Children: George W. (1946-), Robin (1949-1953), John Ellis "Jeb" (1953-), Neil (1955-), Marvin (1956-), Dorothy "Doro" (1959-)
Career: Businessman, public official
Political Party: Republican
Writings:Looking Forward (1987); A World Transformed (1998); Heartbeat (2001)
George H.W. Bush Trivia:
Graduated Yale University (1948). March 24, 1989 the tanker Exxon Valdez leaks history's largest oil spill, 11.3 million gallons, in Alaska. December 20 Bush authorizes the use of U.S. troops to remove Panama's General Manuel Noriega. Noriega avoids capture and on December 24 seeks asylum in the Vatican embassy. Eventually surrenders to U.S. authorities on January 3, 1990. August 2, 1990 Iraq, under President Saddam Hussein, invades Kuwait. August 7, Operation Desert Shield begins. October 2, the U.S. Senate confirms 90-9, David H. Souter as Supreme Court Justice. October 3, East and West Germany merge to become one Germany. January 12, 1991 Congress authorizes President Bush to wage war against Iraq. January 16, Desert Storm begins. February 24, the ground assault against Iraq begins. February 28, a cease fire is granted to Iraq and the "Mother Of All Wars" is ended. April 1, the Warsaw Pact is dissolved an on April 9, Georgia SSR votes to secede from the USSR and the collapse of the Soviet Union begins. August 19, Soviet hardliners stage a coup attempt against Mikhail Gorbachev. The coup is crushed, but Gorbachev resigns as head of the Communist Party on August 24. September 6, the USSR recognizes the independence of the three Baltic republics. October 15, after a bitter partisan debate, Clarence Thomas is confirmed by a 52-48 vote as Supreme Court Justice. December 8, Russia, Byelorussia and Ukraine form The Commonwealth of Independent States. November 3, 1992 Bush is defeated in his bid for reelection. When Bush received his military commission in 1943, he became, at age 19, the youngest pilot in the Navy. Bush is related to Benedict Arnold, Marilyn Monroe, Winston Churchill, Presidents Franklin Pierce, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt and Gerald Ford. Bush became the first vice president ever to serve as acting president when Ronald Reagan underwent surgery for three hours in 1985. George Herbert Walker Bush is the second man in US Presidential history whose son became President. In 1992, while at a formal dinner in Japan Bush became ill and vomited on the prime minister of Japan, then fainted.
