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 eorge
Herbert Walker Bush was born on June 12, 1924 in Milton,
Massachusetts. His father Prescott Sheldon Bush was a bank
manager who was elected senator in 1952. His mother is
Dorothy Walker Bush. George Bush grew up in a family
atmosphere with his three brothers and his sister at
Greenwich, Connecticut, a suburb of New York, before
studying in one of the best private boarding schools of
the country. When George Bush received his degree from the
Phillips Academy of Andover, Massachusetts, he was already
admitted at Yale, but the United States entered into the
Second World War. George Bush joined the Navy and at the
age of eighteen and became the youngest naval pilot (from
1942 to 1945). Thus according all evidence, he was the
last President of the United States to have fought during
the Second World War. In September 2, 1944, during his
58th mission, his aircraft was shot down by the enemy over
Chichi Jima island. Fours hours later, he was rescued in
the middle of the Pacific Ocean by the crew of the U.S.S.
Finback,
an American submarine, to whom he owes his life. He was
decorated with the Distinguished Flying Cross and sent
back home. A few months before the end of World War Two he
married Barbara Pierce of Rye (New York) on January 6,
1945. He entered Yale and outshone in both at academics
and Baseball. When he left in 1948, George Bush moved from
New England to Midland, Texas, after having refused a post
in his father's company. At Texas, he worked for Dresser
Industries. The old family silver he had served him to
create an oil company named Zapata in 1954, which made him
rich. In 1959, he settled down in Houston.
Mr. and Mrs. Bush
had six children. They are George, Robin (who died of
leukemia in 1953), John, Neil, Marvin and Dorothy. Fortune
and family well settled, "Poppy" (Bush's nickname) turned,
like his father, toward politics within the ranks of the
Republican party which was almost nonexistent in the
South. In 1964, he became the President of the Republican
party in Harris and the same year, he campaigned for the
Senate but without success. After his initial failure, he
tried again in 1966 at the House of Representatives in the
7th district of Houston. He was elected and re-elected in
1968 and convinced his friend Baker to join the Republican
party. James Baker turned out to be an outstanding
campaign organizer when George Bush was aiming to get into
the Senate in 1970. It was a failure, but the beginning of
a long and lasting friendship. During this time, he had no
elective function. President Richard Nixon helped him out.
From 1971 to 1973, he was made the Permanent
Representative of the United Nations. Then, from 1972
until 1973, he was the President of the Republican party
and from 1974 to 1975, he was Ambassador to Beijing
(China). At last, from 1976 to 1977, he was the director
of the C.I.A. When in 1976 Jimmy Carter became the
President of the United States, George Bush retired,
temporarily, from political life.
 With
this exceptional career which defended his cause, his
personal fortune acquired in Texas and his origins from
New England, he could aspire to become the President of
the United States. Thus, he stood for the primary
elections for the Republican party in 1980 against Ronald
Reagan. He considered him as an old reactionary. James
Baker came just in the time to inform George Bush that
Reagan was very popular and was going to get the
nomination of the party. So Bush immediately joined with
the "Great Communicator". Without holding a grudge, Reagan
made him his fellow candidate. This choice surprised a lot
of Republicans, because Bush and Reagan were from the
opposite wings of the party. George Bush was thus the Vice
President for the next years (the mandate was re-elected
in 1984). Between 1980 and 1988, he visited about fifteen
nations as Reagan's representative. He directed a fight
against terrorism and tried to stop drug smuggling in the
south of Florida. He took over as President for a short
period when Reagan was shot in March 1981 and also during
a surgical intervention necessitating the use of
anesthesia.
Bush took part in
the Republican primaries again in 1988. In particular, he
won against Robert Dole. He chose James Danforth Quayle as
his running mate and on November 8, 1988 he defeated the
democratic candidate Michael Dukakis (54% of the popular
vote - 426 voices of the electoral vote, against 46% - 111
voices). He is the 1st Vice-President since Martin Van
Buren in 1836 to directly attain the Oval office. However,
the Democrats managed to keep a comfortable lead in both
Houses.
As a moderate
conservative, George Bush did not mark a big rupture in
politics led by Ronald Reagan. In his domestic policy, he
had to go back on his electoral promises (e.g. the famous
« Read my lips... no new taxes ») due to a growing
budgetary deficit.
 His
favorite domain was external politics. Bush's presidency
had been marked by great upheavals in international
politics. The fall of communism in Eastern Europe and in
the USSR gave the United States an unique role as a world
superpower. George Bush also negotiated various
disarmament treaties with the Soviet Union (START I and
II) respectively signed in 1991 and 1993. In December
1989, he launched a brief American intervention in Panama
in order to stop its leader; General Manuel Antonio
Noriega involved in diverse drug traffics and threatening
the Panama canal. In August 1990, when Iraq decided to
invade Kuwait, George Bush sent American military
contingent to Saudi Arabia to protect it from all Iraqi
intimidation. He also assembled the biggest coalition of
countries against Iraq consisting about 500,000 soldiers.
After Saddam Hussein refused to withdraw its troops from
Kuwait, President Bush launched the military action called
Desert storm during the night of 16th and 17th January
1991, resulting in the Iraqi withdrawal and independence
of Kuwait. Last of all, George Bush totally accepted the
idea of German reunification in 1990.
 Despite
great popularity after the Gulf war (91% of favorable
opinion), the economical crisis caught up with George Bush
and he was defeated by Governor Bill Clinton in November
1992 during the presidential election.
Since his
departure from the White House, Bush rarely criticized his
successor. Today, two of his sons are in politics: George
Walker, 43rd President of the United States and Jeb,
Governor of Florida, the Sunshine State. George Bush is
living in Houston, Texas, where he can take advantage of a
peaceful and quiet private life.
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