George H. W. Bush: Difference between revisions

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* [[Hypercompetent Sidekick]]: To [[Ronald Reagan]].

* [[Iconic Item]]: Do his [http://img.timeinc.net/time/magazine/archive/covers/1988/1101881121_400.jpg Coke-bottle trifocals] count?

* [[Irony]]:

* ~~[[Irony]]:~~ * George Bush Senior was hailed as a foreign policy elder statesman and widely praised for his ability to form an international consensus during the Gulf War and during the fall of the Soviet empire. His son George W, however, is widely seen as having been inept in foreign policy matters. Perhaps the most glaring piece of the irony here is the fact that George Sr. refused to launch a full-scale invasion of Iraq to oust Saddam Hussein, ignoring the loud urgings from some hawks in Congress and [[Cassandra Truth|warning everyone that it would become a quagmire]], while George W ended up ''launching'' the unpopular Iraq War years later.

** George Bush Senior was hailed as a foreign policy elder statesman and widely praised for his ability to form an international consensus during the Gulf War and during the fall of the Soviet empire. His son George W, however, is widely seen as having been inept in foreign policy matters. Perhaps the most glaring piece of the irony here is the fact that George Sr. refused to launch a full-scale invasion of Iraq to oust Saddam Hussein, ignoring the loud urgings from some hawks in Congress and [[Cassandra Truth|warning everyone that it would become a quagmire]], while George W ended up ''launching'' the unpopular Iraq War years later.

** 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.

** Bush's attempts at combating the deficit caused significant damage to his popularity. 20 years later, one source of President [[Barack Obama]]'s unpopularity wass 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.

* [[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.

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* ~~[[Never Live It Down]]:~~ Most people today only remember him for how he famously reneged on his campaign promise of "No New Taxes".

* [[Never Live It Down]]:

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** 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.

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* [[The Eighties]]: Bush was a major political figure throughout the decade.

** Despite being President for the first three years of the decade, people generally don't associate him with [[The Nineties]].

* [[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.

* [[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]].

** During the 1988 election season, Republican staff members were wary about choosing Dan Quayle for the VP slot. They wanted someone with some star power. And for a very brief period, they suggested to Bush that he give the nod to a moderate Eisenhower Republican movie star who was then-currently serving as Mayor of Carmel, California: '''[[Clint Eastwood]]'''. That's right, we ''could'' have had Clint Eastwood as a ''Vice'' President Badass, and perhaps someday he could have been a [[Badass in Charge]] if he'd become President. That being said, the idea was dropped after a very short period of time, and in any case, Mr Eastwood never planned to stay in politics after his Mayoral term was over anyway. Still, it's cool fantasizing about how awesome things could have been...

* [[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 include 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.

* [[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 include 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 [[George W. Bush|one of his sons]] was an alcoholic.

** Actually this would seem to be the exact ''reason'' why he wanted to wage a war against drug and alcohol addiction. Having a son going through alcohol addiction meant that President Bush had a quite understandable distaste for drug/alcohol abuse and likely he thought of it in a "Now [[It's Personal]]" type of way.

* [[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.

** Despite having a 34% approval rating throughout 1992, a survey conducted in December 2008 showed that 60% of Americans now{{when}} 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.

** Bush's commitment to reducing the Reagan budget deficits is widely justified today,{{when}} 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 [[Iraq War|a long and messy occupation]] came true when [[George W. Bush|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.