George H. W. Bush, 1924-2018
Forty-first president, 1989–1993
A decorated naval aviator in World War II, George H. W. Bush went on to a successful career in the oil industry of West Texas. Subsequently, high-level governmental positions, including the directorship of the Central Intelligence Agency and the vice presidency, gave him one of the most distinguished résumés. He was the natural Republican nominee after Reagan and easily won the 1988 election over Massachusetts governor Michael Dukakis in a race that hinged on foreign policy and Bush’s advocacy of American power. In addition to successfully managing the complicated policy transitions prompted by the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War, he ma ...
A decorated naval aviator in World War II, George H. W. Bush went on to a successful career in the oil industry of West Texas. Subsequently, high-level governmental positions, including the directorship of the Central Intelligence Agency and the vice presidency, gave him one of the most distinguished résumés. He was the natural Republican nominee after Reagan and easily won the 1988 election over Massachusetts governor Michael Dukakis in a race that hinged on foreign policy and Bush’s advocacy of American power. In addition to successfully managing the complicated policy transitions prompted by the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War, he ma ...
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1994-95
Oil on canvas
125.1 x 86.7cm
NPG.95.120
Image and text © National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, 2023
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George H. W. Bush, 1924-2018
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