BIOGRAPHY
George Herbert Walker Bush was born in Milton. Massachusetts on
the 12th day of June 1924. Before joining politics he worked as a Texas
businessman who made a fortune drilling for oil. George Herbert Walker Bush was
very good at using other people’s money to make wealth for himself and
finally a successful career in politics.
George Herbert Walker Bush belonged to a family which had always been in the
service of the people and for this reason he felt it was his duty to stand by
the nation in times of war or peace.
He joined the Navy when the war broke out and at 18 years of age became the Navy’s
youngest pilot to have served from 1942 to 1945. He was also awarded the
Distinguished Flying Cross for bravery during World War II. Once on a mission
over the Pacific he was shot down by a Japanese anti-aircraft fire but was
rescued from the sea by a U. S. submarine.
Following the foot steps of his father, George too had interest in politics as
well as public service. He served for two terms from Texas as a Representative
of the Congress in the 1960’s. His run for the Senate did not turn
fruitful twice. President Nixon appointed him U.S. delegate to the United
Nations and he later became Republican National Committee chairman.
After Bush's second race for the Senate, before becoming the Director General of
Central Intelligence he headed the U.S. liaison office in Beijing. In 1980
President Ronald Reagan made Bush his running mate. Being the Vice President he
had responsibilities in various domestic areas like Anti-drug programs and
Federal deregulation. He also visited many countries outside U.S.
In 1988 when Bush won the race for the Republican nomination for President he
made Senator Dan Quayle of Indiana his Vice President and defeated Michael
Dukakis, the Governor of Massachusetts in the general
election... “Read my lips. No new taxes.” this
was the promise that was made by George Bush in 1988 during the campaign which
was never fulfilled.
In his first year after taking over, Bush faced the Lebanese hostage crisis, the
oil vessel Exxon Valdez spilled in Alaska, and the war against drug
trafficking never seemed to end. President Bush also sent American troops
into Panama so that they could overthrow General Manuel Noriega who was a threat
to the security of the canal as well as the Americans living there.
When Iraqi President Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait in Aug 1990 and then
threatened to enter Saudi Arabia it came as a great test for Bush. So with the
vow to free Kuwait, the President formed a coalition with Japan, some Arab
states as well as Western democracies. The Coalition forces defeated Iraq as
Bush had sent 425,000 American troops. There were about 118,000 troops which
joined them and belonged to other allied nations. Iraq’s million man army
were all killed in the 100 hour land battle which got the name of Desert Storm
after weeks of air and missile bombardment. Even after the war Iraqi president
Saddam Hussein remained in power and continuously avoided agreeing to terms and
conditions relating to the peace treaty.
A major accomplishment that the President made in 1991 was the Strategic Arms
Reduction Treaty (START), which was signed in July with Mikhail S. Gorbachev,
the President of Soviet Union at the fourth summit conference, which marked the
end of the long weapons buildup.
Though Bush was very popular for his military as well as diplomatic relations he
could not satisfy the discontent among his country men at home which arose due
to the faltering deficit in the economy. Finally in the Presidential Elections
held in 1992 Bush was defeated by the Governor of Arkansas Bill Clinton.
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