Happy Birthday Poppy
On June 12, 1924 (88 years ago today), George Herbert Walker Bush, the 41st President of the United States, was born in Milton, Massachusetts. His parents were Senator Prescott Bush and Dorothy Walker Bush.
Bush 41 is one of my favourites. The man is a world war two veteran who enlisted in the Navy on his 18th birthday (70 years ago today, when he was the youngest aviator in the Navy) and was a pilot whose plane was shot down by the Japanese. Film of his rescue by a US submarine exists and will form part of a documentary about the man, which will premiere on HBO this coming Thursday, June 14th, entitled 41. He was also the captain of and first baseman for the Yale baseball team which played in and lost the first two College World Series. He even got to meet his hero Babe Ruth in his senior year.
Graduating from Yale in 1948, Bush moved his family to West Texas and entered the oil business, becoming a millionaire by the age of 40. He became involved in politics soon after founding his own oil company. He served as a member of the House of Representatives from 1967 to 1971. Richard Nixon appointed him as Ambassador to the United Nations from 1971 to 1973 and from 1973 to 1974 he was the Chairman of the Republican National Committee (RNC). Initally Bush was very loyal to Nixon, when when clear evidence of Nixon's knowledge about the Watergate break-in was revealed, Bush asked Nixon to resign the Presidency. Nixon's successor Gerald Ford appointed Bush as Ambassador to China and later as Director of the Central Intelligence Acency (CIA).
Bush ran unsuccessfully for president in 1980. He was chosen by party nominee Ronald Reagan to be his running mate, despite having called Reagan's economic theory "voodoo economics" during the campaign. The Reagan-Bush ticket won the 1980 and 1984 elections.
In 1988, Bush launched a successful campaign to succeed Reagan as president, defeating Democratic opponent and Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis. (Remember Dukakis in the tank?) Foreign policy was central to the Bush presidency. Military operations were conducted in Panama and Buch was able to successfully garner a coalition of nations against Iraq in the First Gulf War. The Berlin Wall fell in 1989 and the Soviet Union dissolved two years later.
Domestically, Bush was forced to go back on a 1988 campaign promise ("read my lips, no new taxes") and after a losing battle with Congress, he signed a tax increase that Congress had passed. Despite enjoying an amazing approval rating of around 90% in February of 1991, Bush lost the 1992 presidential election to Democrat Bill Clinton. Clinton ran a masterful campaign, convincing voters to overlook his personal marital infidelity and focus instead upon "the economy stupid."
Bush is the father of George W. Bush, the 43rd President of the United States, and Jeb Bush, former Governor of Florida. He will almost certainly be the last president to have been a World War II veteran. Until the election of his son George W. Bush to the presidency in 2000, Bush was commonly referred to simply as "George Bush", but since that time, many people refer to him as "George H. W. Bush", "Bush 41", "Bush the Elder", or "George Bush, Sr." to distinguish father from son.
The man has had a productive retirement which included teaming with his fellow ex-President Clinton to raise funds for tsunami relief, and skydiving to celebrate his 75th, 80th and 85th birthdays. (How can you not like a sky-diving octogenarian?)
Following is a you tube video of the trailer for the HBO documetary 41 which premieres this coming Thursday:
HBO plans to hold it's premiere screening for the film at Kennebunkport, Maine, where Bush now resides. The screening will take place under a tent on the grounds of St. Ann’s Church, where Bush landed with his parachute in 2009. A clambake for friends and family will follow. My invitation must have gotten lost in the mail.
Bush 41 is one of my favourites. The man is a world war two veteran who enlisted in the Navy on his 18th birthday (70 years ago today, when he was the youngest aviator in the Navy) and was a pilot whose plane was shot down by the Japanese. Film of his rescue by a US submarine exists and will form part of a documentary about the man, which will premiere on HBO this coming Thursday, June 14th, entitled 41. He was also the captain of and first baseman for the Yale baseball team which played in and lost the first two College World Series. He even got to meet his hero Babe Ruth in his senior year.
Graduating from Yale in 1948, Bush moved his family to West Texas and entered the oil business, becoming a millionaire by the age of 40. He became involved in politics soon after founding his own oil company. He served as a member of the House of Representatives from 1967 to 1971. Richard Nixon appointed him as Ambassador to the United Nations from 1971 to 1973 and from 1973 to 1974 he was the Chairman of the Republican National Committee (RNC). Initally Bush was very loyal to Nixon, when when clear evidence of Nixon's knowledge about the Watergate break-in was revealed, Bush asked Nixon to resign the Presidency. Nixon's successor Gerald Ford appointed Bush as Ambassador to China and later as Director of the Central Intelligence Acency (CIA).
Bush ran unsuccessfully for president in 1980. He was chosen by party nominee Ronald Reagan to be his running mate, despite having called Reagan's economic theory "voodoo economics" during the campaign. The Reagan-Bush ticket won the 1980 and 1984 elections.
In 1988, Bush launched a successful campaign to succeed Reagan as president, defeating Democratic opponent and Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis. (Remember Dukakis in the tank?) Foreign policy was central to the Bush presidency. Military operations were conducted in Panama and Buch was able to successfully garner a coalition of nations against Iraq in the First Gulf War. The Berlin Wall fell in 1989 and the Soviet Union dissolved two years later.
Domestically, Bush was forced to go back on a 1988 campaign promise ("read my lips, no new taxes") and after a losing battle with Congress, he signed a tax increase that Congress had passed. Despite enjoying an amazing approval rating of around 90% in February of 1991, Bush lost the 1992 presidential election to Democrat Bill Clinton. Clinton ran a masterful campaign, convincing voters to overlook his personal marital infidelity and focus instead upon "the economy stupid."
Bush is the father of George W. Bush, the 43rd President of the United States, and Jeb Bush, former Governor of Florida. He will almost certainly be the last president to have been a World War II veteran. Until the election of his son George W. Bush to the presidency in 2000, Bush was commonly referred to simply as "George Bush", but since that time, many people refer to him as "George H. W. Bush", "Bush 41", "Bush the Elder", or "George Bush, Sr." to distinguish father from son.
The man has had a productive retirement which included teaming with his fellow ex-President Clinton to raise funds for tsunami relief, and skydiving to celebrate his 75th, 80th and 85th birthdays. (How can you not like a sky-diving octogenarian?)
Following is a you tube video of the trailer for the HBO documetary 41 which premieres this coming Thursday:
HBO plans to hold it's premiere screening for the film at Kennebunkport, Maine, where Bush now resides. The screening will take place under a tent on the grounds of St. Ann’s Church, where Bush landed with his parachute in 2009. A clambake for friends and family will follow. My invitation must have gotten lost in the mail.