I believe that if we think back to the period from F.D.R. through, let us say, Bush I, until the end of the Cold War, we lived through an artificial period in which American interests and European interests essentially dovetailed.
In the wake of the collapse of the Soviet Union, everyone in America assumed that there would be wars to follow - wars over the reunification of Germany, over the nations within the sphere of Soviet influence, and more. There weren't, because George H. W. Bush's policies and diplomacy prevented that.
The first presidential election I really paid attention to was in 1988 when George H. W. Bush ran against Michael Dukakis.
What can be said of George H. W. Bush beyond the personal accolades is that, as president, he was a man who did nothing by half measures. He was hands-on, engaged, and thought deeply and seriously about the purpose of the nation.
I got into politics when I was 12, back when George H. W. Bush was running against Michael Dukakis. We did a mock election in my social studies class, and I remember how so much of what was thought of as liberal made sense to me.
In 1984, Geraldine Ferraro made history by participating in the first male-on-female vice presidential debate against George H. W. Bush. What should have been a groundbreaking moment for gender equality in politics became a forum for old gender expectations.
I think George H. W. Bush, who I had lots of disagreements with, remarkably managed the end of the Cold War in a way that history will look back at and say, 'Wow.'
Bill Clinton beat Bush's father, President George H. W. Bush, for the White House in 1992 by focusing on 'the economy, stupid' - and Clinton's victory led, in time, to the longest sustained boom in American history.
George H. W. Bush. He's been a classy guy in his post-presidency.
George H. W. Bush is gracious. And I'm not saying any of the former presidents aren't gracious, I'm just saying, this man is gracious.
