GEORGE H.W. BUSH

BACKGROUND

• Elected as a Federal Representative of Texas in 1966 and 1968
• Appointed by Nixon as the Chairman of the Republican Committee
• Was Director of CIA in 1976
• Was Vice President under Reagan in 1981

CHIEF LEGISLATOR

LACK OF ACTION

• His administration was at odds with Congress during his time in office
• He also was preoccupied with the many international crises that were taking place at the time

ADA & CAA

• The Major exception to this rule was the American Disabilities Act and Clean Air Acts
• With the exception of these two acts, he was unable to overrule the Democratic majority in Congress

Grade: C

COMMANDER IN CHIEF

JUST CAUSE

• In 1989, after years of escalation, he authorized a full of invasion of Panama to oust the drug dealing and militarized dictator, Manuel Noriega, who had originally worked for the CIA

DESERT SHIELD/STORM

• In 1990, after Suddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait, the United States sent military to protect our oil interests in Saudi Arabia; however, the stated reason was to protect Kuwait.
• Following Desert Storm, the United States failed to remove Saddam Hussein from power. But US did increase it's military presence and added a no fly zone over Iraq thus insuring US future conflict

Grade: B+

CHIEF EXECUTIVE

EXPERIENCED MAN

• Bush had experience due to his work as the head of the CIA.
• He was also Vice President twice as long as he was President.

OATH OF OFFICE

• He did not wholly defend the Constitution because he was in favor of policies, treaties, and diplomacy, which weakened the sovereignty of the United States

Grade: C+

HEAD OF STATE

WASHINGTON INSIDER

• Bush's time working in Washington for as long as he had alienated him from the average American

WEAKENED NATIONAL SOVEREIGHTNY

• Bush supported the idea of the US, Canada, and Mexico (NAFTA) uniting as one country.
• He was willing to subordinate United States interests to focus our attention on international ones

Grade: C

CHIEF OF PARTY

MODERATE PRESIDENCY

• Many of the stronger right wing conservatives were alienated by the more moderate positions that George H.W. Bush took on major issues

COUNTRY CLUB REPUBLICAN

• Focused on maintaining the status quo during his presidency and not taking steps to garner more votes for the party on either the left or the right.

Grade: D

GUARDIAN OF THE ECONOMY

DEFICIT INCREASE

• The deficit that had been building up in the Reagan's administration only continued to grow.
• $1.5 trillion was added to the deficit

TAX DISHONESTY

• Bush had promised not to make new taxes or increase the current ones during his nomination. Once in office, he did not strongly oppose Congress' massive tax increases.

Grade: D+

CHIEF DIPLOMAT

FORMER AMBASSADOR

• Bush had extensive knowledge of diplomacy from his time as a UN Ambassador and as an Ambassador to China

END OF THE COLD WAR

• Bush led the the country through a volatile time where the US became the preeminent power in the world, even though much of what led to the downfall of the Soviet Union happened during Reagan's Administration.

Grade: B+

OVERALL

OVERALL

• He was not a conservative or a progressive
• He handled the variety of global situations that presented themselves to him as best as he could
• Bush's decisions on how to end the Cold War were just as important as Truman's decisions on how to start the Cold War

Overall Grade: C