George Bush, senior, had all the advantages that birth,
education and wealth could bring. He had a fine war record and solid
achievements in the public service. Somehow he failed to “click” with the
American public; he seemed disengaged and lacking in passion. He only served
one term as President and although his years in office were respectable and in
momentous times, he curiously did not leave much of a personal mark on American
history.
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| President George Bush, senior |
George H.W, Bush
(1924- ) was born into a political dynasty. His grandfather Sam was a prominent
industrialist and held government appointments while his father, Prescott Bush,
was a senator for Connecticut and an affluent Wall Street banker. Educated at
top-notch Phillips Academy, Andover, Mass. and accepted by Yale, Bush enlisted
in the Navy after Pearl Harbor and became the Navy’s youngest aviator aged 19
in 1943.
He was assigned to a torpedo squadron on the carrier San Jacinto, seeing plenty of action.
With his lanky physique he was nick-named “Skin” He was shot down by Japanese
AA guns in 1944 and had to ditch, later being rescued. He flew numerous combat
sorties and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.
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| Pilot George "Skin" Bush |
On being discharged in 1945, Bush began his studies at Yale
and married Barbara Pierce, a distant descendant of mid-19th century
President Franklin Pierce. Bush and Barbara had 6 children of whom 5 survived
into adulthood. Barbara with her distinctive white mop of hair became the
cherished family matriarch, and a political asset too with her vigorous
campaigning for literacy for the disadvantaged.
 |
| First Lady Barbara Bush |
Bush had a successful Yale career (he was baseball team
captain) but moved south with his family to Houston in West Texas to learn the
oil business. His father’s connections assisted him to get a job with an industry leader subsidiary of Brown Brothers Harriman and in due course Bush branched out
to co-found Zapata Petroleum later involved in offshore drilling. By the early
1960s Bush had become a millionaire in his own right. He then developed his
political ambitions.
Bush was a relatively moderate “country club” Texas
Republican. He rejected the wilder policies of the then influential John Birch
Society and was not a segregationist; he was solidly anti-communist, supported
capital punishment and opposed abortion. He set his sights high running for the
US Senate in Texas in 1964 but he lost in the Goldwater debacle. He became a
useful Representative in the House from 1966-70 and then resigned to fight the
Texas senate seat again as a Nixon loyalist, but again he lost. Nixon appointed
Bush UN Ambassador in 1971 where he performed well.
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| Bush as US Ambassador to the United Nations |
On Nixon’s downfall Ford appointed Bush Head of the Liaison
Office to China (in effect US Ambassador) for 14 months to be followed by a
year as Director of the CIA, then mired in scandal for past abuses. He resigned
on Carter’s accession in 1977. These were high offices but Bush did not
particularly shine: his inability to win elections suggested he did not easily
connect with ordinary people and really belonged to the supporting echelon.
From 1977, Bush had two years in academia which he much enjoyed.
He ran against Reagan in Republican primaries in 1980 and, although he won the
crucial Iowa caucuses, he soon faded and dropped out of the race. His political
career seemed to have ended but then Reagan chose him as his vice-presidential
running mate and they romped to victory over Carter.
 |
| Ronnie Reagan and George Bush |
Reagan had not been close to Bush (earlier he had described
Reaganomics as “voodoo” economics) but when Reagan escaped assassination in
1981, Bush behaved with due dignity which Reagan appreciated and thereafter
they lunched together every week. Bush was an exemplary and typical
vice-president, presiding at the Senate, chairing various committees and
undertaking ceremonial duties. He was not at the centre of events and he had
none of the charisma of Reagan. Together they brushed away the 1984 challenge of
Walter Mondale though Bush got worsted in a TV debate with feisty Geraldine
Ferraro, the first woman to be nominated to a Presidential ticket.
At the end of the Reagan second term, the Republicans
decided to nominate Bush for election; he chose as his running mate gaffe-prone
Dan Quayle There was a tough fight with Democratic candidates Dukakis and
Bentsen but Bush won comfortably enough, despite Ross Perot’s candidacy, on the
coat-tails of much-loved Ronald Reagan.
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| Bush and Quayle acclaimed by the Republican Convention in 1988 |
Bush was in many ways ill-equipped to be President. He was
seen as over-privileged and “preppy” and his enemies unfairly called him ”a
wimp”- his lop-sided smile perhaps did not help . He had not held senior
elective office other than indirectly as Vice-president. He had never been a
Senator or Governor. He was interested in foreign affairs but his grip on
domestic and economic policies was shaky. Worst of all the suspicion deepened
that he was ideologically hollow; he had condemned himself out of his own mouth,
when an aide recommended a public speaking makeover, he had airily talked of
“Oh, the Vision thing” a phrase which stuck with him. Bush was sadly deficient
in inspirational and leadership qualities.
Yet as an experienced business-man and chairman Bush got
through a heavy agenda. In 1989 he authorised US military intervention in
Panama overthrowing corrupt dictator Noriega. In the same year the Berlin Wall
fell and with it the communist regimes of Eastern Europe; the credit went to
Reagan and Thatcher but Bush was no obstacle to this happy course of events.
Then in 1990 Saddam Hussein was held to account by an American-led army for his
seizure of Kuwait. Operation Desert Storm, expelling the Iraqi invaders in
1991, was a triumph for American arms under General “Stormin’ Norman”
Schwarzkopf, reporting to Bush. Mikhail Gorbachev just had time in 1991 to sign
the SALT II disarmament Treaty with Bush before the USSR itself disintegrated.
All this was very positive for Bush.
But at home Bush did less well. In his Convention acceptance
speech in 1988 he had famously declared “Watch my lips, no new taxes”. In the
event, faced with a Democratic Congress and a rising deficit he struck a budget
deal in 1990, raising several taxes. Many Republicans felt betrayed and never
forgave Bush. The US was in recession, unhelpful to the President’s cause, and
his advocacy of “a thousand points of light” espousing community co-operation
was well-meaning but not compelling. He was not able to stem the Clinton
bandwagon which defeated him in 1992.
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| George Bush with son G W Bush |
Bush is now 90 and since 2011 has been confined to a wheelchair
with a form of Parkinson’s. However he still managed to do a parachute jump
recently as he has done every 5 years since 2004. He must take paternal
pleasure in the success of his sons George W (two-term President from 2001) and
Jeb (Governor of Florida 1999-2007). George Bush senior’s Presidency was
essentially a postscript on the Reagan era and he never advanced beyond the
second rank of US Presidents.
SMD
5.11.14
Text Copyright © Sidney Donald 2014
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