Post date: Dec 27, 2012 11:52:15 AM
George Herbert Walker Bush, the 41st president of the United States, enters the intensive care unit of a Houston hospital. The 88-year-old has been treated for bronchitis in recent weeks.
WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES (JANUARY 20, 1989) (RESTRICTED POOL) - Former President George H.W. Bush is in the intensive care unit of a Houston hospital and is in "guarded condition," family spokesman Jim McGrath said Wednesday (December 26).
"The president is alert and conversing with medical staff, and is surrounded by family,"McGrath said in a statement."Following a series of setbacks including a persistent fever, President Bush was admitted to the intensive care unit at Methodist Hospital on Sunday where he remains in guarded condition," McGrath said.
The 88-year-old was admitted to the hospital November 23 for bronchitis.
Bush, the 41st U.S. president and a Republican, took office in 1989 and served one term in the White House. The father of former President George W. Bush, he also served as a congressman, ambassador to the United Nations, envoy to China, CIA director and vice president for two terms under Ronald Reagan.
George H.W. Bush steered the United States into the post-Cold War world and led Western forces into the Gulf War against Iraq but failed to win a second term as president amid economic stagnation.
Bush, a Republican who took office in 1989, routed Iraq after Saddam Hussein had invaded Kuwait in 1990 and his leadership then sent his approval ratings soaring to the 90 percent range. But just 20 months later he would be defeated in his re-election bid by Democrat Bill Clinton.
George Herbert Walker Bush was a member of a patrician New England family and had prospered as a Texas oilman before going into public service. When he entered theWhite House as the 41st president, he brought a very impressive resume -- Republican congressman, U.N. ambassador, envoy to China, CIA director and two-term vice president under Ronald Reagan.
Bush, a Navy pilot who was shot down over the Pacific during World War Two, had been derided by political detractors as a "wimp" when he was vice president but he did not hesitate to use force as a foreign policy tool during his presidency.
He sent paratroops to overthrow Panamanian strongman Manuel Noriega in December 1989 and provided air cover to help Philippine President Corazon Aquino survive a coup the same year.
Then came Iraq's invasion of Kuwait on Aug. 2, 1990. Bush's strong response and the eventual allied victory in forcing out Iraqi troops led for a time to a national euphoria.
The war against Saddam pushed Bush to a level of unprecedented popularity -- approval ratings in the 90 percent range that were equalled only by his son after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on America.
A decade later, the younger Bush would invade Iraq and drive Saddam from power.
The first Bush presidency came as the Cold War ended with the collapse of the Soviet communist empire, leaving the United States the sole surviving military superpower.
"It was on his watch that the Berlin Wall fell and his work and General Scowcroft's work as his national security advisor should be distinguished and judged a success in American and global terms and distinct from his domestic and economic achievements," said Harvard University Professor Richard Parker.
While he had successes abroad, the U.S. economy would prove to be Bush's downfall, costing him the 1992 re-election race won by Bill Clinton.
But eight years later Bush regained some level of satisfaction or retribution when George W. was elected to succeed Clinton. John Adams was the only other person to serve as president and have a son also elected to that position.
The main reason for Bush's 1992 loss was tied to a stagnant economy that refused to turn around, sending the U.S. jobless rate to 7.5 percent and leaving Bush open to charges Republican policies had failed.
"He was great, I think Henry Kissinger said, with tactics but in terms of an overall strategic vision he really didn't have one, in fact he referred to it as 'that vision thing' and that's really a major achilles heel if you're going to be president or a leader of a great nation," said Boston University Professor Tom Whalen.
In 1988 Bush campaigned behind the line "read my lips -- no new taxes" but he broke that pledge in 1990, which became an issue in his campaign against Clinton. But some political analysts said Bush's re-election effort was hurt more by his decision to coast after the 1991 war with Baghdad.
Not surprisingly for a president who was clearly happier managing overseas crises than righting problems at home, the sole major initiative was an international one.
He sent his secretary of state, James Baker, to the Middle East to set in motion the process that led to the late 1991 peace conference in Madrid and eventually to the signing -- at Clinton's White House -- of a peace pact between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization on Sept. 13, 1993.
Bush was born June 12, 1924, in Milton, Massachusetts, the son of financier Prescott Bush -- later a senator from Connecticut -- and Dorothy Bush.
He had a patrician upbringing in the posh New York City suburb of Greenwich,Connecticut, and was educated at exclusive private schools and Yale University. He was a millionaire both in his own right and by inheritance.
Bush knew war firsthand, having left school at 18 to become the Navy's youngest pilot in World War Two. He flew 58 missions off carriers in the Pacific, was shot down at sea and rescued by a U.S. submarine.
As the war neared an end in January 1945, Bush married sweetheart Barbara Pierce. They had five children and 12 grandchildren.
After the war, Bush rejected a Wall Street job and moved to Texas to start an oil drilling firm that made a fortune.
He began a rise to national prominence by winning elections to the House of Representatives from Texas in 1966 and 1968 but failed in two bids for a Texas Senateseat.
His big step toward the pinnacle of power came in the 1980 presidential campaign. He was the only Republican to defeat Reagan in several primary elections, calling Reagan's fiscal policy "voodoo economics."
Reagan swept him aside but turned to Bush to balance the ticket with his moderate stands.
Eight years later Bush was able to campaign for the presidency as the anointed heir to Reagan's conservative mantle. He breezed into office, thrashing the hapless Democratic nominee, Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis, in 40 of the 50 U.S. states.
After losing to Clinton, Bush and his wife returned to Houston.
Queen Elizabeth awarded him an honorary knighthood in November 1993 for his leadership during the Gulf War.
He later became good friends with Clinton, joining him to raise money for survivors of the Dec. 26, 2004, tsunami in Asia that killed more than 300,000 people.
When George W. won the presidency in a disputed election over Democrat Al Gore in 2000, the senior Bush tried to keep a low profile so his son would not be accused of just being an adjunct to his father. But when seen in public like the swearing in on the Capitol steps, Bush could not easily hide his pride. He called his son "43" for the number of his presidency and in return was called "41" for being the 41st president of the United States.