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I was proud to have served in the military during elder Bush's tenure as President. He was a principled man, a kind man, but a man of incredible resolve and sense of purpose. Not one us felt we were being asked to do something during the Gulf War that went astray from our principles.
He was one of the last of our Greatest Generation. Those men were my role models. My father-in-law served as a Cpt. in WW2 in the South Pacific theater, went on to a great career in academia on the forefront of computing and mathematics, and continued his service during this time with a high clearance in the NSA and other think-tanks.
I harbor no ill will toward Daddy Bush and I actually have a lot of respect for his quite Yankee type of life and world-view. However, this is the political forum and I think a brief review of his record is meaningful. I was there (in business, raising kids, etc.) through this period. I took some time to cruise some sites which lay out his record and added my own knowledge to that. None of the sources are/were partisan. Some of these issues and actions were positive - others need to be weighed in the longer view of history.
My take - I'd like to hear others............................
Selecting George H. Bush as his Vice-President was the worst decision that Ronald Reagan made.
As you mentioned the S&L bailout started us down the path that brought us to 2008 and the economic disaster. Don't forget the S&L crises started in Texas, so George made sure his friends came out ok.
And that in a nutshell is what George H. Bush was about...taking care of his friends.
He in the early 1990's could have made the world a safer better place, but instead chose to protect his friends the Saudis.
It was ALL about oil in the early 1990's. That is the reason that Bush invaded Kuwaitt.
However, in the same period the Communist government finally fell in the Russia and the occupied territories. Russia, even at that time was the second largest producer of oil in the world.
Bush could have announced a Marshall Plan for Russia, thereby, creating a American ally for generations AND a reliable supply of oil for the US. Instead he chose to support his friends the Saudis. Even went to war so that they would be protected from Hussain. He chose to protect his friends the Saudis, over American long-term interests.
Think about the world today if Russia were part of the western alliance. Reagan was turning to help Russia in their transition from Communism. Bush walked away from all that....and as a result we have Putin and a world power that doesn't trust us.
Granted Clinton, Bush, and Obama all failed to right that ship in subsequent years. In fact, they just continued the miserable, failed policies of GHB in both foreign and domestic policy. History will just that crew harshly.
BUT it all started with George Herbert Walker Bush.
I harbor no ill will toward Daddy Bush and I actually have a lot of respect for his quite Yankee type of life and world-view. However, this is the political forum and I think a brief review of his record is meaningful. I was there (in business, raising kids, etc.) through this period. I took some time to cruise some sites which lay out his record and added my own knowledge to that. None of the sources are/were partisan. Some of these issues and actions were positive - others need to be weighed in the longer view of history.
My take - I'd like to hear others.
Introduction- Daddy Bush (I am using that shorthand to make it clear which GW we are talking about) was a one-term POTUS at a time when two terms would have seemed a sure thing. He was Reagans VP and took over after Reagan and a wartime POTUS (Gulf War). This would have seemed to make a LOCK on re-election. Yet he lost the bid. That's probably a story in itself, but here are/were the major issues and some of my comments.
1. Gulf War - the Gulf War probably defined Bush with most Americans at the time. A clear victory - of a large battle. The problem here is that it WAS only a battle in a continuous war in the ME and as we have seen, it didn't solve a thing.
Being a general pacifist (except when truly needed), I would say that it emboldened American military planners and perhaps fed the tendency to get into the wars we currently are in. Those of my generation thought perhaps we had learned the lessons of Vietnam and Korea, but this provided a "we can win easily" event that emboldened neo-cons and other hawks.
2. S&L Bailout - this was a very big deal and I think many Americans don't know about the crisis and the effect on the American people. Real Estate was mired in debt in a similar fashion to the Great Recession (smaller, but still nationwide and kept the priced down for 8 years).
The Government bailed out banks to the tune of 100 Billion. I don't think this was "lent" money like the last Recession, but rather free money...including over a Billion to a bank that Bush's son was director of (Silverado).
3. ADA - the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act was considered as one of his key accomplishments. However, he was not the point person for this issue - just the POTUS who happened to be sitting there when the bill made it to his desk. Orin Hatch (R) of Utah and Ted Kennedy (D) of MA. were the two people most responsible for the ADA. We can state that Bush didn't veto it, but why would he when it made it through years of negotiation and both houses?
Still, it was a truly great example of Government working "For the People" and has made a vast difference for tens of millions of people.
Strangely enough, those are about it when looking at the record....and maybe why he didn't get re-upped.
He lost re-election for these reasons (IMHO).....
1. He had a bad VP (Quayle) that most people would not have trusted being a heartbeat away.
2. "No new taxes" - Conservatives held him to this statement that he made, despite the need for new taxes. Bush did the right thing but doing the right thing doesn't turn out well if people want you to do the wrong thing.
3. Triple Threat - The election of Clinton was a three way race with Perot in the deal. I was a Perot voter myself (and I am extremely liberal). It wasn't because Perot had those charts about NAFTA and the deficit and jobs....but rather that I think this was the beginning of many Americans knowing that things were not right in River City (our country). As mentioned above, there was a pretty bad economic hit (recession) from the S&L Crisis, so when the war cheerleading ended people found themselves not prospering.
This is just a guess, but my assumption is that Bush would have won re-election in a two-way race and with a better VP. But not by a wide margin.
His rating in history is so-so. Not bad, not good. That is probably where he should stand because he kept the basic helm in the direction that he found it. However, other than signing the ADA, he did not achieve forward progress in the country to any meaningful extent.
That's my take.
