Name	George H. W. Bush
Office	41st President of the United States
Vicepresident	Dan Quayle
Term start	January 20, 1989
Term end	January 20, 1993
Predecessor	Ronald Reagan
Successor	Bill Clinton
Office2	43rd Vice President of the United States
President2	Ronald Reagan
Term start2	January 20, 1981
Term end2	January 20, 1989
Predecessor2	Walter Mondale
Successor2	Dan Quayle
Office3	11th Director of Central Intelligence
President3	Gerald Ford
Term start3	January 30, 1976
Term end3	January 20, 1977
Predecessor3	William Colby
Successor3	Stansfield Turner
Office4	Chief of the Liaison Office to the People's Republic of China
President4	Gerald Ford
Term start4	September 26, 1974
Term end4	December 7, 1975
Predecessor4	David Bruce
Successor4	Thomas Gates
Office5	48th Chairperson of the Republican National Committee
Predecessor5	Bob Dole
Successor5	Mary Smith
Term start5	1973
Term end5	1974
Ambassador from6	United States
Country6	the United Nations
Term start6	1971
Term end6	1973
President6	Richard Nixon
Predecessor6	Charles Yost
Successor6	John Scali
State7	Texas
District7	7th
Term start7	January 3, 1967
Term end7	January 3, 1971
Predecessor7	John Dowdy
Successor7	William Archer
Birth date	June 12, 1924
Birth place	Milton, Massachusetts
Party	Republican Party
Spouse	Barbara Pierce (1945–present)
Children	GeorgePaulineJebNeilMarvinDorothy
Alma mater	Yale University
Profession	Businessperson (Oil)
Religion	Episcopal
Website	Presidential Library and Museum
Signature	George HW Bush Signature.svg
Signature alt	Cursive signature in ink
Branch	United States Navy
Serviceyears	1942–1945
Rank
Unit	Fast Carrier Task Force
Battles	World War II
Awards	Distinguished Flying CrossAir Medal (3)Presidential Unit Citation }}

George Herbert Walker Bush (born June 12, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States (1989–93). He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President (1981–89), a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.

Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to Senator Prescott Bush and Dorothy Walker Bush. Following the attacks on Pearl Harbor in 1941, at the age of 18, Bush postponed going to college and became the youngest aviator in the US Navy at the time. He served until the end of the war, then attended Yale University. Graduating in 1948, he moved his family to West Texas and entered the oil business, becoming a millionaire by the age of 40.

He became involved in politics soon after founding his own oil company, serving as a member of the House of Representatives, among other positions. He ran unsuccessfully for president of the United States in 1980, but was chosen by party nominee Ronald Reagan to be the vice presidential nominee, and the two were subsequently elected. During his tenure, Bush headed administration task forces on deregulation and fighting drug abuse.

In 1988, Bush launched a successful campaign to succeed Reagan as president, defeating Democratic opponent Michael Dukakis. Foreign policy drove the Bush presidency; military operations were conducted in Panama and the Persian Gulf at a time of world change; the Berlin Wall fell in 1989 and the Soviet Union dissolved two years later. Domestically, Bush reneged on a 1988 campaign promise and after a struggle with Congress, signed an increase in taxes that Congress had passed. In the wake of economic concerns, he lost the 1992 presidential election to Democrat Bill Clinton.

Bush is the father of George W. Bush, the 43rd President of the United States, and Jeb Bush, former Governor of Florida. He is the last president to have been a World War II veteran. Until the election of his son George W. Bush to the presidency in 2000, Bush was commonly referred to simply as "George Bush"; since that time, the forms "George H. W. Bush", "Bush 41", "Bush the Elder", and "George Bush, Sr." have come into common use as a way to distinguish the father from the son.

Early years

George Herbert Walker Bush was born at 173 Adams Street in Milton, Massachusetts on June 12, 1924 to Prescott Sheldon Bush and Dorothy Walker Bush. The Bush family moved from Milton to Greenwich, Connecticut shortly after his birth.

Bush began his formal education at the Greenwich Country Day School in Greenwich. Beginning in 1936, he attended Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, where he held a large number of leadership positions including being the president of the senior class and secretary of the student council, president of the community fund-raising group, a member of the editorial board of the school newspaper, and captain of both the varsity baseball and soccer teams.

World War II

Following the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, Bush decided to join the US Navy, so after graduating from Phillips Academy earlier in 1942, he became a naval aviator at the age of 18. After completing the 10-month course, he was commissioned as an ensign in the U.S. Naval Reserve at Corpus Christi, Texas on June 9, 1943, just three days before his 19th birthday, which made him the youngest naval aviator to that date.

He was assigned to Torpedo Squadron (VT-51) as the photographic officer in September 1943. The following year, his squadron was based on the as a member of ''Air Group 51'', where his lanky physique earned him the nickname 'Skin'. During this time, the task force was victorious in one of the largest air battles of World War II: the Battle of the Philippine Sea.

After Bush's promotion to Lieutenant (junior grade) on August 1, the ''San Jacinto'' commenced operations against the Japanese in the Bonin Islands. Bush piloted one of four Grumman TBM Avenger aircraft from VT-51 that attacked the Japanese installations on Chichijima. His crew for the mission, which occurred on September 2, 1944, included Radioman Second Class John Delaney and Lieutenant Junior Grade William White. During their attack, the Avengers encountered intense anti-aircraft fire; Bush's aircraft was hit by flak and his engine caught on fire. Despite his plane being on fire, Bush completed his attack and released bombs over his target, scoring several damaging hits. With his engine afire, Bush flew several miles from the island, where he and one other crew member on the TBM Avenger bailed out of the aircraft; the other man's parachute did not open. It has not been determined which man bailed out with Bush as both Delaney and White were killed as a result of the battle. Bush waited for four hours in an inflated raft, while several fighters circled protectively overhead until he was rescued by the lifeguard submarine . For the next month he remained on the ''Finback'', and participated in the rescue of other pilots.

Bush subsequently returned to ''San Jacinto'' in November 1944 and participated in operations in the Philippines until his squadron was replaced and sent home to the United States. Through 1944, he flew 58 combat missions for which he received the Distinguished Flying Cross, three Air Medals, and the Presidential Unit Citation awarded to ''San Jacinto''.

Because of his valuable combat experience, Bush was reassigned to Norfolk Navy Base and put in a training wing for new torpedo pilots. He was later assigned as a naval aviator in a new torpedo squadron, VT-153, based at Naval Air Station Grosse Ile, Michigan. Upon the Japanese surrender in 1945, Bush was honorably discharged in September of that year.

