| Bio |

Who they were

George Herbert Walker Bush was born on 12 June 1924 in Milton, Massachusetts^[4]. His parents, Prescott Sheldon Bush and Dorothy Walker Bush, moved the family to Greenwich, Connecticut^[1]. His father, Prescott, served as a senator from Connecticut^[5]. Bush attended Phillips Academy Andover, a boarding school in Massachusetts, from 1937 to 1941^[4]. He was commissioned a Navy ensign in June 1942, at the age of eighteen^[4]. On 2 September 1944 his plane was hit by Japanese fire during a mission to bomb a radio installation on Chichi Jima, and he bailed out over the sea^[1][6]. The submarine USS Finback, on lifeguard duty, picked him up^[6]. His two crewmen, John Delaney and Ted White, were lost^[6].

Bush married Barbara Pierce on 6 January 1945, while he was still in the Navy^[4][1]. After Yale University, where he studied economics, he worked in Texas as an oil field supply salesman from 1948^[4]. In 1951 he formed an oil development company in Midland, and in 1953 he co-founded Zapata Petroleum^[4]. He was elected to the US House of Representatives for Texas's 7th district in November 1966^[4]. He later served as US ambassador to the United Nations from 1971, chairman of the Republican National Committee from 1973, and chief of the US Liaison Office in Peking, China, from 1974^[4]. In January 1976 he was sworn in as Director of Central Intelligence^[7], and he held the post until January 1977^[7].

Reagan and Bush won their election, and Bush served as vice president, appearing among the dignitaries addressed at Reagan's inauguration^[1][8]. In 1988 the Bush-Quayle ticket won with 53 percent of the vote and 426 electoral votes^[9]. Bush took the oath of office on 20 January 1989, on the same Bible George Washington used in 1789^[8]. The Berlin Wall fell on 9 November 1989, and the two German states were formally reunited on 3 October 1990^[2]. In July 1990 Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act, which forbids discrimination in employment, public accommodations and transportation^[2][10]. In his State of the Union address of 29 January 1991, he said twelve United Nations resolutions on Iraq's invasion of Kuwait were backed by forces from 28 countries^[3][3]. Operation Desert Storm began on 17 January 1991, and Bush called off the ground offensive on 27 February^[2].

Bush lost the 1992 election to Bill Clinton. Clinton took 43 percent of the popular vote to Bush's 38 percent, and Perot took 19 percent^[9]. Clinton won 370 electoral votes to Bush's 168^[9]. The Miller Center says voters, concerned about the economy, voted for change^[5]. Barbara Bush died on 17 April 2018, after 73 years of marriage^[11]. George H. W. Bush died in Houston on 30 November 2018, aged 94^[11]. He lay in state at the US Capitol for two days, followed by a state funeral at the National Cathedral^[11]. He is buried beside Barbara and their daughter Robin at his presidential library in College Station, Texas^[11].

Two of Bush's sons held high office. George W. Bush was governor of Texas from 1995 to 2000, and Jeb Bush was governor of Florida from 1999 to 2007^[11]. When George W. was elected President in 2000, the Bushes became the first father and son to be elected President since John Quincy Adams was elected in 1824^[11]. The Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 aimed to reduce urban smog, curb acid rain and eliminate industrial emissions of toxic chemicals^[10]. In his State of the Union address of 28 January 1992, Bush said that, by the grace of God, America won the Cold War^[3]. The Soviet Union was dissolved on 31 December 1991^[2].

Bush was an energetic, competitive sportsman, and he always enjoyed a game of horseshoes^[12]. He had horseshoe courts built at both the White House and Camp David^[12]. The Miller Center describes him as very loyal and known for his ability to connect with people on a personal level^[12]. His second child, Robin, died of leukaemia in 1953, when she was four years old^[12].

| Legacy & Reputation |

What’s the verdict?