Born in 1924, Bush Was 94 Years Old

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Born in 1924, Bush was 94 years old.

On November 30th, former president George H.W. Bush passed away at 94 years old. (People often refer to him as “George H.W.” to distinguish him from his oldest son, George W. Bush, who also served as president.)

Barbara Bush, his wife, passed away earlier this year. The two had been married for 73 years. Theirs was the longest presidential marriage in U.S. history.

George Herbert Walker Bush was born on June 12, 1924 in Milton, Massachusetts. His family moved to Connecticut when he was young. His father, Prescott Bush, served in the U.S. Senate, representing Connecticut.

When George was just 19 years old, he joined the U.S. Navy. But he did not serve on ships. Instead, he was a pilot. Bush served in the Navy from 1942 until 1945, while the U.S. was fighting in World War Two. During that time, he flew 58 combat missions and earned several medals and honors.

George H.W. and Barbara were married while he was still in the military. After the war, Bush left the Navy and attended college at Yale University. He and Barbara began their family, and would eventually have six children.

After graduating from college, the Bush family moved to Texas. There, George H.W. began a successful career in the oil business. He became very wealthy. But then, in the 1960s, he left this career to enter U.S. politics.

The beginning of George H.W. Bush’s political career was also the beginning of an American political dynasty. (A “dynasty” is a succession of people from the same family who play a prominent role in politics.) George H.W. and his son, George W., would both go on to serve as president of the United States. Another son, Jeb, would serve as the governor of Florida.

In the late 1960s, George H.W. was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. He represented a district in Texas as a Republican for four years. After that, he took on several more government positions. During the Nixon administration, Bush served as the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, an international organization that tries to maintain peace around the world. Later, President Gerald Ford made Bush the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, or CIA, which collects information about other countries to try and keep the U.S. safe.

In 1980, Bush ran for president for the first time. However, he lost the Republican primary that year to Ronald Reagan. Bush agreed to become Reagan’s running mate, instead. The campaign was successful. Reagan became the 40th president of the United States, and Bush became vice president. He served in this role throughout both of Reagan’s terms, until 1989.

The second time George H.W. Bush ran for president, he was successful. In 1989, he became the 41st president of the United States. He served just one term, from 1989 to 1993.

One of the most significant events of Bush’s presidency was the Gulf War. This conflict began in the Persian Gulf, which is a region in the Middle East. In 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait. President Bush sent American troops to the region to support Kuwait.

The conflict was over by early 1991. Kuwait had been liberated, but Iraq’s leader, Saddam Hussein, was still in power. Still, many consider the Gulf War to be one of President Bush’s successes.

Less successful was the so-called “War on Drugs.” This was not an actual war. Instead, it was the U.S. government’s campaign against the illegal drug trade. President Bush increased spending on law enforcement for drug crimes. Today, many see this as a failure, since it did not have as big an effect on the drug trade as was intended. Also, it led to the mass incarceration of many people, especially black men.

Many believe Bush did not win a second term as president due to troubles in the U.S. economy. He was defeated by his Democratic challenger, Bill Clinton, in the 1992 presidential election.

Despite his many achievements, George H.W. Bush was known as a man with a lot of humility. “I’m certainly not seen as visionary,” Bush wrote in a 1989 diary entry, “but I hope I’m seen as steady and prudent and able.”