Marriage and college years

George Bush married Barbara Pierce on January 6, 1945, only weeks after his return from the Pacific. The couple's first residence was a small rented apartment in Trenton, Michigan, near Bush's Navy assignment at NAS Grosse Ile. Their marriage produced six children: George Walker Bush (born 1946), Pauline Robinson Bush ("Robin", 1949–1953, died of leukemia), John Ellis "Jeb" Bush (born 1953), Neil Mallon Bush (born 1955), Marvin Pierce Bush (born 1956), and Dorothy Bush Koch (born 1959).

Bush had been accepted to Yale University prior to his enlistment in the military, and took up the offer after his discharge and marriage. While at Yale, he was enrolled in an accelerated program that allowed him to graduate in two and a half years, rather than four. He was a member of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity and was elected president. He also captained the Yale baseball team, and as a left-handed first baseman, played in the first two College World Series. As the team captain, Bush met Babe Ruth before a game during his senior year. Late in his junior year he was, like his father Prescott Bush (1917), initiated into the Skull and Bones secret society. He graduated as a member of the Phi Beta Kappa from Yale in 1948 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics.

Oil ventures

After graduating from Yale, Bush moved his family to West Texas. His father's business connections proved useful when he ventured into the oil business, starting as a sales clerk with Dresser Industries, a subsidiary of Brown Brothers Harriman. His father had served on the board of directors there for 22 years. Bush started the Bush-Overby Oil Development company in 1951 and co-founded the Zapata Petroleum Corporation, an oil company which drilled in the Permian Basin in Texas, two years later. He was named president of the Zapata Offshore Company, a subsidiary which specialized in offshore drilling, in 1954. The subsidiary became independent in 1958, so Bush moved the company from Midland, Texas to Houston. He continued serving as president of the company until 1964, and later chairman until 1966, but his ambitions turned political. By that time, Bush had become a millionaire.

Political career (1964–1980)

Congressional years

Bush served as Chairman of the Republican Party for Harris County, Texas in 1964, but wanted to be more involved in policy making, so he set his stakes high: he aimed for a US Senate seat from Texas. After winning the Republican primary, Bush faced his opponent, incumbent Democrat Ralph W. Yarborough. Yarborough attacked Bush as a right-wing extremist, and Bush lost the general election. Bush's ticket mate, Jack Crichton of Dallas, lost by a much wider margin in the same election to Governor John B. Connally, Jr. Bush and Crichton had shared some of the same podiums in the campaign.

Bush was elected in 1966 to a House of Representatives seat from the 7th District of Texas, defeating Democrat Frank Briscoe with 57% of the vote; he became the first Republican to represent Houston. His voting record in the House was generally conservative: Bush opposed the public accommodations contention in the 1964 Civil Rights Act, and supported open-housing legislation, something generally unpopular in his district. He supported the Nixon administration's Vietnam policies, but broke with Republicans on the issue of birth control. Despite being a first-term congressman, Bush was appointed to the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, where he voted to abolish the military draft. He was elected to a second term in 1968.

In 1970, Nixon convinced Bush to relinquish his House seat to again run for the Senate against Ralph Yarborough, a fierce Nixon critic. In the Republican primary, Bush easily defeated conservative Robert J. Morris, by a margin of 87.6 percent to 12.4 percent. However, former Congressman Lloyd Bentsen, a more moderate Democrat and native of Mission in south Texas, defeated Yarborough in the Democratic primary. Yarborough then endorsed Bentsen, who defeated Bush, 53.4 to 46.6 percent. Nixon came to Texas to campaign in Longview for Bush and his gubernatorial ticket-mate, Paul Eggers, a Dallas lawyer who was a close friend of U.S. Senator John G. Tower.

Ambassador to the United Nations

Following his 1970 loss, Bush was well known as a prominent Republican businessman from the "Sun Belt", a group of states in the Southern part of the country. Nixon noticed and appreciated the sacrifice Bush had made of his Congressional position, so he appointed him Ambassador to the United Nations. He was confirmed unanimously by the Senate, and served for two years, beginning in 1971.

Chairman of the Republican National Committee

Amidst the Watergate scandal, Nixon asked Bush to become chairman of the Republican National Committee in 1973. Bush accepted, and held this position when the popularity of both Nixon and the Republican Party plummeted. He defended Nixon steadfastly, but later as Nixon's complicity became clear, Bush focused more on defending the Republican Party, while still maintaining loyalty to Nixon. As chairman, Bush formally requested that Nixon eventually resign for the good of the Republican party. Nixon did this on August 9, 1974; Bush noted in his diary that "There was an aura of sadness, like somebody died... The [resignation] speech was vintage Nixon—a kick or two at the press—enormous strains. One couldn't help but look at the family and the whole thing and think of his accomplishments and then think of the shame... [Ford's swearing-in offered] indeed a new spirit, a new lift."

Envoy to China

Gerald Ford, Nixon's successor, appointed Bush to be Chief of the US Liaison Office in the People's Republic of China. Since the United States at the time maintained official relations with the Republic of China on Taiwan and not the People's Republic of China, the Liaison Office did not have the official status of an embassy and Bush did not formally hold the position of "ambassador", though he unofficially acted as one. The time that he spent in China – 14 months – was seen as largely beneficial for US-Chinese relations.

After Ford's accession to the presidency, Bush was under serious consideration for being nominated as Vice President. Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona declined to be considered and endorsed Bush, who, along with his supporters, reportedly mounted an internal campaign to get a nomination. Ford eventually narrowed his list to Nelson Rockefeller and Bush. However, White House Chief of Staff Donald Rumsfeld reportedly preferred Rockefeller over Bush. Rockefeller was finally named and confirmed.

Director of Central Intelligence

In 1976, Ford brought Bush back to Washington to become Director of Central Intelligence. He served in this role for 357 days, from January 30, 1976 to January 20, 1977. The CIA had been rocked by a series of revelations, including those based on investigations by the Church Committee regarding illegal and unauthorized activities by the CIA, and Bush was credited with helping to restore the agency's morale. In his capacity as DCI, Bush gave national security briefings to Jimmy Carter both as a Presidential candidate and as President-elect, and discussed the possibility of remaining in that position in a Carter administration but it was not to be.

Other positions

After a Democratic administration took power in 1977, Bush became chairman on the Executive Committee of the First International Bank in Houston. He later spent a year as a part-time professor of Administrative Science at Rice University's Jones School of Business beginning in 1978, the year it opened; Bush said of his time there, "I loved my brief time in the world of academia." Between 1977 and 1979, he was a director of the Council on Foreign Relations foreign policy organization.

