ensure his nomination. At the Republican National Convention in New Orleans in August 1988, Bush was named the Republican presidential nominee. At his request, Senator Dan Quayle of Indiana was nominated for vice president. The Democrats nominated Governor Michael S. Dukakis of Massachusetts for president and Senator Lloyd Bentsen of Texas, who had defeated Bush in the 1970 Senate race, for vice president. The 1988 election. Many Republicans hoped that Bush could win the support of the conservative Democrats who had crossed party lines to vote for Reagan in 1980 and 1984. Many of Bush's conservative views, particularly those concerning the smuggling of illegal drugs into the United States, were similar to those of Reagan. Bush also promised not to increase any taxes. Dukakis questioned Bush's lack of knowledge of the Iran-contra affair. The Democrats also criticized Bush for his role in the Reagan presidency, claiming that illegal drug trafficking had flourished and that social services had been cut during Reagan's administration. Bush, in turn, criticized Dukakis's record as governor of Massachusetts, charging-among other things-that the governor had been lax in protecting the environment and had been too "soft" on criminals. Bush also questioned Dukakis's lack of experience in foreign policy and argued that the Democrats would increase taxes and weaken the nation's military. In the general election, Bush and Quayle defeated Dukakis and Bentsen. Bush received 426 of the 538 electoral votes. Bush's administration (1989-1993), National affairs. Early in his presidency, Bush had to deal with the worst crisis in the savings and loan industry since the Great Depression of the 1930's. Savings and loan institutions provide, among other things, loans for building or buying homes. From 1980 to 1990, more than 1,000 of these institutions failed, and hundreds more neared bankruptcy. The crisis resulted from several factors, including customers' nonpayment of loans, poor regulation, and fraud and mismanagement in the industry. Soon after entering office, Bush proposed legislation to rescue and restructure the industry. The savings and loan bailout eventually cost taxpayers many billions of dollars. Concern for the environment also increased during Bush's presidency. In March 1989, the United States experienced the largest oil spill in U.S. history. The spill occurred after the U.S. tanker Exxon Valdez, owned by the Exxon Corporation, struck a reef near the port of Valdez, Alaska. Nearly 11 million gallons (42 million liters) of crude oil spilled into Prince William Sound, polluting fishing waters and destroying wildlife. Many people became dissatisfied with Exxon's cleanup. Two weeks after the spill, Bush ordered the U.S. military and other federal agencies to take over the cleanup work. In November 1990, Bush signed into law a bill that amended the Clean Air Act of 1970. The amendments set stricter standards for air quality and emissions (release of pollutants) and required the sale of cleaner burning fuels. But some critics charged that Bush did not do enough to protect the environment. They criticized his refusal to support specific limits on the country's emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases believed to contribute to global warming (see GLOBAL WARMING). Also in November 1990, Bush signed legislation that raised federal taxes. He claimed the increases were needed to reduce the federal budget deficit. However, Bush's action contradicted his 1988 presidential campaign promise to oppose any new taxes. In 1991, economists said that the U.S. economy had entered a recession in July 1990. By June 1991, 7 percent of the nation's civilian workers were unemployed. Bush urged bank regulators to lower interest rates to help end the recession. The economy slowly began to grow in 1991, but unemployment remained high. Many people felt that Bush failed to deal effectively with the country's economic and other domestic problems. The nation continued to suffer from high rates of drug abuse, homelessness, and violent crime. In addition, plans to reform the country's banking, educational, and health care systems remained unresolved. Many critics blamed the continuing problems on a lack of cooperation between Bush and Congress, which was controlled by the Democratic Party. In the spring of 1992, Bush faced one of the worst domestic crises of his presidency when riots broke out in Los Angeles and other United States cities. The riots erupted after a jury decided not to convict four white Los Angeles police officers of assaulting an African American motorist named Rodney G. King. No African Americans had served on the jury. The jury's decision shocked many people because a videotape showing the officers beating King had been broadcast by TV stations throughout the country. The rioting that followed the decision occurred mainly in African American areas of Los Angeles. The Los Angeles riots resulted in 53 deaths and over $1 billion in property damage. After the riots, Bush sent 5,000 federal troops and law enforcement officers to Los Angeles to help restore order. He also released federal funds for rebuilding the damaged area. In addition, Bush promised to support programs to help poor areas of U.S. cities. In