Before the ineptitude and deviance of George W. Bush, there was his slightly (very slightly) more coherent precursor/father, George H.W. Bush. By the time Bush Sr. hit the age of forty, he had become a millionaire by way of being a quintessential Texas oil man. And, because money and politics go hand in hand, Bush Sr. decided to join Congress as a member of the House of Representatives. This soon led to his position in the role of Director of the CIA. Running the CIA
Although he failed to win the Republican nomination for presidency when he ran in 1980, he was tapped by Ronald Reagan to be his vice presidential running mate. There has perhaps never been such a perfect pairing of whiteness in the history of whiteness (except maybe the Osmonds). As the 80s roared on in all of its grand decadence, Bush did his best to stand out from the shadows of Ronald and Nancy by championing the so-called “War on Drugs.” Reagan and Bush Sr.
Coasting on the coattails of Reagan’s “legacy” and running against a particularly uncharismatic Democratic candidate, former Massachusetts governor Michael Dukakis, Bush Sr. was able to transcend from vice president to president in 1988. His presidency was fraught with foreign affairs, most notably the first Gulf War, the fall of the Berlin Wall (which was unrelated to anything Bush Sr. did) and increased military activity in Panama. Bush Sr. also set a new precedent for the Republican stereotype of increasing taxes. By the end of his first term in 1992, the U.S. was more than ready for the liberal leadership of Bill Clinton. Though, of course, all of that got shot to shit in 2000.
