Recently, the George and Barbara Bush Foundation unveiled “41@100,” a series of events to mark the centenary of the birth of the nation’s 41st President, George H.W. Bush. In a similar strain, I also tasked myself with reading Jon Meacham’s enthralling biography of President Bush, “Destiny and Power: The American Odyssey of George Herbert Walker Bush.” Now 31 years since he left office, I have found myself pondering the lessons that the life and career of George H.W. Bush can teach us in the 21st century. When ultimately weighed from the vantage point of history, President Bush stands out as a model of decency, service and duty. He was a steadfast patriot, and an example we should strive to follow.
From an early age, George Bush proved his patriotism through service to his country. Although barely eighteen, he enlisted in the United States Navy as an aviator following the unprovoked Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Serving aboard the U.S.S. San Jacinto, the future President was shot down by the Japanese over Chichi Jima. Bush survived parachuting from his stricken aircraft, and the U.S.S. Finback later rescued him from a life raft in the Pacific. Bush’s two crewmates died, leaving him wracked with doubts for the rest of his life. After his term in the White House, Bush returned to Chichi Jima and remarked, “I wake up at night and think about it sometime ... Could I have done something different?”
After the Second World War, George Bush graduated from Yale and moved to Texas with his wife, Barbara. There, after he built a successful oil business, Bush followed his father, Prescott, into the political arena. In 1966, Bush won the House of Representatives seat for Texas’ 7th District. Within four years, the young congressman made his mark. President Nixon appointed Bush as the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. At the U.N., Ambassador Bush spearheaded American efforts to prevent the expulsion of the Republic of China (RoC), otherwise known as Taiwan. When the General Assembly ratified Resolution 2758, removing the RoC, Bush demonstrated the decency which marked his character among politicians. He escorted his RoC counterpart from the Assembly Chamber despite being spat on while “anti-American delegates literally danced in the aisles.”
In 1972, President Nixon named Bush the Chairman of the Republican National Committee. He faced the herculean task of holding the GOP together while it cracked under the Watergate Scandal. Bush confided to his diary, “this job is no fun at all.” After the release of the White House tapes, Bush encouraged Nixon to resign. During the Ford Administration, Bush first became the U.S. Liaison to the People’s Republic of China, and later Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Ever a committed public servant, Bush accepted both positions although the former required moving his wife to distant Beijing, and the latter seemed like a political dead end. To George H.W. Bush, it was more important to answer the President’s call to serve than to promote his own career.
The 1980 election propelled Bush to national prominence and ultimately the Oval Office. After an unsuccessful bid at the Republican nomination for president, George Bush became running mate to Ronald Reagan. The Reagan-Bush ticket trounced the incumbent Jimmy Carter. For eight years, Bush served as a capable and loyal Vice President. He walked in lockstep with the “Reagan Revolution” at home, and advanced freedom against the Communist menace in the Cold War abroad. The vice president cultivated relationships with British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev, Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and many others. Bush, however, demonstrated his true skill and leadership as vice president following the attempted assassination of President Reagan in 1981. Bush’s composure during the emergency stabilized the White House after Secretary of State Al Haig’s “I am in control here” gaffe. Vice President Bush fulfilled the role of head of government as the president underwent surgery and recuperated from his injuries. In the height of crisis, George Bush proved the resilience of our Constitution.
Eight years as vice president launched Bush into the top job at the 1988 election, easily defeating his Democratic rival, Michael Dukakis. With the benefit of hindsight, it is easy to see now why President Bush’s former chief of staff, John H. Sununu, labelled Bush’s tenure “the indispensable presidency.” On the world stage, Bush delivered a tour de force in foreign affairs. The Berlin Wall fell in 1989, and President Bush declined to rub salt in the Soviets’ wound by dancing on the rubble. As a result, the President ensured a peaceful end to the Cold War, the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the reunification of Germany. The Bush Administration ended the brutal Noriega dictatorship in Panama, and brought Noriega to justice in the U.S. for his numerous drug crimes. Most significantly, President Bush defended the rule of law and the right to self-determination by beating back Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait during the 1990-1991 Gulf War. As the president had vowed, “this will not stand, this aggression against Kuwait!” Afterwards, President Bush notched an approval rating of 89% in the Gallup poll, a record only his son would pass in the aftermath of 9/11.
Domestically, too, the Bush Administration had its triumphs. President Bush signed into law major pieces of legislation including the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Clean Air Act Amendments. Bush also committed himself to good husbandry of federal resources and was determined to pay down the $2.8 trillion deficit he inherited. As such, he put country above both party and his own political future by striking a bipartisan budget deal in 1990, which included tax increases. It broke his campaign promise: “read my lips: no new taxes,” but it was the economic medicine the country needed. By the end of the 1990s, the budget was in surplus again. Nevertheless, the breach of “read my lips,” the 1991 recession, the advent of Ross Perot and the sea change in politics ushered in by Bill Clinton, ensured that President Bush served only one term in the Oval Office. At the 1992 election, Bush conceded to Clinton, saying, “the people have spoken and we respect the majesty of the democratic system.”
President Bush died in 2018 at the age of ninety-four after an eventful post-presidency which included skydiving and serving as the U.N. secretary‑general’s special envoy for the South Asia Earthquake Disaster in 2005. What, then, can we learn from his life, career and presidency during the centenary year of his birth?
George H.W. Bush was a committed patriot and a devoted public servant. His tenure in office offers numerous analogues to today’s America and today’s world. From the Bush years, one may draw inspiration to tackle the national debt crisis, or the need to muster American strength on the global stage. There is however, a more important lesson to take from President Bush: character. We live in an age of shallow politicians, who are often more concerned with partisan hackery than genuine good governance. President Bush offers a different model. His was a life of decency, civility and service.
Bush answered when the nation called him, whether to the Navy, to the U.N. or ultimately to the White House. His leadership was principled, quiet and bipartisan — this country and her welfare mattered more than anything else, including his political survival. Above all, George Bush believed unfailingly in America.
Perhaps his example can encourage us to do the same. As President Bush said in his inaugural address: “America is never wholly herself unless she is engaged in high moral principle. We as a people have such a purpose today. It is to make kinder the face of the nation and gentler the face of the world.”
