{"id":18204,"date":"2024-07-25T08:00:37","date_gmt":"2024-07-25T12:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/?p=18204"},"modified":"2025-01-15T00:29:06","modified_gmt":"2025-01-15T05:29:06","slug":"41-bush-george-h-w","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/?p=18204","title":{"rendered":"#41. Bush, George Herbert Walker"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Linda Lou Burton posting from Little Rock, Arkansas \u2013<\/em>George Herbert Walker Bush (1924 \u20132018) was the 41st<\/sup> President of the United States from 1989-1993. Described as \u201ca gracious and underappreciated man,\u201d George himself said his legacy was \u201clost between the glory of Reagan\u2026and the trials and tribulations of my sons.\u201d That may be true when you focus only on \u201cpresidential politics\u201d \u2013 eight years of a vice-presidency beneath the neon glow of a Hollywood star; then eight years as a Dad to the 43rd<\/sup> President of the United States, who stirred up a headline controversy or two. (And another son who tried.) And then there was the 1992 \u201cBar Code Incident\u201d which, as even mischaracterized media blurbs tend to do, stuck to George like glue. I admit, that\u2019s a thing I remember about George H W. The insinuation that \u201cMy gosh, he is so out of touch he doesn\u2019t know that groceries are scanned<\/em> nowadays.\u201d Well, that\u2019s a silly measure of a person to start with, but digging deeper, however wealthy his childhood and however exclusive his education, George Herbert Walker Bush was no spoiled brat. This is a guy who signed up for the Navy on his 18th<\/sup> birthday in 1942; was commissioned as a naval aviator just before his 19th\u00a0 <\/sup>(youngest ever); and at the age of 20, on September 2, 1944 while flying a Grumman TBM Avenger, was shot down over the Pacific Island of Chichijima.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>A Grumman TBM Avenger, in case you don\u2019t know diddle about fighter planes, was a torpedo bomber that flew off and back onto aircraft carriers in the Pacific Ocean during WWII. George\u2019s squadron was assigned to the USS San Jacinto, but his plane didn\u2019t make it back that fateful day. George released his payload, hit his target, ejected over water, and floated in enemy waters before being rescued by the submarine USS Finback. His crewmates died, but his own survival after such a close brush with death made its mark on the rest of his life. Humility comes with that question: \u201cWhy was I spared?\u201d The Navy awarded him the Distinguished Flying Cross for his role in that mission. When he was discharged in 1945, he had flown 58 missions, completed 128 carrier landings, and recorded 1,228 hours of flight time. What did George do with the rest of his life? He lived 94 busy years, mostly in service to his country; he had a strong marriage and was father to six children; he founded a successful business; he studied hard and played well. He respected his heritage. And he graciously weathered the sticks and stones of public scrutiny.<\/p>\n

Pop and Poppy<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>George Herbert Walker Bush was born June 12, 1924, in Milton, Massachusetts, the second of the five children of Prescott and Dorothy Walker Bush \u2013 Prescott Jr, George, Nancy, Jonathan, and William. George was named after his maternal grandfather, George Herbert Walker, who was known as \u201cPop\u201d to the kids; so the nickname \u201cPoppy\u201d was given to little George. Yes, the family was wealthy \u2013 thanks to railroads and investment banking; they weathered the depression relatively unscathed. George spent most of his early years in Greenwich, Connecticut, where his parents settled in 1925. But grandpa \u201cPop\u201d also owned an estate in Kennebunkport, Maine and built a cottage there as a wedding present for Prescott and Dorothy. So little Poppy had pretty places to be and nice things to do growing up. He attended Greenwich Country Day School, then Phillips Academy \u2013 a prestigious private school in Massachusetts \u2013 from 1937-1942. Phillips Academy, also known as Andover, is the oldest incorporated academy in the United States, established in 1778. Its founders were strongly associated with the Patriot cause, they manufactured gunpowder for the Continental Army. John Hancock signed the academy\u2019s articles of incorporation; Paul Revere designed the academy\u2019s seal. That seal includes the mottos: \u201cThe end depends upon the beginning<\/em>\u201d and “Not for oneself.”<\/em> Those mottos must have made an impression.<\/p>\n

No Time Wasted<\/strong><\/p>\n

George crammed so much into the years between leaving Andover in 1942 at age 18 and graduating from Yale in 1948 at age 24 I\u2019ll bullet it:<\/p>\n