1980 presidential campaign

Bush had decided in the late 1970s that he was going to run for president in 1980; in 1979, he attended 850 political events and traveled more than to campaign for the nation's highest office. In the contest for the Republican Party nomination, Bush stressed his wide range of government experience, while competing against rivals Senator Howard Baker of Tennessee, Senator Bob Dole of Kansas, Congressman John Anderson of Illinois (who would later run as an independent), Congressman Phil Crane, also of Illinois, former Governor John Connally of Texas, and the front-runner Ronald Reagan, former actor and Governor of California.

In the primary election, Bush focused almost entirely on the Iowa caucuses, while Reagan ran a more traditional campaign. Bush represented the centrist wing in the GOP, whereas Reagan represented conservatives. Bush famously labeled Reagan's supply side-influenced plans for massive tax cuts "voodoo economics". His strategy proved useful, to some degree, as he won in Iowa with 31.5 percent to Reagan's 29.4 percent. After the win, Bush stated that his campaign was full of momentum, or "Big Mo". As a result of the loss, Reagan replaced his campaign manager, reorganized his staff, and concentrated on the New Hampshire primary. The two men agreed to a debate in the state, organized by the ''Nashua Telegraph'', but paid for by the Reagan campaign. Reagan invited the other four candidates as well, but Bush refused to debate them, and eventually they left. The debate proved to be a pivotal moment in the campaign; when the moderator, John Breene, ordered Reagan's microphone turned off, his angry response, "I am paying for this microphone Mr. Greene", [sic] struck a chord with the public. Bush ended up losing New Hampshire's primary with 23 percent to Reagan's 50 percent. Bush lost most of the remaining primaries as well, and formally dropped out of the race in May of that year.

With his political future seeming dismal, Bush sold his house in Houston and bought his grandfather's estate in Kennebunkport, Maine, known as "Walker's Point". At the Republican Convention, however, Reagan selected Bush as his Vice Presidential nominee, placing him on the winning Republican presidential ticket of 1980.

Vice Presidency (1981–1989)

First Term (1981–1985)

As Vice President, Bush generally took on a low profile while recognizing the constitutional limits of the office; he avoided decision-making or criticizing Reagan in any way. As had become customary, he and his wife moved into the Vice President's residence at Number One Observatory Circle, about two miles from the White House. The Bushes attended a large number of public and ceremonial events in their positions, including many state funerals, which became a common joke for comedians. Mrs. Bush found the funerals largely beneficial, saying, "George met with many current or future heads of state at the funerals he attended, enabling him to forge personal relationships that were important to President Reagan." As the President of the Senate, Bush stayed in contact with members of Congress, and kept the president informed on occurrences on Capitol Hill.

On March 30, 1981, early into the administration, Reagan was shot and seriously wounded in Washington, D.C. Bush, second in command by the presidential line of succession, was in Dallas, Texas, and flew back to Washington immediately. Reagan's cabinet convened in the White House Situation Room, where they discussed various issues, including the availability of the Nuclear Football. When Bush's plane landed, his aides advised him to proceed directly to the White House by helicopter, as an image of the government still functioning despite the attack. Bush rejected the idea, responding, "Only the President lands on the South Lawn". This made a positive impression on Reagan, who recovered and returned to work within two weeks. From then on, the two men would have regular Thursday lunches in the Oval Office.

In December 1983 Bush flew to El Salvador and warned that country's military leaders to end their death squads and hold fully free elections or face the loss of U.S. aid. Bush's aides feared for his safety and thought about calling the meeting off when they discovered apparent blood stains on the floor of the presidential palace of Álvaro Magaña. Bush was never told of the aides' concerns and a tense meeting was held in which some of Magaña's personnel brandished semiautomatic weapons and refused requests to take them outside.

Bush was assigned by Reagan to chair two special task forces, on deregulation and international drug smuggling. The deregulation task force reviewed hundreds of rules, making specific recommendations on which ones to amend or revise, in order to curb the size of the federal government. The drug smuggling task force coordinated federal efforts to reduce the quantity of drugs entering the US. Both were popular issues with conservatives, and Bush, largely a moderate, began courting them through his work.

Second Term (1985–1989)

Reagan and Bush ran for reelection in 1984. The Democratic opponent, Walter Mondale, made history by choosing a woman as his running mate, New York Representative Geraldine Ferraro. She and Bush squared off in a single televised Vice Presidential debate. Serving as a contrast to the Ivy-League educated Bush, Ferraro represented a "blue-collar" district in Queens, New York; this, coupled with her popularity among female journalists, left Bush at a disadvantage. However, the Reagan-Bush ticket won in a landslide against the Mondale-Ferraro ticket.

Early into his second term as Vice President, Bush and his aides were planning a run for the presidency in 1988. By the end of 1985, a committee had been established and over two million dollars raised for Bush. Bush became the first Vice President to become Acting President when, on July 13, 1985, Reagan underwent surgery to remove polyps from his colon. Bush served as Acting President for approximately eight hours.

The administration was shaken by a scandal in 1986, when it was revealed that administration officials had secretly arranged weapon sales to Iran, and had used the proceeds to fund the anticommunist Contras in Nicaragua, a direct violation of the law. When the Iran-Contra Affair, as it became known, broke to the media, Bush, like Reagan, stated that he had been "out of the loop" and unaware of the diversion of funds, although this was later questioned. Public opinion polls taken at the time indicated that the public questioned Bush's explanation of being an "innocent bystander" while the trades were occurring; this led to the notion that he was a "wimp". However, his fury during an interview with CBS's Dan Rather largely put the "wimp" issue to rest.

As Vice President, Bush officially opened the 1987 Pan American Games in Indianapolis.

1988 presidential campaign

Bush had been planning a presidential run since as early as 1985, and entered the Republican primary for President of the United States in October 1987. His challengers for the Republican presidential nomination included US Senator Bob Dole of Kansas, US Representative Jack Kemp of New York, former Governor Pete DuPont of Delaware, and conservative Christian televangelist Pat Robertson.

Though considered the early frontrunner for the nomination, Bush came in third in the Iowa caucus, behind winner Dole and runner-up Robertson. Much like Reagan did in 1980, Bush reorganized his staff and concentrated on the New Hampshire primary. With Dole ahead in New Hampshire, Bush ran television commercials portraying the senator as a tax raiser; he rebounded to win the state's primary. Bush continued seeing victory, winning many Southern primaries as well. Once the multiple-state primaries such as Super Tuesday began, Bush's organizational strength and fundraising lead were impossible for the other candidates to match, and the nomination was his.

