vcczar Posted September 21 Share Posted September 21 Pres. George HW Bush (TX-R) has quite a career. He went from voting Goldwater as a public figure to voting for Hillary Clinton. Personally, I find it difficult to call him George HW Bush because he wasn't called that as president. He was George Bush and his son was George W Bush. I even prefer George Bush Sr or George Bush I over George HW Bush. I do have memories of him being VP or the knowledge of him as VP. When he became president it was so hard to say "President Bush," because I had gone my whole life cognizant that America was led by President Reagan. It felt almost more natural for Bush to just call himself the new President Reagan and just adopt the entire name as title. I had no real opinion of Bush other than thinking he looked kind of nerdy with glasses. I thought the SNL version of him was funny. Bush might be the most successful one-term president after Polk. His actions: Bush, George 1964 Opposes Civil Rights Act of 1964 while on campaign, a break from the majority of the GOP Bush, George 1964 Supports Goldwater over Rockefeller in GOP primary; crushed in bid for Senate seat by Prog Dem Yarborough Bush, George 1968 Break w/ earlier Civil Rights opposition to support the CR Act of 1968 (Housing Act) Bush, George 1968 Backs Nixon over Reagan, unlike most TX Republicans Bush, George 1968 Considered for VP by Nixon Bush, George 1971 Appt UN Amb by Nixon Bush, George 1973 Becomes Chairman of the RNC Bush, George 1973 Considered for VP after Agnew resigns Bush, George 1974 Appt Amb to China by Ford Bush, George 1974 Was considered an alternative to Rockefeller for VP Bush, George 1976 Appt CIA Director by Ford Bush, George 1976 Considered for VP by Ford for reelection bid Bush, George 1980 Famously calls Reaganomics as "voodoo economics" during GOP primary Bush, George 1980 VP on Reagan's ticket; also rep pres cand Bush, George 1981 Presided over cabinet meeting for Reagan for a bit after Reagan was shot Bush, George 1984 VP on Reagan's reelection ticket Bush, George 1985 Served officially as acting president for 8-hrs while Reagan was having surgery Bush, George 1988 Pledges "No New Taxes" Bush, George 1988 Selection of Dan Quayle as VP disappoints and/or shocks some in his own party Bush, George 1988 Wins 1988 election Bush, George 1989 Bans the import of some kinds of guns, costing him NRA support Bush, George 1989 Calls on Congress to make flag burning illegal, but this goes nowhere. Bush, George 1989 Authorizes invasion of Panama Bush, George 1989 Signs Financial Institutions Reform Act Bush, George 1990 Signs Immigration Act Bush, George 1990 Signs major update to Clean Air Act Bush, George 1990 Signs the Omnibus Budget Act, breaking his no new tax pledge Bush, George 1990 Signs the Americans w/ Disabiliteis Act Bush, George 1990 Signs the Ryan White CARE Act, as AIDS becomes the leading cause of death for young men in the USA Bush, George 1990 Authorizes the Gulf War vs. Iraq (Desert Storm) Bush, George 1990 Presided during collapse of Soviet Union, reunification of Germany, and fall of Iron Curtain Bush, George 1990 Appts Souter to SC Bush, George 1990 Vetoes a Civil Rights bill Bush, George 1990 Signs the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 Bush, George 1990 Inspires the creation of the Points of Light org to encourage volunteers to help with social problems Bush, George 1991 Signs Civil R Bill of 1991, which was similar to Kennedy's failed bill; upsets Conservatives Bush, George 1991 Appt Clarence Thomas to SC Bush, George 1991 Signs START I w/ Soviet Union Bush, George 1991 Signs resolution to use force against Iraq Bush, George 1991 Desert Storm ends swiftly in military victory; opts to keep Saddam Hussein in power Bush, George 1991 Presides during Early 1990s recession Bush, George 1992 Spearheads NAFTA, signing the bill before ratification Bush, George 1992 Pardons several officials tied to Iran-Contra, including Casper Weinburger Bush, George 1992 Loses reelection Bush, George 1993 Signs START II w/ Russia (Soviet Union recently collapsed) Bush, George 1993 Target of assassination plot while in Kuwait, leading to airstrikes by Clinton Bush, George 2000 Becomes 2nd fmr Pres to see son elected president Bush, George 2004 Begins appearing in ads with Bill Clinton to encourage charity in following natural disasters Bush, George 2011 Award Pres Medal of Freedom by Obama in bipartisan gesture Bush, George 2016 Votes for Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vcczar Posted September 21 Author Share Posted September 21 Favorable post-presidency, but unfavorable during and after. I do appreciate his bipartisanship. He's a respected, unfavorable politician for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OrangeP47 Posted September 21 Share Posted September 21 On the balance, believe it or not, I do lean kind of favorable on HW. I feel he has an air of pragmatism about him. That said, for my Masters thesis, I watched every recorded state of the union address in the cspan archive up until 2015 (when I graduated that program) and he seriously lacked charisma. Seriously, every word out of his mouth is just pure unadulterated whining. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rezi Posted September 22 Share Posted September 22 It's a very weak unfavorable. Lots of good, but some of that bad is just really bad. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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