MY VIEW OF PRESIDENT GEORGE H.W.BUSH
When I heard about the death of President George H. W. Bush early Saturday morning I began to reflect on his life. Bush was definitely a brave man and a great American. He flew Torpedo bombers off of the carrier San Jacinto during WW2 and flew a total of 58 combat missions during the war. In 1944 his squadron suffered a 300% casualty rate. Bush came very close to death on two missions. He was forced to make a crash landing in the ocean after a combat mission and was rescued by a destroyer. His closest brush with death came when he was part of an attack on a radio tower on the island of Chi Chi Jima. His torpedo bomber came under severe antiaircraft fire and was hit. A torpedo bomber had a crew of three and Bush ordered his men to bail out. Unfortunately Bush was the only crew member to exit the plane alive and safely parachute into the ocean. He inflated a raft and found himself slowly drifting toward the shore of Chi Chi Jima. Japanese soldiers were waiting patiently to capture him as soon as he reached land. Unknown to Bush eight American flyers had been captured, killed, and eaten by the Japanese on Chi Chi Jima. He was about to become their ninth meal. Just then the American submarine U.S.S. Finback surfaced close to Bush's raft and rescued him from certain death after a four hour ordeal. A crewman filmed the rescue from the conning tower of the Finback.. Bush won three Air Medals as well as a Presidential Unit Citation.
President Bush was the epitome of an establishment Republican. He served as a Congressman, Ambassador to China, and the director of the CIA. Bush served as a loyal Vice President to Ronald Reagan. When Reagan finished his eight years in office he enjoyed a 65% approval rating. I voted for Bush in 1988 for the same reason that millions of other voters voted for him. We wanted the Reagan Revolution to continue. In other words we wanted the same conservative policies that had transformed the country while Reagan was president. Bush started off well when he told the voters "Read my lips, no new taxes". Unfortunately he was making troubling statements about a kinder, gentler nation. Implying that the Reagan conservatism of the 1980's was unkind. Later he would talk of a "New World Order". Which reflects Bush's globalist world view. In spite of this globalist view Bush's strong suit was foreign policy. Although Reagan's foreign policy laid the groundwork for the collapse of the Soviet Union and the reunification of Germany it would actually happen on Bush's watch. He did a masterful job of overseeing the transition and the end of the Cold War.
Bush was very decisive in regards to Iraq when Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait. There was no way that we could allow Iraq to impede the free flow of oil in that region of the world. Where Bush went wrong I believe was using the United Nations to expel Saddam Hussein. The United Nations resolutions only called for the expulsion of Iraq from Kuwait. Bush did this very effectively but only destroyed half of Hussein's forces. In my view he stopped the war too soon, however. Secondly I believe that Bush missed a golden opportunity to invade Iraq and remove Hussein from power. He demonized Hussein by comparing him to Hitler. It would be like the allies driving the German's back inside of their borders and ending the war. That is without invading Germany and allowing Hitler to remain in power. If Bush had invaded Iraq he could have overthrown Saddam and there would have been very little resistance. In Saddam's mind he believed that since Bush allowed him to remain in power without being overthrown, this was a victory for him. The reason that we had so much resistance after George W. Bush invaded in 2003 was because Saddam Hussein had twelve years to prepare for invasion. In addition there was more foreign terrorists involved in the Iraq resistance after 2003.
Another mistake that Bush 41 made in Iraq was sending mixed messages to the Iraq Shiite Muslims to rebel against Hussein. The Shiite Iraqi's rose up and were violently killed and arrested by Saddam's forces. We stood by and let it happen.George W. Bush's invasion of Iraq in 2003 finished what his father failed to do at a much higher cost. After the Persian Gulf War Bush's approval rating was over 90%. On the domestic front Bush messed up royally when he vowed that there would be no new taxes during his campaign and then allowed the Democrats to talk him into a tax increase on the promise that they would cut spending. Bush went back on his promise and it cost him when he ran against Clinton in 1992. As usual the Democrats reneged on their promise and never cut spending. Additionally Bush ran a terrible campaign in 1992. In one debate Bush could be seen continually looking at his watch which made it appear that he was disinterested and wanted the debate to be over. Clinton was beatable but several factors were working against Bush in my opinion. Bush was dealing with a thyroid disease and the medicine he was taking was affecting him in a negative way. Secondly Bush's brilliant young campaign advisor Lee Atwater had recently died of a brain tumor. Atwater was a pit bull and not having him on his team in 1992 was decisive.
In 1991 and 1992 there was a slight economic downturn. It was a mild recession and only affected the white collar workers in management. There was a downsizing going on in industry. It was not a blue collar recession. Clinton, however: exploited the economic downturn to his advantage. The booming Clinton economy was a matter of timing. The economy, which can be attributed to the Reagan era, was booming as Clinton entered office and was on a downturn as he left. I used to like the Bush's much more than I do now. Even though they were blue bloods, globalists and political moderates I always thought they they had integrity. They always claimed to be Conservatives but they proved themselves to be moderates and in some cases as liberal as the Democrats. George H. W. Bush had a chance to continue the Reagan Revolution but his true colors spoiled any chance of that. This is why he was defeated in 1992. This is the same reason that the Republicans lost the House back in November. Both Bush 41 and 43 disappointed me when they cozied up to the low life Clinton's and Obama after they left the presidency. They never defended themselves against their detractors while they were in office. Bush 41 never spoke out against Clinton and Bush 43 never spoke out against Obama during the whole eight years of both administrations. They have been very critical, however; of the Trump administration which solidifies their firm position as establishment Republicans to me. George H. W. Bush was a good man and loved his country but he missed his opportunity to go down in history as a great American president.