Leading up to the 1988 Republican National Convention, there was much speculation as to Bush's choice of running mate. Bush chose little-known US Senator Dan Quayle of Indiana, favored by conservatives. Despite Reagan's popularity, Bush trailed Democratic nominee Michael Dukakis, then Governor of Massachusetts, in most polls.

Bush, occasionally criticized for his lack of eloquence when compared to Reagan, delivered a well-received speech at the 1988 Republican National Convention. Known as the "thousand points of light" speech, this described Bush's vision of America: he endorsed the Pledge of Allegiance, prayer in schools, capital punishment, gun rights, and his opposition to abortion. The speech at the convention included Bush's famous pledge: "Read my lips: no new taxes".

The general election campaign between the two men has been described as one of the nastiest in modern times. Bush blamed Dukakis for polluting the Boston Harbor as the Massachusetts governor. Bush also pointed out that Dukakis was opposed to the law that would require all students to say the Pledge of Allegiance, a topic well covered in Bush's nomination acceptance speech.

Dukakis's unconditional opposition to capital punishment led to a pointed question during the presidential debates. Moderator Bernard Shaw asked Dukakis hypothetically if Dukakis would support the death penalty if his wife, Kitty, were raped and murdered. Dukakis's response of no, as well as the Willie Horton ad, contributed toward Bush's characterization of him as "soft on crime".

Bush defeated Dukakis and his running mate, Lloyd Bentsen, in the Electoral College, by 426 to 111 (Bentsen received one vote from a faithless elector). In the nationwide popular vote, Bush took 53.4 percent of the ballots cast while Dukakis received 45.6 percent. Bush became the first serving Vice President to be elected President since Martin Van Buren in 1836 as well as the first person to succeed someone from his own party to the Presidency via election to the office in his own right since Herbert Hoover in 1929.

Presidency (1989–1993)

Bush was inaugurated on January 20, 1989, succeeding Ronald Reagan. He entered office at a period of change in the world; the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of Soviet Union came early in his presidency. He ordered military operations in Panama and the Persian Gulf and, at one point, was recorded as having a record-high approval rating of 89 percent. However, economic recession and breaking his "no new taxes" pledge caused a sharp decline in his approval rating, and Bush was defeated in the 1992 election.

In his Inaugural Address, Bush said: – transcript, speech delivered January 20, 1989}}

Name	Bush
President	George H. W. Bush
President start	1989
President end	1993
Vice president	Dan Quayle
Vice president start	1989
Vice president end	1993
State	James Baker
State start	1989
State end	1992
State 2	Lawrence Eagleburger
State start 2	1992
State end 2	1993
Treasury	Nicholas Brady
Treasury start	1989
Treasury end	1993
Defense	Dick Cheney
Defense start	1989
Defense end	1993
Justice	Dick Thornburgh
Justice start	1989
Justice end	1991
Justice 2	William Barr
Justice start 2	1991
Justice end 2	1993
Interior	Manuel Lujan
Interior start	1989
Interior end	1993
Agriculture	Clayton Yeutter
Agriculture start	1989
Agriculture end	1991
Agriculture 2	Edward Madigan
Agriculture start 2	1991
Agriculture end 2	1993
Commerce	Robert Mosbacher
Commerce start	1989
Commerce end	1992
Commerce 2	Barbara Hackman Franklin
Commerce start 2	1992
Commerce end 2	1993
Labor	Elizabeth Dole
Labor start	1989
Labor end	1990
Labor 2	Lynn Martin
Labor start 2	1991
Labor end 2	1993
Health and human services	Louis Sullivan
Health and human services start	1989
Health and human services end	1993
Education	Lauro Cavazos
Education start	1989
Education end	1990
Education 2	Lamar Alexander
Education start 2	1990
Education end 2	1993
Housing and urban development	Jack Kemp
Housing and urban development start	1989
Housing and urban development end	1993
Transportation	Samuel Skinner
Transportation start	1989
Transportation end	1992
Transportation 2	Andrew Card
Transportation start 2	1992
Transportation end 2	1993
Energy	James Watkins
Energy start	1989
Energy end	1993
Veterans affairs	Ed Derwinski
Veterans affairs start	1989
Veterans affairs end	1993
Chief of staff	John H. Sununu
Chief of staff start	1989
Chief of staff end	1991
Chief of staff 2	Samuel Skinner
Chief of staff start 2	1991
Chief of staff end 2	1992
Chief of staff 3	James Baker
Chief of staff start 3	1992
Chief of staff end 3	1993
Environmental protection	William Reilly
Environmental protection start	1989
Environmental protection end	1993
Management and budget	Richard Darman
Management and budget start	1989
Management and budget end	1993
National drug control	Bob Martinez
National drug control start	1993
National drug control end	1993
Trade	Carla Anderson Hills
Trade start	1989
Trade end	1993 }}

Domestic policy

Economy

Early in his term, Bush faced the problem of what to do with leftover deficits spawned by the Reagan years. At $220 billion in 1990, the deficit had grown to three times its size since 1980. Bush was dedicated to curbing the deficit, believing that America could not continue to be a leader in the world without doing so. He began an effort to persuade the Democratic controlled Congress to act on the budget; with Republicans believing that the best way was to cut government spending, and Democrats convinced that the only way would be to raise taxes, Bush faced problems when it came to consensus building.

In the wake of a struggle with Congress, Bush was forced by the Democratic majority to raise tax revenues; as a result, many Republicans felt betrayed because Bush had promised "no new taxes" in his 1988 campaign. Perceiving a means of revenge, Republican congressmen defeated Bush's proposal which would enact spending cuts and tax increases that would reduce the deficit by $500 billion over five years. Scrambling, Bush accepted the Democrats' demands for higher taxes and more spending, which alienated him from Republicans and gave way to a sharp decrease in popularity. Bush would later say that he wished he had never signed the bill. Near the end of the 101st Congress, the president and congressional members reached a compromise on a budget package that increased the marginal tax rate and phased out exemptions for high-income taxpayers. Despite demands for a reduction in the capital gains tax, Bush relented on this issue as well. This agreement with the Democratic leadership in Congress proved to be a turning point in the Bush presidency; his popularity among Republicans never fully recovered.

Coming at around the same time as the budget deal, America entered into a mild recession, lasting for six months. Many government programs, such as welfare, increased. As the unemployment rate edged upward in 1991, Bush signed a bill providing additional benefits for unemployed workers. 1991 was marked by many corporate reorganizations, which laid off a substantial number of workers. Many now unemployed were Republicans and independents, who had believed that their jobs were secure.

