The Administration of George H. W. Bush

Abstract

The first George Bush to become president was born in 1924 and was a naval aviator during World War II. Of the five presidents in this book, George H. W. Bush is the only combat veteran, and the only one-term president. He also held several political posts prior to his election as president, including vice president under Ronald Reagan. In 1988 George Bush defeated the Democratic candidate, Michael Dukakis, with 53.4 percent of the popular vote and became the first sitting vice president to be elected president since 1836. Reagan’s popularity as president no doubt contributed to George H. W. Bush’s election, despite the Iran-Contra scandal. The first Bush Administration (or “Bush I”) was frequently described as pursuing a “pragmatic” and “prudent” foreign policy in contrast to the ostensibly more ideological Reagan administration, which emphasized a more strident approach to the Soviet Union (McCormick, 2005:157).