History UsefulNotes / GeorgeHWBush

* GenerationXerox: Bush's eldest son UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush later became president and many events of his presidency (The United States invading Iraq and the United States being hit by a historically destructive hurricane, just to give two examples) mirror that of Bush Sr's. W's handling of said events is generally considered to be less successful than when Bush Sr. handled them, leading to inevitable unflattering comparisons between the two, such as seen in [[http://www.cartoonistgroup.com/store/add.php?iid=13332 this political cartoon]]. Satirists often portrayed W. as a young child desperate to impress his father and Bush Sr. as an exasperated father struggling to control said child. Overlaps with WellDoneSonGuy and SequelDisplacement listed below.

Like his son, Bush was known for generally having a poor media image. He didn't have a very magnetic personality, usually coming across as a bit of a nerdy old man. This was especially bad [[ToughActToFollow since he came right after]] [[TheAce Reagan's movie-star persona]]. It also didn't help that he wasn't the best speaker, often stumbling during the presidential debates when he had to go off-script. (His son escalated this up to eleven.) This, along with domestic problems that will be described below, led to the Republican Party losing the moderate Democratic votes it gained under Reagan. Despite his bad speaking skills, though, Bush was actually pretty intelligent. Many people remember him for using the term "a thousand points of light," in his speeches. However, most forgot that it was a metaphor for a number of Americans [[{{Metaphorgotten}} stepping up to volunteer in charity organizations]] after government funding was cut for many federal programs. Since the phrase is almost always quoted out of context, making it seem completely meaningless at best and downright goofy at worst, that only exacerbates the problem. His satirical portrayal in media was largely guided by Dana Carvey's impression of him as a {{Cloudcuckoolander}}, though the impression became more of a character in itself as time went on. Also mocked were Bush's professed [[StockYuck dislike of broccoli]] and an incident in January 1992 where, overcome by illness at a state dinner, the president vomited into the lap of Kiichi Miyazawa, the Japanese prime minister, and then fainted. (This is why [[PersonAsVerb ''bush-suru'' means "to vomit" in Japanese]]). However, it would be the perceived deficiencies of Vice President UsefulNotes/DanQuayle that would become the main focus of satire during the presidency. No one who lived through the time will ever forget how he could not spell potato, and jokes about how the Secret Service had orders to kill Quayle if Bush died were shared by nearly everyone. (To be fair, Quayle has a law degree from the Indiana University Robert H. [=McKinney=] School of Law.)

-->-- '''Speech at the 1992 Republican National Convention'''

Bush has received a much higher retrospective rating in public opinion polls (as is common with most former presidents), however, and has even teamed up with Bill Clinton ([[DefeatMeansFriendship with whom he was a good friend later on in life]]) for several charitable projects such as providing relief for the victims of the 2005 tsunami in Asia and other natural disasters. His wife Barbara Pierce was often parodied for her white hair, which made her look older than her husband. She was a distant relative (fourth cousin, four times removed) of another president, UsefulNotes/FranklinPierce, making [[UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush their son]] a relative of two presidents. Having been married from 1945 until her passing in 2018, they are the longest-married presidential couple in American history. Bush's health had been pretty shaky in his final years; he was bound to a wheelchair, and he kept going in and out of hospitals. Didn't stop him from going skydiving, though.

He was the first sitting vice president to win election to the presidency since UsefulNotes/MartinVanBuren, 152 years earlier. Coincidentally, he also [[UsefulNotes/AndrewJackson a popular two-term president]] and lost reelection because of a weak economy.

He was the first sitting vice president to win election to the presidency since UsefulNotes/MartinVanBuren, 152 years earlier. Coincidentally, he also lost reelection because of a weak economy and was followed by [[UsefulNotes/AndrewJackson a popular two-term president]].