By his second year in office, Bush was told by his economic advisors to stop dealing with the economy, as they believed that he had done everything necessary to ensure his reelection. By 1992, interest and inflation rates were the lowest in years, but by midyear the unemployment rate reached 7.8 percent, the highest since 1984. In September 1992, the Census Bureau reported that 14.2 percent of all Americans lived in poverty. At a press conference in 1990, Bush told reporters that he found foreign policy more enjoyable.

Major initiatives

During a speech to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, Bush announced a vision to complete Space Station Freedom, resume exploration of the Moon and begin exploration of Mars. Although a space station was eventually constructed–work on the International Space Station began in 1998–other work has been confounded by NASA budgetary issues. In 1998, Bush received the Rotary National Award for Space Achievement's National Space Trophy for his pioneering leadership of our nation's space program.

Bush signed a number of major laws in his presidency, including the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990; this was one of the most pro-civil rights bills in decades. He worked to increase federal spending for education, childcare, and advanced technology research. In dealing with the environment, Bush reauthorized the Clean Air Act, requiring cleaner burning fuels. He quarreled with Congress over an eventually signed bill to aid police in capturing criminals, and signed into law a measure to improve the nation's highway system. Bush signed the Immigration Act of 1990, which increased legal immigration to the United States by 40 percent.

Bush was a Life Member of the National Rifle Association and had campaigned as a "Pro-gun" candidate with the NRA's endorsement in 1988. However, in March 1989 he placed a temporary ban on the import of certain semiautomatic rifles. This action cost him endorsement from the NRA in 1992. Bush publicly resigned his life membership in the organization after losing the election and receiving a form letter from NRA depicting agents of the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms as "jack-booted thugs". He called the NRA letter a " vicious slander on good people."

Judicial appointments

Supreme Court

Bush appointed the following Justices to the Supreme Court of the United States:

David Souter – 1990

Clarence Thomas – 1991

Other courts

In addition to his two Supreme Court appointments, Bush appointed 42 judges to the United States Courts of Appeals, and 148 judges to the United States district courts. Among these appointments was Vaughn R. Walker, who would later be revealed to be the earliest known gay federal judge. Bush also experienced a number of judicial appointment controversies, as 11 nominees for 10 federal appellate judgeships were not processed by the Democratic-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee.

Foreign policy

Panama

In the 1980s, Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega, a once US-supportive leader who was later accused of spying for Fidel Castro and using Panama to traffic drugs into the US, was one of the most recognizable names in the United States, being constantly covered by the press. The struggle to remove him from power began in the Reagan administration, when economic sanctions were imposed on the country; this included prohibiting US companies and government from making payments to Panama and freezing $56 million in Panamanian funds in US banks. Reagan sent more than 2,000 US troops to Panama as well. Unlike Reagan, Bush was able to remove Noriega from power, but his administration's unsuccessful post-invasion planning hindered the needs of Panama during the establishment of the young democratic government.

In May 1989, Panama held democratic elections, in which Guillermo Endara was elected president; the results were then annulled by Noriega's government. In response, Bush sent 2,000 more troops to the country, where they began conducting regular military exercises in Panamanian territory (in violation of prior treaties). Bush then removed an embassy and ambassador from the country, and dispatched additional troops to Panama to prepare the way for an upcoming invasion. Noriega suppressed an October military coup attempt and massive protests in Panama against him, but after a US serviceman was shot by Panamanian forces in December 1989, Bush ordered 24,000 troops into the country with an objective of removing Noriega from power; "Operation Just Cause" was a large-scale American military operation, and the first in more than 40 years that was not Cold War related.

The mission was controversial, but American forces achieved control of the country and Endara assumed the Presidency. Noriega surrendered to the US and was convicted and imprisoned on racketeering and drug trafficking charges in April 1992. President Bush and First Lady Barbara Bush visited Panama in June 1992, to give support to the first post-invasion Panamanian government.

Soviet Union

In 1989, just after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Bush met with Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev in a conference on the Mediterranean island of Malta. The administration had been under intense pressure to meet with the Soviets, but not all initially found the Malta summit to be a step in the right direction; General Brent Scowcroft, among others, was apprehensive about the meeting, saying that it might be "premature" due to concerns where, according to Dr. Condoleezza Rice, "expectations [would be] set that something was going to happen, where the Soviets might grandstand and force [the US] into agreements that would ultimately not be good for the United States". But European leaders, including François Mitterrand and Margaret Thatcher, encouraged Bush to meet with Gorbachev, something that he did December 2 and 3, 1989. Though no agreements were signed, the meeting was viewed largely as being an important one; when asked about nuclear war, Gorbachev responded, "I assured the President of the United States that the Soviet Union would never start a hot war against the United States of America. And we would like our relations to develop in such a way that they would open greater possibilities for cooperation.... This is just the beginning. We are just at the very beginning of our road, long road to a long-lasting, peaceful period". The meeting was received as a very important step to the end of the Cold War.

Another summit was held in July 1991, where the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START I) was signed by Bush and Gorbachev in Moscow. The treaty took nine years in the making and was the first major arms agreement since the signing of the Intermediate Ranged Nuclear Forces Treaty by Reagan and Gorbachev in 1987. The contentions in START would reduce the US's and USSR's strategic nuclear weapons by about 35% over seven years, and the Soviet Union's land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles would be cut by 50%. Bush described START as "a significant step forward in dispelling half a century of mistrust". After the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, President Bush and Gorbachev declared a US-Russian strategic partnership, marking the end of the Cold War. President Bush declared that US-Soviet cooperation during the Gulf War in 1990–1991 had laid the groundwork for a partnership in resolving bilateral and world problems.

Gulf War

On August 1, 1990, Iraq, led by Saddam Hussein, invaded its oil-rich neighbor to the south, Kuwait; Bush condemned the invasion and began rallying opposition to Iraq in the US and among European, Asian, and Middle Eastern allies. Secretary of Defense Richard Bruce "Dick" Cheney traveled to Saudi Arabia to meet with King Fahd; Fahd requested US military aid in the matter, fearing a possible invasion of his country as well. The request was met initially with Air Force fighter jets. Iraq made attempts to negotiate a deal that would allow the country to take control of half of Kuwait. Bush rejected this proposal and insisted on a complete withdrawal of Iraqi forces. The planning of a ground operation by US-led coalition forces began forming in September 1990, headed by General Norman Schwarzkopf. Bush spoke before a joint session of the US Congress regarding the authorization of air and land attacks, laying out four immediate objectives: "Iraq must withdraw from Kuwait completely, immediately, and without condition. Kuwait's legitimate government must be restored. The security and stability of the Persian Gulf must be assured. And American citizens abroad must be protected." He then outlined a fifth, long-term objective: "Out of these troubled times, our fifth objective – a new world order – can emerge: a new era – freer from the threat of terror, stronger in the pursuit of justice, and more secure in the quest for peace. An era in which the nations of the world, East and West, North and South, can prosper and live in harmony.... A world where the rule of law supplants the rule of the jungle. A world in which nations recognize the shared responsibility for freedom and justice. A world where the strong respect the rights of the weak." With the United Nations Security Council opposed to Iraq's violence, Congress authorized the Use of Military force with a set goal of returning control of Kuwait to the Kuwaiti government, and protecting America's interests abroad.