He was a product of his times and upbringing and a "institutional republican", which is often derided today by his own party voters. So be it, that's who he was.
On a more personal level, he seemed a good man. It's hard to put the "blue blood" label on a dude who was shot down in WWII. Obviously he knew a lot more about the world than most.
One BIG event that sunk him in the eyes of many Americans was that he didn't know what a Supermarket Checkout scanner was! This reinforced the "out of touch" (billionaire in bubble) thing for many working Americans. It was a famous scene......
Excuse the Romney WaWa moments.....in the vid. I think WaWa is amazing too! Who would have ever thought you could completely computerize custom sandwich ordering in the 1990s?
Bush is in the video also - the clip I am referring to.
The fact that this is a political forum has no bearing on propriety. And, yes, some are salivating and just can't wait to criticize GHWB...excuse me....your reverent title of. "Daddy Bush."
And your "BIG" event wasn't so big. But, hey, why not try everything not quite 3 days after the man died.
Bush 41 lost due to the recession. He looked unbeatable after Desert Storm, but then the economy turned downward and Ross Perot jumped into the picture, with his strong opposition to NAFTA.
Selecting George H. Bush as his Vice-President was the worst decision that Ronald Reagan made......
IMO, Reagan's hand was forced on that one. The "establishment" clearly wanted Bush to win the nomination, but GHB had little personality and stood no chance against Reagan. Disaffected Carter voters would gladly vote for Reagan but not Bush.
So while they could do nothing to stop Reagan from winning the nomination, they could certainly put conditions on their support (financial and otherwise) against running the general against Carter. Let's keep in mind that polling had Carter winning, and Reagan wasn't experienced at national politics. Bush as VP was that price.
It's been long since rumored that the Reagan family could not stand the Bush family starting with Nancy. Did they send a representative to the Bush funeral?
Well no matter. It's clear that Bush won in 1988 in part due to the fact that people thought they were voting for a 3rd Reagan term. And the Democrats nominated the hapless Dukakas was a gift. Of course he turned into a one term President because of the recession and that huge goof of going to a grocery store, and having no idea that UPC scanners were a thing by then.
I'm not a huge fan of 41, but I agree with the quoted comment. I think that HE did what HE believed was the right thing, and for that, I give him credit and honor.
I watched James Baker and Dick Cheney and others talk about him on Face the Nation, or Meet the Press, or whatever show it was, and they were very kind to his memory, as was Chuck Todd and other Left-Leaners.
Some other things that may have defined his Presidency, if my memory serves.
-German Reunification happened under his clock
-He too was instrumental in the fall of the Soviet Union.
-NAFTA was on his clock (Ironic that Trump crapped all over it at the time he was dying)
I think the "No New Taxes" and the "Grocery Store Debackle" are things that happen. It is really unimportant, but it doesn't help him to be relatable to the American People, and that makes it hard to win votes.
Dan Quayle was too dull to be in the office of VP. People can say the press didn't like him, but the fact is that he didn't earn their respect. He was a bad choice for HW, but everyone makes a few bad calls.
All in all, he is rightly remembered as a Patriotic American who served his country faithfully. I didn't love his politics, and still don't, but I have respect for the man. Always have, and have taken some heat for saying so. May he RIP.
Operation condor and bombing infrastructure in Iraq seems to show a more evil side of him.
Bush 41 lost due to the recession. He looked unbeatable after Desert Storm, but then the economy turned downward and Ross Perot jumped into the picture, with his strong opposition to NAFTA.
You can look it up.
How do you "look up" something that is sheer opinion, as opposed to fact?
HW Bush IMO lost due to the presence of Ross Perot on the ballot. Perot got 18.9% of the vote, Bush 37.4, and Clinton 43%. Perot's main appeal was to right-of-center voters. If Perot had not been on the ballot, I believe HW would have won, but of course there is no way to prove that.
Many forget that Clinton became President with only 43% of the vote.
How do you "look up" something that is sheer opinion, as opposed to fact?
HW Bush IMO lost due to the presence of Ross Perot on the ballot. Perot got 18.9% of the vote, Bush 37.4, and Clinton 43%. Perot's main appeal was to right-of-center voters. If Perot had not been on the ballot, I believe HW would have won, but of course there is no way to prove that.
Many forget that Clinton became President with only 43% of the vote.
Don't forget that at one point Perot was leading, until the CIA threatened his family for him potentially exposing Bush's ties to CIA drug smuggling and the murders of witnesses.
IMO, Reagan's hand was forced on that one. The "establishment" clearly wanted Bush to win the nomination, but GHB had little personality and stood no chance against Reagan. Disaffected Carter voters would gladly vote for Reagan but not Bush.
So while they could do nothing to stop Reagan from winning the nomination, they could certainly put conditions on their support (financial and otherwise) against running the general against Carter. Let's keep in mind that polling had Carter winning, and Reagan wasn't experienced at national politics. Bush as VP was that price.
It's been long since rumored that the Reagan family could not stand the Bush family starting with Nancy. Did they send a representative to the Bush funeral?
Well no matter. It's clear that Bush won in 1988 in part due to the fact that people thought they were voting for a 3rd Reagan term. And the Democrats nominated the hapless Dukakas was a gift. Of course he turned into a one term President because of the recession and that huge goof of going to a grocery store, and having no idea that UPC scanners were a thing by then.
I don't disagree with your comments.
However, it still was a mistake.
Was Jack Kemp in politics in 1980? He would have been a great choice for Reagan. I don't remember what other vice-presidential candidates Reagan had to chose from at that time.
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