"We're going to keep trying to strengthen the American family. To make them more like
the Waltons and less like
the Simpsons."
— Speech at the 1992 Republican National Convention. Two days later...
"Hey, we're just like the Waltons. We're all praying for the end of the depression, too."
was the 41st President of the United States. In his earlier life, he had been a
World War II naval aviator (and for a time was the youngest one), completing one mission with an
aircraft on fire. He also spent a year as Director of the CIA. He is the father of the
other President Bush,
George W. Bush.
Known as "George Bush" while in office, H. W. was
Ronald Reagan's Vice-President and largely ran - and won - as Reagan's third term. This campaign featured two memorable moments - the
Willie Horton ads, and
Dan Quayle being told he is not
someone else.
Running on a promise of "Read my lips—No new taxes!",
he did in fact raise taxes. He also fought the first
Gulf War, declaring a "New World Order" of international cooperation (providing fodder for
conspiracy theorists to this day), when Saddam Hussein took the weapons Reagan, Brezhnev and Mitterand had given him to fight Iran and invaded Kuwait instead. He then chose not to go all the way to Baghdad and depose Saddam, pulled the troops out in mid-1991 but kept them on parade duty at home, seemingly well into the 1992 election season.
Along with
John Adams, one of two Presidents whose son also became President, hence "H. W.", "Bush the Elder", "Bush Senior", "Bush 1.0", or "Bush 41" to distinguish him from
his son.
His satirical portrayal in media was largely guided by Dana Carvey's impression of him as a
Cloud Cuckoolander, though said impression became more of a character in itself as time went on. Also mocked were Bush's professed dislike of broccoli and an incident in January 1992 where, overcome by illness at a state dinner, the president vomited into the lap of the Japanese prime minister (this is why
bush-suru means "to vomit" in Japanese). However, it would be the perceived
deficiencies of vice-president
Dan Quayle that would become the main focus of satire during the presidency.
His most memorable quote and general media contribution is the phrase "Voodoo economics" to describe the economics of
Ronald Reagan back when they were rivals. Many people also remember him for using the term "
a thousand points of light," in his speeches. However, less remember that it was a metaphor for a number of Americans
stepping up to volunteer in charity organizations after government funding was cut for many federal programs.
His wife Barbara was often parodied for her white hair, which made her look older than her husband.
He was the first sitting Vice President to win election to the presidency since
Martin Van Buren, 152 years earlier.
George H. W. Bush provides examples of:
- Badass: In 1989, during his first televised speech to the nation, Bush held up a bag of cocaine purchased at Lafayette Park, using it as an example of the need to combat recreational drug use.
- Beam Me Up, Scotty!: A 1992 New York Times article famously showed Bush being amazed by a common supermarket scanner, which helped to paint him as an elitist who was out of touch with common American life. In reality, the scanner that Bush was so impressed with was an advanced prototype that could weigh groceries and decipher mangled and torn bar codes.
- It was later discovered that the writer of the infamous article wasn't even present at the convention where Bush was shown the scanner in question.
- Conspiracy Theory: A common conspiracy theory is that Bush knew about the Iran-Contra affair or was actively involved in it. A much more obscure one claims that he is a pedophile.
- Defeat Means Friendship: Bush is good friends with Bill Clinton, the Democratic challenger who unseated him in the 1992 Presidential election.
- Generation Xerox: 8 years after his Presidency ended, his eldest son George was sworn in as the 43rd President of the United States.
- Ironically enough, Dubya was also a wartime President whose time in office was mostly defined by foreign policy.
- One of Dubya's twin daughters is named Barbara, after Bush Sr.'s wife and former first lady Barbara Bush.
- Headbutting Heroes: Despite the US and England being strong allies, Bush and Margaret Thatcher disagreed on almost everything related to handling the major changes occurring in the world in the late 80s/early 90s. For example, Thatcher distrusted Mikhail Gorbachev and was opposed to the reunification of Germany, while Bush supported Gorbachev and the German reunification, and regularly overruled and undermined Thatcher's opinions and initiatives related to handling said changes. He got along a lot better with her successor, John Major.
- Hilarious in Hindsight: An episode of Tiny Toons Adventures featuring Bush aired just days after he lost the 1992 Presidential election.
- Hyper Competent Sidekick: To Ronald Reagan.
- Iconic Item: Do his Coke-bottle trifocals
◊ count?
- Irony: Bush's attempts at combating the deficit caused significant damage to his popularity. 20 years later, a source of current President Barack Obama's unpopularity is him being seen as not doing enough to combat the deficit.
- Nerves of Steel: As Vice President, in 1983 Bush confronted El Savadorian leader Alvaro Magana, threatening to end all US aid to his country unless he ended the use of death squads and held fully free elections.......while sitting in a bloodstained room in Magana's palace, surrounded by gunmen brandishing semiautomatic rifles.
- Never Live It Down: Most people today only remember him for how he famously reneged on his campaign promise of "No New Taxes".
- Some just remember him for the fact that he is George W. Bush's father.
- Others just remember how he famously vomited on the lap of the Japanese Prime Minister.
- Others just know him as the guy who served between Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton.
- Opaque Nerd Glasses: He regularly wore a pair◊ during public appearances throughout his Vice Presidency and Presidency. He is the only President since Harry Truman who regularly wore glasses (at least in public).
- Politician Guest Star: Bush frequently made appearances in TV shows and movies throughout his Presidency. Notable in that he actually played himself, as opposed to the film just using archive footage to portray the President.
- Reckless Sidekick: Bush's Vice President, Dan Quayle.