Early on the morning of January 17, 1991, allied forces launched the first attack, which included more than 4,000 bombing runs by coalition aircraft. This pace would continue for the next four weeks, until a ground invasion was launched on February 24. Allied forces penetrated Iraqi lines and pushed toward Kuwait City while on the west side of the country, forces were intercepting the retreating Iraqi army. Bush made the decision to stop the offensive after a mere 100 hours. Critics labeled this decision premature, as hundreds of Iraqi forces were able to escape; Bush responded by saying that he wanted to minimize US casualties. Opponents further charged that Bush should have continued the attack, pushing Hussein's army back to Baghdad, then removing him from power. Bush explained that he did not give the order to overthrow the Iraqi government because it would have "incurred incalculable human and political costs.... We would have been forced to occupy Baghdad and, in effect, rule Iraq."

Bush's approval ratings skyrocketed after the successful offensive. Additionally, President Bush and Secretary of State Baker felt the coalition victory had increased U.S. prestige abroad and believed there was a window of opportunity to use the political capital generated by the coalition victory to revitalize the Arab-Israeli peace process. The administration immediately returned to Arab-Israeli peacemaking following the end of the Gulf War; this resulted in the Madrid Conference, later in 1991.

Somali Civil War

Faced with a humanitarian disaster in Somalia, exacerbated by a complete breakdown in civil order, the United Nations had created the UNOSOM I mission in April 1992. However, the complete intransigence of the local warlords operating in Somalia and their rivalries with each other meant that UNOSOM I could not be performed. The mission never reached its mandated strength. Resolution 794 was unanimously adopted by the United Nations Security Council on December 3, 1992, and they welcomed the United States offer to help create a secure environment for humanitarian efforts in Somalia. President George H. W. Bush responded to this by initiating Operation Restore Hope on December 4, 1992, under which the United States would assume command in accordance with Resolution 794. The vast bulk of UNITAF's total personnel strength was provided by the United States (Some 25,000 out of a total of 37,000 personnel). The first elements of UNITAF landed on the beaches of Somalia on December 9, 1992 amid a media circus. However, Mohamed Farrah Aidid saw UNOSOM II as a threat to his power and in June 1993 his militia attacked Pakistan Army troops, attached to UNOSOM II, (see Somalia (March 1992 to February 1996)) in Mogadishu inflicting over 80 casualties. Fighting escalated until 19 American troops and more than 1,000 civilians and militia were killed in a raid in Mogadishu during October 1993.

NAFTA

Bush's administration, along with the Progressive Conservative Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, spearheaded the negotiations of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which would eliminate the majority of tariffs on products traded among the United States, Canada, and Mexico, to encourage trade amongst the countries. The treaty also restricts patents, copyrights, and trademarks, and outlines the removal of investment restrictions among the three countries.

The agreement came under heavy scrutiny amongst mainly Democrats, who charged that NAFTA resulted in a loss of US jobs. NAFTA also contained no provisions for labor rights; according to the Bush administration, the trade agreement would generate economic resources necessary to enable Mexico's government to overcome problems of funding and enforcement of its labor laws. Bush needed a renewal of negotiating authority to move forward with the NAFTA trade talks. Such authority would enable the president to negotiate a trade accord that would be submitted to Congress for a vote, thereby avoiding a situation in which the president would be required to renegotiate with trading partners those parts of an agreement that Congress wished to change. While initial signing was possible during his term, negotiations made slow, but steady, progress. President Clinton would go on to make the passage of NAFTA a priority for his administration, despite its conservative and Republican roots – with the addition of two side agreements – to achieve its passage in 1993.

The treaty has since been defended as well as criticized further. The American economy has grown 54 percent since the adoption of NAFTA in 1993, with 25 million new jobs created; this was seen by some as evidence of NAFTA being beneficial to the US. With talk in early 2008 regarding a possible American withdrawal from the treaty, Carlos M Gutierrez, current United States Secretary of Commerce, writes, "Quitting NAFTA would send economic shock waves throughout the world, and the damage would start here at home." But John J Sweeney of ''The Boston Globe'' argues that "the US trade deficit with Canada and Mexico ballooned to 12 times its pre-NAFTA size, reaching $111 billion in 2004."

Pardons

As other presidents have done, Bush issued a series of pardons during his last days in office. On December 24, 1992, he granted executive clemency to six former government employees implicated in the Iran-Contra scandal of the late 1980s, most prominently former Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger. Weinberger, who had been scheduled to stand trial on January 5, 1993, for criminal charges related to Iran-Contra, was described by Bush as a "true American patriot".

In addition to Weinberger, Bush pardoned Duane R. Clarridge, Clair E. George, Robert C. McFarlane, Elliott Abrams, and Alan G. Fiers Jr., all of whom had been indicted and/or convicted of criminal charges by an Independent Counsel headed by Lawrence Walsh.

1992 presidential campaign

Bush announced his reelection bid in early 1992; with a coalition victory in the Persian Gulf War and high approval ratings, reelection initially looked likely. As a result, many leading Democrats declined to seek their party's presidential nomination. But an economic recession, and doubts of whether Bush ended the Gulf War properly, reduced his popularity.

Conservative political columnist Pat Buchanan challenged Bush for the Republican nomination, and shocked political pundits by finishing second, with 37% of the vote, in the New Hampshire primary. Bush responded by adopting more conservative positions on issues, in an attempt to undermine Buchanan's base. Once he had secured the nomination, Bush faced his challenger, Democrat William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton. Clinton attacked Bush as not doing enough to assist the working middle-class and being "out of touch" with the common man, a notion reinforced by reporter Andrew Rosenthal's false report that Bush was "astonished" to see a demonstration of a supermarket scanner, which around 1992 were a new invention.

In early 1992, the race took an unexpected twist when Texas billionaire H. Ross Perot launched a third party bid, claiming that neither Republicans nor Democrats could eliminate the deficit and make government more efficient. His message appealed to voters across the political spectrum disappointed with both parties' perceived fiscal irresponsibility. Perot later bowed out of the race for a short time, then reentered.

