Home > West's Encyclopedia of American Law > Bush, George Herbert Walker

George Herbert Walker Bush capped a full and distinguished political career with his election in 1988 as President of the United States. Bush became the forty-first chief executive after serving for eight years as the nation's vice president under RONALD REAGAN. The most memorable events of his one-term presidency were the Desert Shield and Desert Storm Operations in the Persian Gulf in 1991.

Although Bush was enormously popular in the aftermath of the Persian Gulf War, his standing with the U.S. public plummeted as domestic problems and a sour economy took their toll. In 1992, Bush lost the presidential election to Democratic challenger BILL CLINTON, the governor of Arkansas. Clinton's campaign offered a promise of change and a "new covenant" between citizens and government.

Born June...