George H. W. Bush

George H. W. Bush married Barbara Pierce in 1945 and the couple has six children, namely, George W. Bush, Robin Bush, Jeb Bush, Neil Bush, Marvin P. Bush and Dorothy Bush Koch.

George Herbert Walker Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts on June 12, 1924 to Prescott Sheldon Bush and Dorothy Bush. Prescott was an investment banker and a Senator from Connecticut and Dorothy was from a prominent family.

He received his schooling from the Greenwich Country Day School and later went to Phillips Academy in Massachusetts where he held many leadership posts.

On his 18th birthday he joined the US Navy and served as a naval aviator during the World War II. At that time he was the youngest naval aviator.

He resumed his studies after the end of war. Following in his father’s footsteps, he graduated from Yale University in 1948 with a Bachelors of Arts degree in economics. At Yale he was the president of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity and member of the Phi Beta Kappa and Skull and Bones secret society.

He shifted to Texas after rejecting a position in his father’s firm and began working as an oil field supplies salesman for Dresser Industries. He later co-founded the Bush-Overbey Oil Development Company (1951) and the Zapata Petroleum Corporation (1953).

By 1964 George H.W. Bush was a millionaire and started nurturing political ambitions. He became the Chairman of the Republican Party for Harris County, Texas, the same year.

In 1964, he contested for a U.S. Senate seat from Texas but lost to Democrat Ralph Yarborough in 1964.

In 1966 he was elected to the US House of Representatives from Texas and he served for two terms. He gave up this seat in 1970 to run for Senate but lost.

Over the next few years he served in several prestigious positions including US Ambassador to the United Nations (1971–73), Chairman of the Republican National Committee (1973), US Envoy to China, Director of the Central Intelligence (1976–77) and the Director of the Council on Foreign Relations (1977–79).

In 1980, he campaigned for the Republican nomination for President but lost to Ronald Reagan. He became the Vice-President under Reagan and when the latter was re-elected in 1984, George H. W. Bush again held the same office.

In 1990 Saddam Hussein led Iraq to invade Kuwait for its huge oil reserves and later demanded control over half of the country. George H. W. Bush believed it was unfair and asked several European and Arab countries to oppose it, and led the formation of a coalition of allied nations. The coalition forces registered a decisive victory and drove the Iraqi military from Kuwait. Bush’s popularity rose considerably following this incident.