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Table of Contents
George H.W Bush was the 41st President of the United States (1989-1993). He was the Vice President of President Ronald Reagan and the father of the 43rd President of the United States. It was during his term that the first Persian Gulf War broke out. See the fact file below for more information on George H.W Bush or alternatively download our comprehensive worksheet pack to utilise within the classroom or home environment.
Early Life
- George Herbert Walker Bush was born on June 12, 1924, in Milton, Massachusetts and was the son of Prescott Sheldon Bush and Dorothy Walker. In 1936, young George attended the Greenwich Country Day School in Greenwich, Connecticut, and later he went to Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts until 1942. After his graduation, he enlisted in the U.S Navy and became the youngest pilot a year later. In September 1945, he was honorably discharged from his post.
- On January 6, 1945, George married Barbara Pierce and they had six children, one of whom became the 43rd U.S President.
- In 1945, he entered Yale University and graduated in 1948. Bush worked as a salesman for an oil company in Midland, Texas which gave him the idea to form his own company, which he did in 1950. His family moved to Houston, Texas in 1954.
- Bush’s political career started when he became the Chairman of the Republican Party in Harris County in 1964. In the same year, he ran for a seat in the U.S Senate but lost. He followed that with another try in 1970, but unfortunately he lost again.
- In 1966, Bush was elected to the U.S House of Representatives where he served until 1973. He also became the Chairman of the Republican National Committee that requested the resignation of President Richard Nixon due to the Watergate scandal.
- In 1973, he was appointed by President Gerald Ford to be the Chief of the U.S Liaison Office in the People’s Republic of China until 1975. Afterwards, he was appointed Director of the Central Intelligence Agency for a year.
- In the 1980 Presidential election, Bush lost the Republican Party’s presidential nomination to Ronald Reagan and instead became Reagan’s running mate. They won the election and served until 1989.
- In the 1988 election, he was nominated as the Republican Party’s Presidential candidate. He won with majority of the electoral votes and 53.4% of the popular vote.
George H.W Bush’s Presidency
- On January 20, 1989, George H.W Bush took his oath as the 41st President of the United States at the West Front, U.S Capitol.
- On June 4, 1989, he ordered the imposition of limited sanctions on China after the government’s violent actions toward the demonstrators in Tiananmen Square.
- By August 1989, he had signed the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act, as well as the Fair Labor Standards Amendment, which raised the minimum hourly wage of workers.
- In December 1989, after meeting Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev in Valletta, Malta, they officially announced the end of Cold War through nuclear disarmament.
- On December 20, 1989, U.S troops invaded Panama to arrest the military dictator, Manuel Antonio Noriega. In January 1990, he was brought to the U.S where he faced charges of drug trafficking, and he was eventually sent to prison in 1992.
- In July 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act was signed, which prohibited the discrimination of people with disabilities in employment, transportation and public accommodations.
- On August 2, 1990, Bush ordered U.S troops to Kuwait to free the country from an Iraqi invasion. In November, 400,000 more U.S troops were sent to the Middle East after Iraq threatened to invade Saudi Arabia.
- It was during Bush’s term that the number of immigrants to the U.S. increased to 700,000 a year, after he signed the Immigration Act of 1990. In the same year, he signed the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act which reduced the budget deficit by raising taxes.
- Operation Desert Storm was executed on January 17, 1991 in order to liberate Kuwait, and it was the start of the Persian Gulf War. U.S troops started an airstrike on Iraq, which was followed by the entry of ground troops into Kuwait, coming from Saudi Arabia. The offensive attack ended on February 27, 1991 as Kuwait was liberated.
- On July 31, 1991, Bush signed the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START 1) in Moscow alongside Premier Gorbachev. It was intended to reduce both countries’ nuclear weapons by 35% (U.S) and 50% (USSR).
- In November 1991, the Civil Rights Act was signed, giving more rights to employees to sue their employers for discrimination. The Unemployment Compensation Amendment of 1992 was also signed and aimed to address the increasing unemployment rate.
- In the 1992 election, he ran for another term but lost to the Democrat William “Bill” J. Clinton.
Post Presidency
- In his retirement, he serves as an honorary Chairman of Points of Light. It is a non-profit organization inspired by and established on the basis of Bush’s 1989 inaugural speech.
- In 1993, he was awarded an honorary knighthood by Queen Elizabeth II, which is known as Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath.
- From 1993 to 1999, he served as the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Eisenhower Fellowships. In 1993, he visited Kuwait in commemoration of the successful Persian Gulf War. An assassination plot against Bush was discovered and seventeen suspects were arrested and underwent investigation for planting several car bombs. It was revealed that the plot came from Baghdad, Iraq. In response, President Bill Clinton ordered the firing of 23 cruise missiles towards Iraq’s Intelligence Service Headquarters in Baghdad.
- On November 6, 1997, the George H.W Bush Library and Museum in Texas was opened.
- When his eldest son George W. Bush was elected President of the United States in 2000, they became the second father-son duo to become presidents after John Adams and John Quincy Adams.
- On June 11, 2004, he delivered the eulogy at the state funeral of former President Ronald Reagan.
- In 2004 and 2005, he appeared on national television with President Clinton to appeal for donations after the tsunami that hit Indonesia and Thailand, and similarly for Hurricane Katrina in U.S.
- In 2007, he was awarded the Ronald Reagan Freedom Award.
- A year later, he visited China with his son President George Bush and met Chinese President Hu Jintao.
- On February 15, 2011, he was awarded with Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama. He also received an honorary Doctorate of Law degree from Dartmouth College in 2011.
- In January 2013, Bush and his wife Barbara became the longest married Presidential couple in U.S history after their 68th wedding anniversary.
George H.W Bush Worksheets
This bundle contains 11 ready-to-use George H.W Bush Worksheets that are perfect for students who want to learn more about America’s 41st President.
Download includes the following worksheets
- George H.W Bush Facts
- Papa Bush
- Cabinet Members
- Father-Son
- Foreign Affairs
- Economic Acts
- Operation Desert Storm
- World Leaders
- Cartoon Analysis
- Bush Administration
- Conflict to Peace
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