Clinton had originally been in the lead, until Perot reentered, tightening the race significantly. Nearing election day, polls suggested that the race was a dead-heat, but Clinton pulled out on top, defeating Bush in a 43% to 38% popular vote margin. Perot won 19% of the popular vote, one of the highest totals for a third party candidate in US history, drawing equally from both major candidates, according to exit polls. Bush received 168 electoral votes to Clinton's 370.

Several factors were key in Bush's defeat, including agreeing in 1990 to raise taxes despite his famous "Read my lips: no new taxes" pledge. In doing so, Bush alienated many members of his conservative base, losing their support for his re-election. Of the voters who cited Bush's broken "No New Taxes" pledge as "very important", two thirds voted for Bill Clinton. Bush had raised taxes in an attempt to address an increasing budget deficit, which has largely been attributed to the Reagan tax cuts and military spending of the 1980s. In addition to these factors, the ailing economy which arose from recession may have been the main factor in Bush's loss, as 7 in 10 voters said on election day that the economy was either "not so good" or "poor". On the eve of the 1992 election against these factors, Bush's approval rating stood at just 37% after suffering low ratings throughout the year. Despite his defeat, Bush climbed back from election day approval levels to leave office in 1993 with a 56% job approval rating.

Public image

George Bush was widely seen as a "pragmatic caretaker" president who lacked a unified and compelling long-term theme in his efforts. Indeed, Bush's sound bite where he refers to the issue of overarching purpose as "the vision thing" has become a metonym applied to other political figures accused of similar difficulties. "He does not say why he wants to be there", wrote columnist George Will, "so the public does not know why it should care if he gets his way."

His Ivy League and prep school education led to warnings by advisors that his image was too "preppy" in 1980, which resulted in deliberate efforts in his 1988 campaign to shed the image, including meeting voters at factories and shopping malls, abandoning set speeches.

His ability to gain broad international support for the Gulf War and the war's result were seen as both a diplomatic and military triumph, rousing bipartisan approval, though his decision to withdraw without removing Saddam Hussein left mixed feelings, and attention returned to the domestic front and a souring economy. A ''New York Times'' article mistakenly depicted Bush as being surprised to see a supermarket barcode reader; the report of his reaction exacerbated the notion that he was "out of touch". Amid the Early 1990s recession, his image shifted from "conquering hero" to "politician befuddled by economic matters". And though Bush saw a 34 percent approval rating leading up to the 1992 election, the mood did not last; within a year of his defeat, Bush's approval was up to 56%, and by December 2008 60% of Americans give Bush's presidency a positive rating.

Post-Presidency

Upon leaving office, Bush retired with his wife, Barbara, to their home in the exclusive neighborhood of Tanglewood in Houston, with a presidential office nearby. They spend the summer at Walker's Point in Kennebunkport, Maine. On January 10, 1999, the Bushes became the longest-married Presidential couple in history, outlasting John and Abigail Adams, who were married for 54 years and 3 days. At 66 years in 2011, they still hold the record, by a year and a half, over Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter. Bush holds his own fishing tournament in Islamorada, an island in the Florida Keys.

In 1993, Bush was awarded an honorary knighthood (GCB) by Queen Elizabeth II. He was the third American president to receive the honor, the others being Dwight D. Eisenhower and Ronald Reagan.

In 1993, Bush visited Kuwait to commemorate the coalition's victory over Iraq in the Gulf War, where he was targeted in an assassination plot. Kuwaiti authorities arrested 17 people allegedly involved in using a car bomb to kill Bush. Through interviews with the suspects and examinations of the bomb's circuitry and wiring, the FBI established that the plot had been directed by the Iraqi Intelligence Service. A Kuwaiti court later convicted all but one of the defendants. Two months later, in retaliation, Clinton ordered the firing of 23 cruise missiles at Iraqi Intelligence Service headquarters in Baghdad. The day before the strike commenced, U.S. Ambassador to the UN Madeleine Albright went before the Security Council to present evidence of the Iraqi plot. After the missiles were fired, Vice President Al Gore said the attack "was intended to be a proportionate response at the place where this plot" to assassinate Bush "was hatched and implemented".

From 1993–1999, he served as the chairman to the board of trustees for Eisenhower Fellowships.

His eldest son, George W. Bush, was inaugurated as the 43rd President of the United States on January 20, 2001. Through previous administrations, the elder Bush had ubiquitously been known as "George Bush" or "President Bush", but following his son's election the need to distinguish between them has made retronymic forms such as "George H. W. Bush" and "George Bush senior" – and colloquialisms such as "Bush 41" and "Bush the Elder" much more common.

On February 15, 2011 he was awarded the Medal of Freedom—the highest civilian honor in the United States—by President Barack Obama.

Bush has developed Parkinsonism, a vascular disorder which has weakened his legs. In April 2011 he said he was not suffering pain from the disorder.

Presidential library

The George Bush Presidential Library is the presidential library named for Bush. This tenth presidential library was built between 1995 and 1997 and contains the presidential and vice-presidential papers of Bush and the vice-presidential papers of Dan Quayle. It was dedicated on November 6, 1997 and opened to the public shortly thereafter; the complex was designed by the architectural firm of Hellmuth, Obata and Kassabaum.

The George Bush Presidential Library and Museum is located on a site on the west campus of Texas A&M; University in College Station, Texas. It is situated on a plaza adjoining the Presidential Conference Center and the Texas A&M; Academic Center. The Library operates under the administration of the NARA under the provisions of the Presidential Libraries Act of 1955.

Another institute was named in his honor: the George Bush School of Government and Public Service is a graduate public policy school at Texas A&M; University in College Station, Texas. The graduate school is part of the presidential library complex, and offers four programs: two master's degree programs (''Public Service Administration'' and ''International Affairs'') and two certificate programs (''Advanced International Affairs'' and ''Homeland Security''). The Masters program in International Affairs (MPIA) program offers a choice of concentration on either National Security Affairs or International Economics and Development.

Recent activities

The former president continues to make many public appearances. He and Mrs. Bush attended the state funeral of Ronald Reagan in June 2004, and of Gerald Ford in January 2007. One month later, he was awarded the Ronald Reagan Freedom Award in Beverly Hills, California by former First Lady Nancy Reagan. Despite his political differences with Bill Clinton, it has been acknowledged that the two former presidents have become friends. He and Clinton appeared together in television ads in 2005, encouraging aid for victims of Hurricane Katrina and the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.