April 1993, after the end of Bush's presidency, a federal jury convicted two of the officers of violating King's civil rights. In 1994, a civil court ordered the city of Los Angeles to pay King about $33/4 million in damages. International affairs. Bush took bold military action twice during his presidency. He ordered U.S. troops to Panama in December 1989 and to the Persian Gulf region in August 1990. Invasion of Panama. Bush ordered troops into Panama to overthrow the dictatorship of General Manuel Antonio Noriega. Bush said the action was necessary to protect the lives of 35,000 Americans who lived in Panama. He also cited U.S. obligations to defend the Panama Canal, the killing of a U.S. marine by Panamanian soldiers earlier in December 1989, and the intention to bring Noriega to the United States to face trial on drug trafficking charges. After Noriega's overthrow, the U.S. government cooperated with the new Panamanian president, Guillermo Endara. Earlier in 1989, Noriega had declared invalid the results of Panama's presidential election that apparently was won by Endara. In January 1990, Noriega surrendered to U.S. officials and was taken to the United States. In 1992, he was convicted of drug trafficking and sentenced to 40 years in prison. Persian Gulf crisis. Bush ordered hundreds of thousands of U.S. troops to the Middle East after Iraq invaded and took over Kuwait in August 1990. Kuwait is an oil-rich country bordering Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia and Kuwait were U.S. allies and produced much of the petroleum consumed by the United States and many other industrialized countries. Bush sent the troops to prevent a possible Iraqi attack on Saudi Arabia, and he and several other world leaders demanded that Iraq withdraw from Kuwait. Bush also ordered U.S. Navy ships to help enforce a UN embargo on the shipment of goods to and from Iraq. Many Arab countries and other nations joined the United States in a coalition against Iraq. In November 1990, the UN Security Council authorized coalition members to "use all necessary means" to expel Iraq from Kuwait if Iraq did not withdraw by Jan. 15, 1991. Iraqi forces failed to leave Kuwait by the UN deadline. As a result, the Persian Gulf War of 1991 began on January 17 in Iraq (January 16 U.S. time). On orders from Bush, U.S. forces joined other coalition members in bombing Iraqi targets in Iraq and Kuwait. The military effort to force Iraq out of Kuwait became known as Operation Desert Storm. Bush also ordered U.S. participation in a massive ground attack that began on February 24 (February 23 U.S. time). In this attack, coalition troops entered Iraq and Kuwait and defeated Iraq's military after about 100 hours of fighting. In April, Bush ordered U.S. troops into northern Iraq to work with other coalition forces in establishing a safety zone for Kurdish refugees. Kurds in Iraq had rebelled soon after Iraq's defeat in the war. Iraq's army quickly put down the rebellion, and more than a million Kurds fled to the mountains of northern Iraq and to Iran and Turkey. Thousands died of disease, exposure, hunger, or war wounds. Besides protecting the refugees from Iraqi troops, the United States helped provide the Kurds with food and other necessities. The U.S. troops stayed in northern Iraq until July. By that time, most of the refugees had returned to their homes. U.S.-Soviet relations. Bush worked to improve relations with the Soviet Union. In 1989, he met with Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev on Soviet ships off the coast of Malta. The two leaders reached no formal agreements. But they stressed greater cooperation between their countries. In late May and early June 1990, Bush met with Gorbachev in the United States. At that meeting, the two presidents agreed to destroy most of their countries' chemical weapons. Chemical weapons include bombs that contain poison gases. The leaders also signed agreements to improve trade and economic relations between the two countries. After Iraq invaded Kuwait, Bush met twice with Gorbachev to discuss the Persian Gulf crisis. The first meeting occurred in September 1990 in Helsinki, Finland. The second took place in November in Paris. At the Paris meeting, Bush sought Soviet support for a UN Security Council resolution authorizing the use of force to expel Iraq from Kuwait. The resolution passed later that month with Soviet approval. Also in November, Bush, Gorbachev, and other world leaders signed the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE), which called for the destruction of large numbers of tanks and other nonnuclear weapons in Europe. A revised form of the CFE was signed and put into effect in 1992. In July 1991, Bush and Gorbachev met in Moscow to sign the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, now called START I. The treaty required each of the two countries to reduce the number of its long-range nuclear bombers and missiles by about a third over a period of seven years. Final approval required ratification by both countries. START I became the first treaty to call for a reduction in existing numbers of long-range nuclear weapons. In September 1991, Bush announced that the United States would take out of service most of its