What Does it Take to be a Great President?

By: Angela Lei and Ashley Fry

George HW Bush

 

 

 

Where I Live(ed):

Greenwich, Connecticut

Website: http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/gb41.html

 

About Me:

 I am a man of many goals, and sometimes I fail, but that does not mean that I stop trying.  I keep going until everything is complete.  On my eighteenth birthday I went to Boston to be sworn into the U.S. Naval forces fighting in WWII.  My preflight training was in North Carolina, and by the time I recieved my wings, I was the youngest pilot in the navy.  On September 2, 1944, I took part in a bombing mission against the Japanese bases in the Bonin Islands southeast of Japan.  Two others and myself were riding in an aircraft carrier, and our TBM Avenger was launched by catapult from the carrier.  During the attack, the Japanese anti-aircraft guns hit our bomber, and so once our bombs were dropped, the three of us had jump with parachutes.  I was in the water floating on a life raft very close to death when a U.S. submarine rescued me.  My two buddies were never found. Out of that mess, I was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. 

At Yale University, I majored in Economics, and I was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, which is a national honors society.  In my senior year I was captain of the Yale baseball team, and was good at fielding, and fair at hitting.  One of the biggest moments of my senior year was when Babe Ruth handed me his autobiography because he was presenting it to the Yale library.

After graduation I moved back to Texas, because I wanted to get into the oil-business.  Some friends and I founded two oil companies.  I was president of one of them, the one that was off-shore.  The millions in dollars helped when I decided to go into politics.

 

Date of Birth:

12 June 1924 in Milton, Massachusetts

 

Date of Death:

N/A

 

Sex:

Male

 

Political Views:

I support the Republican party and I strongly believe in free trade and in continued American leadership in world affairs.

 

Religious Views:

Episcopalian (I went to St. John's Episcopal when I was president)

 

Years Served as President:

1989-1993

 

Status:

I married to Barbara Pierce Bush in January, 1945.

 

Children:

George, Robin, John, Neil, Marvin, and Dorothy.

 

Looking for:

Friendship, networking

 

Occupations:

Representative to Congress from Texas, Ambassador to the United Nations, Chairman of the Republican National Committee, Chief of the U. S. Liaison Office in the People's Republic of China, and Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. 

 

Interests/Hobbies:

• Reading
• Spending time with family
• Fishing
• Boating on the Sea

 

Education:

• Greenwich Country Day
• Phillips Academy
• Yale University

 

Favorite Books:

War and Peace, Catcher in the Rye, and Gentleman's Agreement. 

 

Favorite Movies:

War and Peace

The Great Gatsby 

 

Favorite Music:

Rhapsody in Blue by George Gershwin

Pictures at an Exhibition by Mussorgsky

The Four Seasons by Antonio Vivaldi

The Planets by Gustav Holst

 

Friends:

• Ronald Reagan
• George Bush   
• Richard M. Nixon 
• Gerald Ford 
• Jimmy Carter 
• Dan Quayle 

 

Sportsan and Activities:

• Baseball
• Fishing
• Boating

 

During my stint as president, the political, social and economic factors and challenges that I had to deal with (at home) included:

 

Political

• I tried to make abortion illegal, but even my wife said that it was a personal choice, not a political choice. 
• My opponent was Michael Dukakis, but he was a beginner at national politics. 
• My relationship with the Congress was not great.  Whenever I made a proposal from many of my great ideas, they would never cooperate.

 

Social

• I became very popular after the Gulf War.

• In 1990, about 10 million Americans went unemployed.

• Businesses went bankrupt at record rates.

• The Federal government had trippled the national Debt.

• I lost popularity when I broke my promise of no new taxes.

 

Economic

• I made the promise for no new taxes
• Later I had to break that promise when the government had no money from the "Savings and Loans Association" from Reagan.
• The economic recession began officially in the August of 1990.

 

 

During my stint as president, the political, social and economic factors and challenges that I had to deal with (abroad) included:

 

Political

• During my time as the President, world communism collapsed
• The communist governments were driven from Eastern Europe
• Kuwait was removed of Saddam because of the many countries that felt in necessary to remove him.

 

Social

• The Soviet Union stoped trying to control the affairs of Eastern Europe

• On October 3, 1990 less that a year after the opening of the Berlin Wall, East and West Germany were reunited for the first time since WWII. 

• I tried to work with Mikhail Gorbachev of the Soviet Union to reduce the number of Nuclear Weapons held by both sides.

• Hussein tried to take over the oil-rich country of Kuwait, by convincing nations including Britain, France, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt that it was necessary to remove Saddam Hussein

 

Economic

• I worked to set up new trade agreements with countries around the world.
• The foreign governments would be able to sell their products in the U.S., and American businesses would be able to sell abroad because of the trade agreements 

 

Looking back at my presidential career, I had to wear several "hats."  Wearing these different "hats," these were my most significant achievements and failures:

 

Commander-in-Chief

Our military forces were necessary when trying to remove Saddam Hussien from Kuwait.

Chief Executive

I had to deal with the economic resession on a day-to-day basis, deciding that taxes would be the best way to help the people.

Chief Diplomat

I negociated the taxes with the businesses and the people.  And I negociated the trade agreements with countries around he world.

Ceremonial Head of State

I imposed taxes to help from the Savings and Loans Association crash.

Manager of the Economy

I had to deal with the increasing intrest rates that allowed few people to get a loan, and the devestation from the crash of the Savings and Loans Association.

Party Leader

I am the Republican Leader who won the election of 1989, and my opponent was Michael Dukakis.

National Leader

As a nation we made it possible to trade with other countries, so we could buy their products, and sell ours to them.

 

Favorite Quote About Me by a Famous Historian:

"Poor George. He can’t help it. He was born with a silver foot in his mouth."

-Former Texas Governor Ann Richards in a keynote address at the 1988 Democratic National Convention (18 July 1988) 

 

Ranking

 4th best- Fisher

1st youngest- Pilot

1st president- To previously been a CIA director

1st in bravery- Bombing in Japan

3rd best- Fielder in baseball

6th best- Hitter in baseball

13th best- Phi Beta Kappa member

1st best- Baseball captain

 

 

Positive Political Cartoon

 

Negative Political Cartoon

 

Works Cited:

 

 

 

Presidents: A Reference History.  Ed. Henry F. Graff. 3^rd ed. Detroit: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2002. p591-609.

 

Smith, Gaddis. "Bush, George." Presidents: A Reference History. Ed. Henry F. Graff. 3^rd ed. Detroit: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2002. 591-609. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Gale. INTERNATIONAL ACADEMY HIGH SCHOOL. 22 May 2008 http://go.galegroup.com/ps/start.do?p=GVRL&u=lom_inac.

 

St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture .  Sara Pendergast and Tom Pendergast, eds. Detroit: St. James Press, 2000.  3065 pp.  5 vols.