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President George Bush:
Lessons of Leadership
Student Handout
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GEORGE HERBERT WALKER BUSH
George Herbert Walker Bush was born on June 12, 1924 in Milton, Massachusetts to Prescott Sheldon Bush and Dorothy Walker Bush. When he graduated from Andover in 1942, Bush chose not to accept immediate admission to Yale University but enlisted in the U.S. Navy Reserve instead. After completing flight training at the Naval Air Station, he was commissioned an ensign, and, late in 1943, joined the new light-aircraft carrier U.S.S. San Jacinto as a member of Torpedo Bomber Squadron VT51. For a while the youngest pilot in the Navy, he saw a considerable amount of hazardous action in the Pacific.
Bush and his squadron were rotated home late in 1944 and he arrived in Greenwich on Christmas Eve. Two weeks later, on January 6, 1945, he was married to Barbara Pierce. The young couple spent the remaining months of the war in Virginia Beach, Virginia, outside Norfolk, where Bush trained new pilots.
Following a family tradition, Bush matriculated at Yale, after his release from active duty in September 1945, where in three years he earned a B.A. in economics and a Phi Beta Kappa key.
An offer to join Brown Brothers, Harriman and Company awaited Bush upon his graduation from Yale, but he had other plans. Taking his wife and infant son to the oilfields of Texas, he worked for Dresser Industries, an oilfield supply company. After sweeping warehouses and painting machinery, he was made a salesman of drilling bits.
In 1950, with John Overby, Bush set up in Midland the Bush-Overby Company, which dealt in oil and gas properties. Three years later he joined with Hugh and William Liedtke to form the Zapata Petroleum Corporation, which absorbed Bush-Overby. In 1954 Bush co-founded and became the president of Zapata Offshore Company.
By 1964 Bush had become active in Republican politics and was serving a term as party chairman in Harris County.
Dominating Bush's domestic agenda during 1989, his first year in office, were measures to rescue the nation's savings and loan system and to toughen U.S. efforts against illegal drugs. He met with Mikhail Gorbachev, president of the USSR, in December 1989 at Malta, where they agreed to negotiate an end to production of chemical weapons, cut long-range missiles by up to 50 percent, and reduce conventional forces in Europe. Later that month, Bush ordered more than 24,000 U.S. troops into Panama to oust the government of General Manuel Antonio Noriega. Taken into custody and flown to the United States, Noriega was later tried and convicted on drug and racketeering charges.
After Iraq seized Kuwait in August 1990, Bush immediately sent U.S. troops to protect Saudi Arabia and began a vigorous campaign for an international effort to reverse the Iraqi conquest. After the UN-imposed deadline for Iraqi withdrawal expired on January 15, 1991, a U.S.-led coalition launched a major offensive. Five weeks of air warfare led to a ground attack that drove the Iraqi army from Kuwait in less than 100 hours.
During his last weeks in office, Bush remained active in foreign policy. He sent troops to restore order and feed the starving in Somalia, ordered new air strikes against Iraq, and signed a wide ranging arms reduction treaty with Russian President Boris Yeltsin.
World War II carrier pilot in the Pacific
U.S. House of Representatives (1966-1970)
Ambassador to the United Nations (1971-72)
Chairman of the Republican National Committee (1973-74)
Chief liaison officer in Beijing (1974-75)
Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (1976-77)
Vice President of the United States (1981-1988)
President of the United States (1989-1993)
Check out the following World Wide Web sites:
Bush's letter of resignation from the NRA:
http://www.nando.net/newsroom/nt/510bushlet.html
Government:
http://thomas.loc.gov/
Unabridged History of the Gulf War: Veteran's Home Page:
http://www.ides.com./Gulf_War/history.html
White House:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/
There is no need to wait until some perfect future time in the adult world to begin public service. You can make an authentic impact right now in your own school and community. Service can be very individual and private (i.e. volunteering your time at a local senior citizen's center). But it can also be done through political action. Your school offers just such an opportunity through it's student council, clubs and classes. The steps outlined here offer one way to begin to make a difference.
Task: To design and conduct a political campaign to effect authentic, significant change.
Take a few moments to reflect in your personal journal. Think about your school and it's students. Are there issues which need to be addressed? What does your inner sense tell you? Imagine the ideal school. Describe how students would interact. In what ways could students take on responsibilities within the school and community? What could students do now to make a positive impact in the school and community?
Partner with a group of students who have similar interests and ideas. Form a political party and nominate officers for the student council.
First, write a party platform. This is the agenda for change that you hope to accomplish after being elected to office. The reflection entry in your journal may be a good source of ideas. (For example, one plank of your platform could be dedicating your party to serving the community.) Secondly, write a motto to represent your party during the upcoming campaign. A review of successful advertising slogans may provide direction and models.
Design a logo to be used on all campaign materials: buttons, posters, banners, balloons, pencils, t-shirts, hats, etc. Give careful consideration to how your platform can be visually represented. Choice of color, for example, is an important decision.
Select a song which is in the public domain. (That way, you will not have to worry about copyright issues.) Rewrite the lyrics into a campaign song. Try to combine the message of your platform with a sense of humor.
Combine the efforts of the campaign into a "road show." Using the campaign song as a centerpiece, design a two minute skit which could be performed at various times and places around your school's campus (i. e. in the halls during class breaks). Include stage movement and action. Insert a brief speech or two between verses. Incorporate the motto and logo. An old fashioned barbershop quartet might be used as a model. Or use a rap format.
An important part of planning the campaign is determining a budget. Check to see if your school has regulations limiting campaign expenses. Determine the source of funds, these could include working in the neighborhood by mowing yards, raking leaves, clearing snow off sidewalks, babysitting, watering plants and walking dogs. This would be especially appropriate if community service was a part of your platform. Present both a preliminary budget and final expense report to your teacher/ faculty advisor or the principal. Use a spreadsheet from the school's computer lab.
At the conclusion of the campaign, return to your reflective journal and write about the process. Were you able to effect positive change within your school's community through political action? What was especially effective? In retrospect, what do you wish would have been done differently?
After you watch the program, respond to these questions:
1. What opportunities exist in your school and community to become a "point of light?"
2. President Bush offers several truisms for advice. Select one and explain how it has already played an important role in your life.
School to Work Transition
Public service offers a myriad of career opportunities for people with a variety of talents, skills and abilities. Here are some examples. Pick one that interests you and explore it as a career possibility. What does the person do on a daily basis? What educational background and work experience is necessary? Where is the work done? What are the rewards? You may be surprised by what you find!
- City Planner
- Documentary Filmmaker
- Economist
- Educator
- Family Counselor
- Fund-raiser
- Journalist
- Legislator
- Lobbyist
- Military
- Minister
- Public Defender
- Social Worker
- Symphony Conductor
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