On his 18th birthday, Bush committed himself to the Armed Forces and served as a Navy pilot, flying 58 combat missions. During World War II, while he was on a mission over the Pacific Ocean, Bush’s plane was shot down by Japanese anti-aircraft fire. However, he was still able to complete his bombing run before parachuting into the sea, where he was rescued by a submarine. For this bravery, he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.
After returning from war, building a family, graduating from Yale, and succeeding greatly in the oil industry in Texas, Bush developed an interest in serving politically. In 1964, Bush ran for the US Senate seat from Texas, but lost in the general election. He then served two terms in the House before another failed attempt to gain a Senate seat. In 1971, Nixon appointed Bush to be the ambassador to the UN and in 1973, Bush moved to being the chairman of the Republican party. As chairman, Bush pushed for Nixon to resign after the Watergate scandal. In 1974, Ford appointed Bush as Chief of the US Liaison Office in China and in 1976, he served as the director of the CIA.
After two terms as vice president under Ronald Reagan, Bush ran for president and won against Dukakis in a 426-111 electoral vote landslide. During his presidency, Bush was extremely skilled in handling US foreign policy. As the Soviet Union fell, rather than pushing US ideals, Bush took a softer approach. He improved relations and signed the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty with Gorbachev to reduce the nuclear threat. When Kuwait was invaded, Bush pushed for US and UN intervention, which resulted in the successful run of Desert Storm. The US also overthrew corrupt dictator Manuel Noriega’s regime in Panama. However, Bush failed to aid the economy. During his run, he emphasized that there would be no new taxes, but ended up agreeing with Congress on a plan which would include new taxes. This, in addition to lack of progress elsewhere in terms of domestic programs, caused voters to turn against him and vote in Bill Clinton during the next election.
George H.W. Bush came into the White House with many qualifications and certainly succeeded in many aspects of his presidency. However, his lack of focus on the home front lost public support and his campaign promises ended up coming back to bite him.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-house/presidents/george-h-w-bush/
https://www.biography.com/people/george-hw-bush-38066
https://www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/george-bush
I found your post really interesting and I was able to learn more about President George H. W. Bush. I found it really fascinating how everything he did for the country was eclipsed by everything bad that happened. What many people do not realize is that his actions actually helped our nation in the long run and the Clinton Boom was impacted greatly by the policies he put in place. Without Bush's policies, the Clinton presidency would be very different. However, many people do not recognize this and his Bush's presidency is remembered for its flaws and not its strong points.
ReplyDeleteSOURCE : http://www.aei.org/publication/how-reagan-and-bush-i-helped-give-us-the-1990s-clinton-boom/
I think that this post was very interesting. One especially interesting thing about George HW Bush was the way that he handled his campaign during elections. Against Dukakis, he was able to be more strategic in taking down his opponent through usage of tools like the Willie Horton Ads. However, against Clinton, due to the death of Atwater, he was not able to be as strategic. This just shows how the campaign staff of a candidate really affects the election result.
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Worksheet – “George H.W. Bush”