George H. W. Bush
Who was George H. W. Bush?
President of the United States from 1989 to 1993 (1924–2018)
Biographical data adapted from Wikipedia’s article on George H. W. Bush (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Biography
George Herbert Walker Bush (June 12, 1924 – November 30, 2018) was the 41st president of the United States from 1989 to 1993. Born in Milton, Massachusetts, in the Bush family, he grew up in Greenwich, Connecticut, and attended Greenwich Country Day School and Phillips Academy. During World War II, he became one of the youngest naval aviators, flying torpedo bombers in the Pacific and earning the Distinguished Flying Cross for bravery. After the war, he graduated from Yale University, where he played baseball, and then moved to West Texas to start a career in the oil industry, eventually founding the Zapata Corporation.
Bush's political career took off in the 1960s. He lost a U.S. Senate race in 1964 but was elected to represent Texas's 7th congressional district in 1966. President Richard Nixon appointed him as ambassador to the United Nations in 1971 and then as chairman of the Republican National Committee in 1973. Under President Gerald Ford, he was chief of the Liaison Office to China and later director of central intelligence. These roles gave him extensive experience in foreign policy and government before his unsuccessful presidential run in 1980. He then became Ronald Reagan's vice president.
Serving as vice president from 1981 to 1989, Bush was a loyal supporter of Reagan for two terms before winning the 1988 presidential election against Democrat Michael Dukakis. His presidency was mostly focused on foreign affairs. He led the U.S. through the end of the Cold War, played a key part in Germany's reunification, and was honored with Berlin citizenship for his role. He authorized the U.S. invasion of Panama and formed a coalition to push back Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in the Gulf War of 1991, which was a swift military victory.
On the domestic front, Bush faced challenges. He drew criticism for breaking his 1988 'no new taxes' campaign promise when he signed a tax increase to address the federal deficit. He did sign significant bipartisan laws like the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990. He negotiated the North American Free Trade Agreement, though it was not ratified until after he left office. An early 1990s recession and a sense that he was out of touch with domestic issues led to his defeat by Democrat Bill Clinton in the 1992 election.
After the White House, Bush was a respected elder statesman, receiving honors like the Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath, the Philadelphia Liberty Medal, and the Profile in Courage Award in 2014. He was the father of George W. Bush, the 43rd president, making them one of two father-son presidential pairs in U.S. history. George H. W. Bush died in Houston, Texas, on November 30, 2018, at the age of 94, survived by five children. His wife of 73 years, Barbara Bush, had died earlier that year.
Before Fame
George Herbert Walker Bush was born on June 12, 1924, in Milton, Massachusetts, to Prescott Bush, a Wall Street banker who later became a U.S. senator, and Dorothy Walker Bush. Raised in well-off Greenwich, Connecticut, he attended Greenwich Country Day School and then Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, where he did well in academics and sports, leading the baseball and soccer teams. His family's background in finance and public service gave him a strong sense of duty that influenced his life choices.
After the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, Bush put off his college plans and joined the Navy on his eighteenth birthday, becoming one of the youngest commissioned pilots. He flew 58 combat missions in the Pacific and survived being shot down over the Bonin Islands in 1944. After the war, he went to Yale University, where he studied economics, kept playing baseball, and joined the Skull and Bones society. He graduated in just two and a half years in 1948 and decided to create his own path in the Texas oil industry instead of depending on his family’s established connections in the Northeast.
Key Achievements
- Served as the 41st president of the United States from 1989 to 1993, overseeing the end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union
- Led an international coalition of 35 nations in Operation Desert Storm, successfully expelling Iraqi forces from Kuwait in 1991
- Signed the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, one of the most significant civil rights laws in U.S. history
- Negotiated the North American Free Trade Agreement, establishing a major trilateral trade bloc among the United States, Canada, and Mexico
- Earned the Distinguished Flying Cross for heroism as a naval aviator during World War II combat missions in the Pacific
Did You Know?
- 01.Bush was shot down by Japanese anti-aircraft fire on September 2, 1944, over the Pacific island of Chichi Jima, and was rescued by the submarine USS Finback after spending hours floating in the ocean on a life raft.
- 02.He was a left-handed first baseman who captained the Yale baseball team and played in the first two College World Series in 1947 and 1948.
- 03.Bush skydived to celebrate both his 75th and 80th birthdays, continuing a tradition he started after leaving office to mark overcoming his World War II parachute jump.
- 04.He received the Eric M. Warburg Award in 2002 and the Robert Schuman Medal in 2014, both recognizing his contributions to transatlantic relations and European unity.
- 05.Bush and his son George W. Bush are only the second father-son pair to both serve as U.S. president, the first being John Adams and John Quincy Adams.
Family & Personal Life
Awards & Honors
| Award | Year | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Distinguished Flying Cross | — | — |
| honorary citizen of Berlin | — | — |
| Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath | — | — |
| Eric M. Warburg Award | 2002 | — |
| Order of the White Lion | 1999 | — |
| Air Medal | — | — |
| Philadelphia Liberty Medal | — | — |
| Freedom Award | 2005 | — |
| Robert Schuman Medal | 2014 | — |
| Profile in Courage Award | 2014 | — |
| Ronald Reagan Freedom Award | — | — |
| Jubilee Medal "60 Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945" | — | — |
| Presidential Medal of Freedom | 2011 | — |
| Doublespeak Award | 1990 | — |
| Theodore Roosevelt Award | 1986 | — |
| World Golf Hall of Fame | — | — |
| American Campaign Medal | — | — |
| Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal | — | — |
| World War II Victory Medal | — | — |
| Ellis Island Medal of Honor | — | — |
| honorary doctor of the Bar-Ilan University | — | — |
| honorary doctor of the Ohio State University | — | — |
| Doublespeak Award | 1992 | — |
| honorary citizen of Kraków | 1994 | — |
| Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Merit | — | — |
| Grand Cross Special Class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany | 1993 | — |
| Honorary doctor at the Nanjing University | 1998 | — |
| honorary doctor of Harvard University | 2014 | — |
| Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland | — | — |
| Point Alpha Prize | 2005 | — |
| honorary doctor of the Hofstra University | — | — |
| Osgar | 2009 | — |
| Franz Josef Strauss Award | 1999 | — |
| honorary doctor of the University of Miami | 1998 | — |
| honorary citizen of Gdańsk | 1997 | — |
| Order pro Merito Melitensi | — | — |
| Order of the Bath | — | — |
| Order of the British Empire | — | — |
| Hungarian Order of Merit | — | — |
| Dostyk Order of grade I | — | — |
| Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana | — | — |
| Order of King Abdulaziz al Saud | — | — |
| Čestná medaile T. G. Masaryka | 1999 | — |
| Presidential Unit Citation | — | — |
| Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany | — | — |
| Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland | — | — |
| Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana, 1st Class | 2005 | — |