President Bush was the epitome of an establishment Republican. He served as a Congressman, Ambassador to China, and the director of the CIA. Bush served as a loyal Vice President to Ronald Reagan. When Reagan finished his eight years in office he enjoyed a 65% approval rating. I voted for Bush in 1988 for the same reason that millions of other voters voted for him. We wanted the Reagan Revolution to continue. In other words we wanted the same conservative policies that had transformed the country while Reagan was president. Bush started off well when he told the voters "Read my lips, no new taxes". Unfortunately he was making troubling statements about a kinder, gentler nation. Implying that the Reagan conservatism of the 1980's was unkind. Later he would talk of a "New World Order". Which reflects Bush's globalist world view. In spite of this globalist view Bush's strong suit was foreign policy. Although Reagan's foreign policy laid the groundwork for the collapse of the Soviet Union and the reunification of Germany it would actually happen on Bush's watch. He did a masterful job of overseeing the transition and the end of the Cold War.
Bush was very decisive in regards to Iraq when Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait. There was no way that we could allow Iraq to impede the free flow of oil in that region of the world. Where Bush went wrong I believe was using the United Nations to expel Saddam Hussein. The United Nations resolutions only called for the expulsion of Iraq from Kuwait. Bush did this very effectively but only destroyed half of Hussein's forces. In my view he stopped the war too soon, however. Secondly I believe that Bush missed a golden opportunity to invade Iraq and remove Hussein from power. He demonized Hussein by comparing him to Hitler. It would be like the allies driving the German's back inside of their borders and ending the war. That is without invading Germany and allowing Hitler to remain in power. If Bush had invaded Iraq he could have overthrown Saddam and there would have been very little resistance. In Saddam's mind he believed that since Bush allowed him to remain in power without being overthrown, this was a victory for him. The reason that we had so much resistance after George W. Bush invaded in 2003 was because Saddam Hussein had twelve years to prepare for invasion. In addition there was more foreign terrorists involved in the Iraq resistance after 2003.
Another mistake that Bush 41 made in Iraq was sending mixed messages to the Iraq Shiite Muslims to rebel against Hussein. The Shiite Iraqi's rose up and were violently killed and arrested by Saddam's forces. We stood by and let it happen.George W. Bush's invasion of Iraq in 2003 finished what his father failed to do at a much higher cost. After the Persian Gulf War Bush's approval rating was over 90%. On the domestic front Bush messed up royally when he vowed that there would be no new taxes during his campaign and then allowed the Democrats to talk him into a tax increase on the promise that they would cut spending. Bush went back on his promise and it cost him when he ran against Clinton in 1992. As usual the Democrats reneged on their promise and never cut spending. Additionally Bush ran a terrible campaign in 1992. In one debate Bush could be seen continually looking at his watch which made it appear that he was disinterested and wanted the debate to be over. Clinton was beatable but several factors were working against Bush in my opinion. Bush was dealing with a thyroid disease and the medicine he was taking was affecting him in a negative way. Secondly Bush's brilliant young campaign advisor Lee Atwater had recently died of a brain tumor. Atwater was a pit bull and not having him on his team in 1992 was decisive.
In 1991 and 1992 there was a slight economic downturn. It was a mild recession and only affected the white collar workers in management. There was a downsizing going on in industry. It was not a blue collar recession. Clinton, however: exploited the economic downturn to his advantage. The booming Clinton economy was a matter of timing. The economy, which can be attributed to the Reagan era, was booming as Clinton entered office and was on a downturn as he left. I used to like the Bush's much more than I do now. Even though they were blue bloods, globalists and political moderates I always thought they they had integrity. They always claimed to be Conservatives but they proved themselves to be moderates and in some cases as liberal as the Democrats. George H. W. Bush had a chance to continue the Reagan Revolution but his true colors spoiled any chance of that. This is why he was defeated in 1992. This is the same reason that the Republicans lost the House back in November. Both Bush 41 and 43 disappointed me when they cozied up to the low life Clinton's and Obama after they left the presidency. They never defended themselves against their detractors while they were in office. Bush 41 never spoke out against Clinton and Bush 43 never spoke out against Obama during the whole eight years of both administrations. They have been very critical, however; of the Trump administration which solidifies their firm position as establishment Republicans to me. George H. W. Bush was a good man and loved his country but he missed his opportunity to go down in history as a great American president.
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ReplyDeleteBush 41 reaffirmed China's most favored-nation trading status by failing to take them to task over Tiananmen Square, refusing to compel his red Chinese friends to make government, property and liberty reforms the Chinese people deserve. He was afraid GM, GE and others would be damaged by such demands, rather than concerned with the damage American industries would suffer while trading with a communist nation that more or less condones/enjoys the abject abuse of its people. The past thirty years of example speak volumes.
ReplyDeleteBush 41 intended to be EVERYBODY'S President, especially when it meant alienating the American working class from their abilities to prosper. His reaffirming agency rulemaking authority with his various labor and environmental amendments left affected laws open to interpretation, and politicization by later administration (look at Clinton's EPA endangerment findings regarding PM 2.5, Obama's EPA endangerment findings regarding CO2). Then there's the "free trade" B.S. -- the implication that places like Mexico had what we wanted, and we had what they wanted (truth is some avaricious U.S. industries wanted their cheap labor, while Mexican leadership sought to exploit everyone through the process) that did even more to remove America's industrial might.
I attained my first professional job about the time Bush 41's horrible policies were being emplaced, and I had the dubious opportunity to monitor and report on what transpired. I was alarmed, embarrassed by what I uncovered, and embarrassed that I'd ever liked Bush 41.
He was a horrible President.