George W. Bush

George Herbert Walker Bush, also known as George W. Bush (1924-2018) - 41st President of the United States (1989-1993), 43rd Vice President of the United States under Ronald Reagan (1981-1989), Congressman, diplomat, head of Central Intelligence.

He is the father of the 43rd American President George W. Bush. In 2017, he was the longest-serving president in American history.

There are many interesting facts in the biography of George W. Bush, which we will discuss in this article.

So, before you is a short biography of Bush Sr.

Biography of George W. Bush

George W. Bush was born on June 12, 1924 in Milton (Massachusetts). He grew up in the family of Senator and banker Prescott Bush and his wife Dorothy Walker Bush.

Childhood and youth

Shortly after George was born, the Bushes moved to Greenwich, Connecticut. The future president received his primary education at a local school, after which he continued his studies at Phillips Academy.

In high school, Bush Sr. held many important positions. He served as student council secretary, chaired a charity, edited the school newspaper, and was captain of the soccer and baseball teams.

After leaving school, George went to serve in the Navy, where he became a naval pilot. An interesting fact is that he made his first flight at the age of 18, which made him the youngest pilot of his time.

Bush was assigned to the torpedo squadron with the rank of photographic officer in the fall of 1943. The squadron won many victories in the air-sea battles of World War II (1939-1945). Later, the guy was awarded the rank of junior lieutenant.

After Japan's surrender, George W. Bush was honorably dismissed in September 1945. After returning home, he continued his studies at Yale University.

Instead of the traditional 4 years of study, George completed the full course in just 2.5 years. In 1948 he graduated from the university, becoming a certified economist. After that, he settled in Texas, where he studied the intricacies of the oil business.

Since Bush Sr. was the son of a powerful man, he managed to get a job in a large company as a sales specialist. He would later create his own oil company and become a dollar millionaire.

Politics

In 1964, George W. Bush announced that he was running for the US Senate, but this election was a failure for him. However, he continued to be interested in politics and even left his business.

A couple of years later, George managed to get the long-awaited seat in the State House of Representatives, after which he was re-elected for a second term. In 1970, the politician again ran for the country's Congress, but failed.

At the same time, Bush Sr. was appointed to the post of Permanent Representative of America to the UN, where the politician worked for about two years. He then became the head of the Republican Party's National Committee.

The man also headed the American bureau for relations with the PRC. In 1976, another landmark event took place in the biography of George W. Bush - he was appointed director of the CIA. However, when Jimmy Carter became President of the country instead of Gerald Ford, he was dismissed from his post.

In 1980, Bush Sr. ran for the first time in the presidential election. An interesting fact is that during his election campaign he participated in 850 political actions, and the total distance of his travels exceeded 400,000 km!

And yet, in those elections, the winner was Ronald Reagan, who was a former film actor. Nevertheless, George managed to significantly increase his army of fans and convey his own ideas to the Americans.

It is worth noting that as soon as Reagan became president of the state, he entrusted the senior Bush with the vice-president's chair, making him, in fact, his main assistant. While in this position, George strengthened the fight against drug trafficking and helped reduce the government's influence on private business.

In 1986, an unpleasant event occurred in the biography of Bush Sr. The vice president, along with Reagan and other influential officials, was accused of arms-dealing fraud.

It turned out that the presidential administration secretly sold weapons to Iran, and financed an anti-communist group in Nicaragua with the proceeds. It is worth noting that both Reagan and Bush Sr. publicly stated that they did not take any part in these crimes.

In 1988, another presidential race began, in which George again took part. One of his speeches, addressed to the Republicans, even went down in history as "A Thousand Colors of Light."

In this speech, Bush Sr. spoke about his negative attitude towards abortion. He advocated the introduction of the death penalty, the right of Americans to bear firearms, and the avoidance of new taxes.

As a result, most of the US voters cast their votes in support of George W. Bush, as a result of which he became the new head of state. During his 4 years in power, he managed to improve relations with the USSR.

The American president signed an important agreement with Mikhail Gorbachev aimed at reducing the so-called "arms race." Later, in 1992, the United States and Russia, represented by Bush Sr. and Boris Yeltsin, signed an agreement on the complete end of the "cold war" between states.

In addition, George was able to achieve considerable success in domestic politics. Under him, the country's budget deficit decreased, which not so long ago reached alarming proportions.

In 1992, Bush Sr. planned to be re-elected for a second term, but instead of him the people chose Bill Clinton as the new president. After that, George took up social activities. He has supported cancer organizations and briefly led disaster relief funds.

Personal life

A week after demobilization, George married Barbara Pierce, whom he had been engaged to before serving in the army. An interesting fact is that during his service as a naval aviation pilot, the guy named all the planes he flew in honor of his future wife - "Barbara 1", "Barbara 2", "Barbara 3".

In this marriage, the couple had two daughters - Pauline Robinson and Dorothy Bush Koch, and four sons: George Walker Bush Jr. (who later became the 43rd President of the United States), John Ellis, Neil Mallon and Marvin Pearce.

Death

In 2017, Bush Sr. was declared the longest-serving American president in history. By the way, before that, the record belonged to Gerald Ford.

Interestingly, despite his advanced age and poor health, the man celebrated the anniversary with a parachute jump - this is how the ex-president celebrated his anniversaries from the age of 75.

George W. Bush died on November 30, 2018 in Texas. At the time of his death, he was 94 years old. It is worth noting that his wife died on April 17 of the same year.