- Many Republicans saw Quayle as such a liability that they suggested that Bush find a new running mate for his 1992 reelection bid.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: When running for President in 1988, he sold a Bush Presidency as being comparable to a third term for sitting President Ronald Reagan.
- War Hero: Bush was a fighter pilot for the US Air Force during World War II. He narrowly escaped capture by Japanese forces after his plane was shot down. He is the last World War II veteran to serve as President.
- What Could Have Been: It is widely debated how differently world events would have turned out if he had overthrown Saddam Hussein at the end of the Gulf War.
- What the Hell, Hero?: In 1988, Bush famously promised "No new taxes" during his Presidency. However, one of his biggest goals was the eliminate the huge budget deficits left over from Reagan; While Bush wanted to accomplish this with spending cuts and closing tax loopholes, the Democratic majority in Congress refused to consider any proposal that didn't included tax increases. Scrambling, Bush caved to the Democrats and increased tax revenues. While reneging on a prominent campaign promise was bad enough, the fact that the United States was in the middle of a recession at the time made his decision look even more stupid.
- You Are What You Hate: During his Vice Presidency and Presidency, he regularly spoke out against drug and alcohol abuse.....while one of his sons was an alcoholic.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Bush was a very competent foreign policy President who steered America through the 1989 invasion of Panama, the fall of Communism in late 1989, the reunification of Germany in 1990, the Gulf War of 1990-1991 and the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 to unanimous success and high approval ratings. However, as the world stabilized and attention turned instead to domestic issues through 1992, which Bush handled lacklusterly and admitted that he wasn't as interested in as foreign policy, his popularity tanked and voters happily voted him out in favor of Democratic challenger Bill Clinton later that year.
- Vindicated by History:
- Despite having a 34% approval rating throughout 1992, a survey conducted in December 2008 showed that 60% of Americans now view him as a good President.
- Bush's commitment to reducing the Reagan budget deficits is widely justified today, as the current large budget deficits and high amount of public debt the United States government faces is now a major political issue.
- Word Of God says that the reason why Bush didn't overthrow Saddam Hussein at the end of the Gulf War is because he felt that overthrowing Hussein would lead to a long and messy occupation of Iraq that he wouldn't want the United States to be involved in. While many questioned his decision at the time, it was later justified as his prediction of a long and messy occupation came true when his son overthrew Hussein 12 years later.
- Vomit Indiscretion Shot: In January 1992, Bush was famously videotaped vomiting in the lap of then-Japanese Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa after falling ill at a state dinner.
In media:
Anime and Manga
Film
- He's the president in The Naked Gun 2½. He applauds Drebbin's inspiring speech, but a little less whole-heartedly when he talks about his desire for a viable Democrat candidate to the White House.
- James Cromwell portrays him as an exasperated yet enabling dad in Oliver Stone's film W, a biopic about George W. Bush.
"Poppy" (paraphrased): Drinking and partying... You're a
Bush, not a Kennedy! Jr. explains that he was celebrating getting into Yale(?) school of business and: "Of course you did, who do you think pulled the strings to get you in?"
And later, in one of Jr.'s nightmares:
Dream!Poppy: A hundred years it took to build up the Bush name
and you single-handedly destroyed it!
- He appears at the beginning of Under Siege, giving the ship it's final sendoff.
Live-Action TV
- He visits McKinley High School in Freaks and Geeks. Though he is never shown, the episode ends with Liz asking him a pointed political question.
- His puppet was a frequent visitor to DC Follies
- Dana Carvey has talked about the time that Bush invited him to the White House. So Bush does have some sense of humor.
- Bush actually appeared on Saturday Night Live, essentially imitating Dana Carvey's imitation of him ("Wouldn't be prudent.")
- One episode of The Golden Girls featured a Secret Service member interviewing the girls for a potential meet and greet with the president; Dorothy, an outspoken liberal, plans to chew him out. This backfires when he actually shows up.:
Bush: You're a teacher. Do you have any ideas on how we could improve the education system?
Dorothy: (shaking his hand) ...Bush!
Bush: Well then, it's nice to meet you too. ...Could you let go of my hand now?
- The script of The Day After called for a Bush impersonator to make the presidential speech broadcast near the end of the film. For unknown reasons, the production actually used a voice actor who sounded like Ronald Reagan, which prompted criticism (as the writer correctly forecast) from the political right; in later DVD releases, the speech is given by a stereotypically presidential voice unlike either Reagan or Bush.
Music
- Ministry's "New World Order" looped quotes from his speech mentioned above, arguably making it the first Stupid Statement Dance Mix.
- Epica used George HW Bush's "No new taxes" quote in their song "Semblance of Liberty." However, it should be stated that he said this twenty years ago, and hardly has the same level of relevance (some say they picked the wrong Bush to attack).
- Megadeth used the same quote much sooner after the fact, in 1992's "Foreclosure Of A Dream."
- Neil Young references Bush's "thousand points of light" comments in "Rockin' in the Free World".
- Anthrax also references "thousand points of light" with the song "1000 Points of Hate".
- The 2LiveCrew sampled a soundbite where he proclaims the United States government to be a government "Of the people, for the people, by the people" in their 1990 song "Banned in the USA". Video of Bush giving the soundbite is included in the song's music video.
Newspaper Comics
- In Doonesbury, like many politicians, he was a literally Invisible President. After simply not being depicted for a time (outside of an sequence where he "signed his manhood over" to President Reagan), representing his avoiding the Iran-Contra and Noriega affairs and low-key style, then by a spark referring to a "thousand points of light" speech.
Webcomics
Web Original
Western Animation
