George W. Bush

4 Pages 908 Words

George H.W. Bush

41st President of the United States


George Herbert Walker Bush was inaugurated the 41st president of the United States on January 20, 1989. Prior to becoming Vice President under Ronald Reagan, he had held a range of senior public positions. Bush was the first sitting vice-president of the United States to be elected President since 1836. George Bush was born in Massachusetts on June 12, 1924. He was the second of five children. His mother, Dorothy, was the daughter of a wealthy investor, and his father, Prescott, was a partner in an international banking house and he later became the Republican United States Senator from Connecticut. Growing up in Connecticut, George went to private schools. He was a determined and popular student. He later attended Phillips Academy. He enlisted in the armed forces on his eighteenth birthday and was the youngest pilot in the Navy at the age of twenty. During World War II, he was shot down by a Japanese antiaircraft over the Pacific Ocean and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for bravery as well as three Air Medals. He was discharged in 1945. He married Barbara Pierce in 1945. He had six children. He enrolled at Yale University and joined the exclusive Skull and Bones society. He completed college in three years and graduated with Phi Beta Kappa honors in 1948. After graduation he moved to Texas. He worked in the west Texas oil fields for Dresser Industries. Bush and his partner John Overby, established the Bush-Overby Development Company trading oil leases and royalties. George became interested in politics like his father. He was defeated when he first ran for the United States Senate in 1964. He later became the first Republican to represent Houston in the House of Representatives in 1966. While in Congress, Bush supported some liberal causes such as giving eighteen year olds the right to vote and abolishing the military draft. Despite th...