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George H. W. Bush's Death
- George H. W. Bush
- Politics
- June 12, 1924
- November 30, 2018
- Vascular Parkinsonism
The life and death of George H. W. Bush:
When you think about it, he easily had one of the most impressive resumes of any President in American history. Just look at the list of accomplishments of George Herbert Walker Bush.
- 41st President of the United States
- 43rd Vice President of the United States
- 11th Director of Central Intelligence
- Chief of the U.S. Liaison Office to the People's Republic of China
- 49th Chairman of the Republican National Committee
- 10th United States Ambassador to the United Nations
- Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from the 7th district in Texas
- Naval Aviator / World War II
He had a great start in life and certainly made the most of it. George Herbert Walker Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts.
He was the son of Dorothy Walker Bush and Prescott Sheldon Bush. His paternal grandfather was a steel company president during World War I. George was named after his mother's father, George Herbert Walker, who among his accomplishments as an investment banker, lent his name to golf’s Walker Cup.
George’s father Prescott Bush was not only US Senator but also worked for many years as an investment banker.
Prescott wanted George to follow in his Wall Street footsteps, but George had ideas of his own.
George attended the Greenwich Country Day School in Greenwich, Connecticut and then in 1938 attended Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, where he was very active as a member of the student body.
One World War 2 began in December 1941, Bush enlisted in the Navy after graduating from Phillips Academy and became a naval aviator. He was the youngest in that category to that date.
In 1944, he was promoted to junior grade lieutenant and on a September mission we shot down but managed to complete his attack by releasing bombs before bailing out. He waited for hours on an inflated draft and was rescued.
While he was still in the Navy, he married Barbara Pierce in Rye, New York.
Barbara Bush was raised in a publishing family; her father headed the company that put out McCall’s magazine. George and Barbara had 6 children together: George, Robin, Jeb, Neil, Marvin and Doro.
The kids included a future two term President and the future governor of Florida. However, one of the deepest, heartfelt losses in George H. W.’s life happened when his 3-year old-daughter Robin died.
After leaving the military, Bush enrolled at Yale University and earned an undergraduate’s degree in economics. He was also captain of the baseball team and played in the first 2 College World Series as a first baseman.
He’s pictured here with baseball legend Babe Ruth.
After graduating, Bush went his own way, but his father's business connections proved useful as young George entered the oil business as a field equipment salesman. He and his growing family lived in various places in Texas and California.
In 1953, he started a business co-founding the Zapata Petroleum Corporation and a year later he was named its president. By the time he was elected to Congress in 1966 Bush was a millionaire.
He started his political career in 1963 as chairman of the Harris County Texas Republican Party and a year later he ran against Ralph Yarborough for the U. S. Senate. He lost that election and years later for failed in another try at the Senate to Lloyd Bentsen.
However, Bush had a stint as U.N. ambassador for President Richard Nixon and became chairman of the Republican National Committee when Nixon became embroiled in the Watergate scandal.
Nixon's successor Gerald Ford made Bush an envoy to China and when that job ended in 1975 a year later Ford asked George to return to Washington as director of the Central Intelligence Agency.
Bush ran for president in 1980 but could not defeat Ronald Reagan for the Republican nomination. But Reagan made him his running mate and Bush served as vice president of the United States from 1981 to 1989.
Bush stood in for Reagan after Reagan was shot early in his first term. And when Reagan’s second term ended Bush ran for President again in 1988 and defeated Democrat Michael Dukakis.
During his time in the White House, Bush saw the fall of the Berlin Wall, the implosion of the Soviet Union and signed the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990. He was also instrumental in pushing programs supporting education and devoted a lot of attention to voluntary service with his “1000 Points of Light” theme.
His presidential approval ratings were high until he vowed to not raise taxes…
…and then broke his promise and torpedoed his 1992 bid for reelection to Bill Clinton. Ironically Bush and Clinton developed a very close friendship and working relationship after that.
Bush returned to the White House in a special way in 2000 when his son George W Bush was elected president of the United States.
They were the first and only father-son team to serve as President since John Adams and John Quincy Adams.
George’s son Jeb also was a successful politician serving as governor of Florida, but Jeb failed in his bid for the presidency in his primary race against Donald Trump in 2016
George HW Bush suffered from a form of Parkinson's disease but that didn’t stop him from taking part of his hobby of skydiving -- at age 90.
When Americans think the political dynasties, the Kennedys, Roosevelts and Adamses come to mind. But don’t forget the Bush family. As seen here, from left to right: Senator from Connecticut 2 Presidents, and Governor of Florida.
George H. W. Bush died at the age of 94 at his home in Houston.
He passed eight months after his wife of 73 years, Barbara, died. Theirs was the longest presidential marriage in American history. Tributes and condolences poured in from around the country and Bush would lie in state in the US Capitol rotunda and the financial markets would close as a show of respect.
The George H.W. Bush Presidential Library sits on the West campus of Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas
