George H. W. Bush
Overview
 
George Herbert Walker Bush (born June 12, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....

 (1989–93). He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States
Vice President of the United States
The Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term...

 (1981–89), a congressman
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence
Director of Central Intelligence
The Office of United States Director of Central Intelligence was the head of the United States Central Intelligence Agency, the principal intelligence advisor to the President and the National Security Council, and the coordinator of intelligence activities among and between the various United...

.

Bush was born in Milton
Milton, Massachusetts
Milton is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States and part of the Greater Boston area. The population was 27,003 at the 2010 census. Milton is the birthplace of former U.S. President George H. W. Bush and architect Buckminster Fuller. Milton also has the highest percentage of...

, Massachusetts, to Senator Prescott Bush
Prescott Bush
Prescott Sheldon Bush was a Wall Street executive banker and a United States Senator, representing Connecticut from 1952 until January 1963. He was the father of George H. W. Bush and the grandfather of George W...

 and Dorothy Walker Bush
Dorothy Walker Bush
Dorothy Wear Walker Bush , mother to 41st President of the United States, George H. W. Bush, and the grandmother of 43rd President of the United States, George W. Bush. Time on her death wrote that "George Bush was shaped and tempered by his mother's nature." Dorothy Bush raised her five children...

.
Discussions
Timeline

1989    Cold War: In a meeting off the coast of Malta, US President George H. W. Bush and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev release statements indicating that the cold war between their nations may be coming to an end.

1990    President George H. W. Bush posthumously awards Jesse Owens the Congressional Gold Medal.

1990    George H. W. Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev sign a treaty to end chemical weapon production.

1990    The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 is signed into law by President George H. W. Bush.

1991    Gulf War: U.S. President George H. W. Bush announces that "Kuwait is liberated".

1992    A 'joint understanding' agreement on arms reduction is signed by U.S. President George H. W. Bush and Russian President Boris Yeltsin (this would be later codified in START II).

1992    Somali Civil War: President George H. W. Bush orders 28,000 US troops to Somalia in Northeast Africa.

1993    In Moscow, George H. W. Bush and Boris Yeltsin sign the second Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START).

Quotations

It is possible to tell things by a handshake. I like the "looking in the eye" syndrome. It conveys interest. I like the firm, though not bone crushing shake. The bone crusher is trying too hard to "macho it.: The clammy or diffident handshake — fairly or unfairly — get me off to a bad start with a person.

Letter to Gary Hanauser (18 September 1979), as quoted in All the Best, George Bush : My Life in Letters and Other Writings (2000), p. 282

It just isn't going to work, and it's very interesting that the man who invested this type of what I call a voodoo economic policy...

Speech at Carnegie Mellon University (10 April 1980), allegedly referring to Ronald Reagan

You don't have to go to college to be a success ... We need the people who run the offices, the people who do the hard physical work of our society.

Statement to the students of East Los Angeles' Garfield High School (5 May 1988)

This is America: the Knights of Columbus, the Grange, Hadassah, the Disabled American Veterans, the Order of Ahepa, the Business and Professional Women of America, the union hall, the Bible study group, LULAC, "Holy Name"—a brilliant diversity spread like stars, like a thousand points of light in a broad and peaceful sky.

Speech at the 1988 Republican National Convention (18 August 1988)

This is Pearl Harbor Day. Forty-seven years ago to this very day, we were hit and hit hard at Pearl Harbor.

Bush addressing the American Legion in Louisville, Kentucky (7 September 1988), three months prior to the actual anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor (7 December 1941).

 
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