short-range nuclear weapons and destroy many of them. Bush took this step without negotiating with the Soviet Union. But he said that the decision could be reversed if the Soviet Union did not take a similar step. The following month, the Soviet Union announced that it would do so. Also in September 1991, Bush announced that the United States would establish full diplomatic relations with the Baltic States-Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania-and thus treat them as independent nations. These three eastern European lands had been independent from 1918 to 1940, when the Soviet Union occupied and annexed them. The United States refused to recognize the Soviet annexation. In 1990, each of the Baltic States declared its intent to restore its independence. Bush's announcement followed a failed coup (revolt) against Gorbachev. The coup and its failure seriously weakened the Soviet government and encouraged the Baltic States to step up their drive for independence. The Soviet Union recognized the Baltic republics' independence several days after Bush's announcement. By the end of 1991, most of the other 12 republics that made up the Soviet Union had also declared independence, and the Soviet Union ceased to exist. Bush established full U.S. diplomatic relations with all of the former republics. He quickly sought assurance that former Soviet nuclear weapons were safely under control, that START I would be ratified, and that all arms-control agreements entered into by the Soviet Union would be followed. Four of the newly independent states-Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and Belarus-possessed long-range nuclear arms at the time of the breakup. In May 1992, their leaders and Bush signed an agreement to abide by the START I treaty. Also, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and Belarus agreed to turn over all their strategic nuclear weapons to Russia. START I went into effect in 1994. The transfer of nuclear weapons to Russia was completed in 1996. In June 1992, Bush and Russian President Boris Yeltsin signed an agreement to seek a formal arms-control treaty that would supplement START I. In January 1993, they signed the START II treaty. START II called for cutting the total number of U.S. and former Soviet long-range nuclear weapons to less than half the number proposed by START I. The START II cuts were to occur over a period of seven years. However, START II never went into effect, due to disputes over amendments to the agreement. International trade. During Bush's administration, many people feared that the United States was losing economic power in relation to other nations, especially Japan. In January 1992, Bush traveled to Japan to meet with Japanese leaders. He wanted to lower Japanese trade barriers against U.S. products. Many Americans felt that Japan discriminated unfairly against U.S. goods and services. The president was accompanied on the trip by several prominent U.S. business leaders. But critics charged that Bush's trip accomplished little and cast the United States as a "beggar nation." Bush's efforts to lower barriers to international trade led to the signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in December 1992. This pact called for the gradual elimination of tariffs and certain other trade barriers between the United States and Mexico and between Mexico and Canada. An agreement to gradually end similar barriers between the United States and Canada had taken effect in 1989, during Reagan's presidency. NAFTA took effect in 1994. The 1992 election. Bush and Quayle won renomination at the 1992 Republican National Convention in Houston. The Democrats nominated Governor Bill Clinton of Arkansas for president and Senator Al Gore of Tennessee for vice president. Texas billionaire Ross Perot and his running mate, former U.S. Navy Vice Admiral James B. Stockdale, ran as independents. During the campaign, Bush stressed his foreign policy successesand charged that Clinton lacked experience in foreign affairs. Bush also promised to reduce federal taxes and warned that, as president, Clinton would raise taxes. Clinton, for his part, argued that Bush had failed to deal effectively with the nation's many domestic problems, including the recession and high unemployment of the early 1990's. Bush defended his record on domestic issues by claiming that the Democrat-controlled Congress had refused to enact most of his proposals. Perot accused both Bush and Clinton of not giving enough attention to such problems as the federal government's large budget deficit. In the election, Clinton defeated Bush and Perot. Bush returned to Houston after leaving the White House. He became active with charitable organizations and helped raise several million dollars for various causes. Bush's oldest son, George W. Bush, was elected governor of Texas in 1994 and reelected in 1998. Another son, Jeb, was elected governor of Florida in 1998 and reelected in 2002. Bush's son George was elected president of the United States in 2000. The election marked the second time in U.S. history that the son of a former president was elected to the office. Contributor: Lee Thornton, Ph.D., Richard Eaton Professor of Journalism, University of Maryland, College Park.
William B.
