I had an opportunity to meet GHW Bush in the Vice President's Office for a Republican fund raising event. I was impressed to say the least and voted for him and admired him throughout his Presidency. I have always felt that the country made a serious wrong turn in voting for Clinton over a WW ll veteran and vastly experienced administrator and diplomat. RIP to one of the few remaining members of the greatest generation.Rest in Peace, Mr. President.
Given we were fighting a Cold War and given the Democrats ran the House the entire eight years....I'm thinking it would be maybe slightly less than Reagan but more than Carter. However, I honestly doubt the Beirut barracks bombing or the Iran-Contra scandal would have happened with him minding the store.RIP, I often wonder what the deficit would look like today if he had won in 1980.
I'm thinking the debt today could be half what it is. Reagan showed the otherwise fiscally conservative republicans how you could 'buy' votes with voodoo economics. The dems never were known for fiscal responsibility.Given we were fighting a Cold War and given the Democrats ran the House the entire eight years....I'm thinking it would be maybe slightly less than Reagan but more than Carter. However, I honestly doubt the Beirut barracks bombing or the Iran-Contra scandal would have happened with him minding the store.
And so....I doubt it would be substantially less, but......admittedly it's speculative all the way around.
Btw - for those who don't know - Bush was the other finalist (along with Rockefeller) to be Ford's VP after Nixon resigned and Ford had to appoint a VP. He also was offered a high-paying job in the late 70s by a successful businessman named H. Ross Perot.
I don't know your age TW, but this is what is astounding me on this whole deal.Okay, the coverage is already over the top. I feel bad for his family. I think he was a decent guy, and he served his country well in both war and peace, but the wall-to-wall coverage is going over the top. Three ex-presidents on 60 minutes? Flags at half staff for 30 days?
He was civil servant, not a god. The American people did not even re-elect him when they had a chance; they fired him.
I don't feel worse at his loss than when my garbage man died. At least I had met my garbage man and, other than Bush's WW II service, my garbage man had a much more unpleasant job.
A republic should not act this way when a civil servant passes on.
I wonder if lefties will be saying nice things about Trump when he dies. The far right’s reaction to Carter’s death will be interesting.
The 30 day half-staff thing is SOP for when presidents die.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Criticizing the media is frowned upon here, TW. Unless it fits a narrative, of course......Okay, the coverage is already over the top. I feel bad for his family. I think he was a decent guy, and he served his country well in both war and peace, but the wall-to-wall coverage is going over the top. Three ex-presidents on 60 minutes? Flags at half staff for 30 days?
He was civil servant, not a god. The American people did not even re-elect him when they had a chance; they fired him.
I don't feel worse at his loss than when my garbage man died. At least I had met my garbage man and, other than Bush's WW II service, my garbage man had a much more unpleasant job.
A republic should not act this way when a civil servant passes on.
Okay, the coverage is already over the top. I feel bad for his family. I think he was a decent guy, and he served his country well in both war and peace, but the wall-to-wall coverage is going over the top. Three ex-presidents on 60 minutes? Flags at half staff for 30 days?
He was civil servant, not a god. The American people did not even re-elect him when they had a chance; they fired him.
I don't feel worse at his loss than when my garbage man died. At least I had met my garbage man and, other than Bush's WW II service, my garbage man had a much more unpleasant job.
A republic should not act this way when a civil servant passes on.
I'm not saying Bush Sr. was a bad guy (he was generally an honorable man), and I feel bad for his family (they have lost their pater familias), just that the over-the-top coverage is unbecoming. Like I said, the American people, collectively, weighed him in the balance and fired him. The republic will survive his passing.I don't know your age TW, but this is what is astounding me on this whole deal.
I have a pretty damned good memory, and I lived through his entire Presidency and recall every single day. Other than the crass comments and - despite the disclaimers a lot of folks want to give now - many of the same folks lionizing him said a lot of the same things they say NOW about Trump.
He committed treason with Iran-Contra.
He committed adultery with his assistant, Jennifer Fitzgerald.
He was a racist.
We went to war with Iraq over his son's oil.
He was a pushover for the Commies that tried to oust Gorbachev in the 1991 coup
He was awful at picking Cabinet members and subordinates
He obstructed justice by his Weinberger pardon
ALL of those things were said about the man when he was President. Loud and long. I will grant Trump is a uniquely slimy President, but the fact is that many of the same folks now saying things like "this was before Republicans lost their minds" and "I could vote for him because it was never personal with him" are the same folks who pilloried him when he was running the show.
On the flip side, TW, Bush did have a rather lengthy and substantial service record in many areas. So maybe (being charitable here) it's the fact Bush's reach was so far in so many areas.