In October 2006, Bush was honored by the National Italian American Foundation (NIAF), receiving the NIAF One America Award for his work to better the lives of all Americans.

On February 18, 2008, Bush formally endorsed Senator John McCain for the presidency of the United States. The endorsement offered a boost to McCain's campaign, as the Arizona Senator had been facing criticism among many conservatives.

On January 10, 2009, Bush and his son were both present at the commissioning of the USS ''George H. W. Bush'' (CVN-77), the tenth and last ''Nimitz'' class supercarrier of the United States Navy. Bush paid a visit to the carrier again on May 26, 2009.

Electoral history

Notes

Further reading

External links

Bush Presidential Library and Museum

White House biography

George Bush at the Internet Movie Database

Note: Contains only Bush's 1990 State of the Union address

Essays on Bush and His Administration

The President Who Treated Me Like A Son, brief memoir by his personal aide

Photographs of President George H. W. Bush shaking hands with Philip G. Hoffman at a University of Houston commencement ceremony.

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parent	EBSCO Publishing
founded	1898
founder	Halsey (H.W.) Wilson
country	United States
headquarters	Bronx, New York
publications	Books, databases
url	}}

The H. W. Wilson Company is a publisher based in New York City. It publishes print and online indexes, full-text databases, and other products and services for public, school, college, and special libraries around the world.

The company may be best known for its Readers’ Guide to Periodical Literature, the most widely consulted index of articles in the popular press. Other notable resources include the Core Collections series, comprising Children’s, Middle and Junior High, Senior High, Fiction, Graphic Novels, Nonbook Materials, and Public Library Core Collection: Nonfiction. This series has been a standard resource for librarians since it began publication under the name Children’s Catalog in 1909.

H. W. Wilson is also noted for its range of biographical reference (including the critically acclaimed Biography Reference Bank and the monthly Current Biography magazine), its Art Suite of databases (Art Full Text, Art Museum Image Gallery, Cinema Image Gallery, and Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals), and its retrospective databases, which add decades of coverage to a library’s periodical coverage.

H. W. Wilson databases are accessed using the WilsonWeb search and retrieval system, which contains a number of features designed to make searching as fast and accurate as possible.

H. W. Wilson is the main sponsor of the American Library Association’s John Cotton Dana Library Public Relations Award, which honors outstanding library public relations.

History

The H.W. Wilson Company was founded in 1889 by Halsey William Wilson, a student working his way through the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. Together with his roommate, Henry S. Morris, Wilson started a book selling business serving educators and students at the university. When it came time for Morris to graduate, he sold his share of the business to Wilson, who then began a long and fruitful career in business.

The H. W. Wilson Company’s first original reference was the ''Cumulative Book Index'', first published in 1898. This was followed by the ''Readers’ Guide to Periodical Literature'' in 1901. In 1911, Wilson relocated the company to White Plains, New York, to be nearer to its main markets.

By 1917, demand for more specialized indexes had grown to the point where the company had to move again. Wilson bought a five-story building in the Bronx on the banks of the Harlem River, where the company remains headquartered today. The building’s distinctive lighthouse was added in 1929.

''Readers’ Guide to Periodical Literature'' became the company’s first electronic reference in 1985, available through WILSEARCH. In 1995 ''Current Biography'' and ''World Authors'' became available on searchable CD-ROM, and in 1997 the first version of WilsonWeb, Wilson’s online information search and retrieval system, was launched.

On May 31, 2011, H. W. Wilson merged with EBSCO Publishing.

Products

The H. W. Wilson Company offers 78 reference databases to meet research and browsing needs in a range of fields, including applied science and technology, art, biography, biology and agriculture, business, current events, education, general science, humanities, law, library and information science, library collection development and readers’ advisory, literature and social sciences. These databases are maintained by editorial staff members who are experts in library science and other subjects, and updated daily by staff in New York and Dublin, Ireland.

The company also publishes an extensive range of print references in these areas, including ''Facts About the Presidents'', ''Famous First Facts'', and the monthly magazine ''Current Biography''.

John Cotton Dana Library Public Relations Award

The John Cotton Dana Award, sponsored by H.W. Wilson, honors outstanding library public relations, whether a summer reading program, a year-long centennial celebration, fundraising for a new college library, an awareness campaign or an innovative partnership in the community. Award winners receive a cash development grant of $5,000 from the H.W. Wilson Foundation. The awards are presented at a reception hosted by H.W. Wilson, held during the American Library Association annual conference.

Database descriptions

Applied Science & Technology Abstracts

Coverage is intended to be broad, and comprehensive. This database provides abstracts and indexing for applied science literature. Coverage includes english-language scientific and technical publications. The intended audience is students, educators, researchers, and general readers. The indexed sources are trade journals, industrial journals, professional society journals, technical society journals, subject oriented periodicals, directories, and conference proceedings. It is updated on a daily basis.

Topical coverage includes acoustics, environmental and earth sciences, engineering (chemical, civil, environmental, electrical, industrial, etc.), geological sciences (including space science), food industry (and sciences), plastics, textile industry (including fabrics), transportation, and waste management.

Below are several versions of this indexing service. These can expand back file coverage to 1913.

Applied Science & Technology Full Text

Applied Science & Technology Index

Applied Science & Technology Index Retrospective: 1913-1983

Applied Science & Business Periodicals Retrospective: 1913-1983

References

External links

Milestones in the history of H. W. Wilson

List of Wilson databases

List of Wilson print titles

Information about the John Cotton Dana Award, and a list of recent winners

Category:Bibliographic database providers Category:Publishing companies of the United States Category:Companies established in 1889 Category:Companies based in New York City

name	Brent Scowcroft
order	9th & 17th United States National Security Advisor
term start	3 November 1975
term end	20 January 1977
president	Gerald Ford
predecessor	Henry Kissinger
successor	Zbigniew Brzeziński
term start2	20 January 1989
term end2	20 January 1993
president2	George H. W. Bush
predecessor2	Colin Powell
successor2	Anthony Lake
birth date	March 19, 1925
birth place	Ogden, Utah
party	Republican
profession	military officer, diplomat
religion	The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
footnotes	}}

Brent Scowcroft, KBE (born March 19, 1925) was the United States National Security Advisor under Presidents Gerald Ford and George H. W. Bush and a Lieutenant General in the United States Air Force. He also served as Military Assistant to President Richard Nixon and as Deputy Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs in the Nixon and Ford administrations. He served as Chairman of the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board under President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2005. He also assisted President Barack Obama in choosing his national security team.

Early life

Brent Scowcroft was born in Ogden, Utah to Lucile Scowcroft (formerly Ballantyne) and James Scowcroft, a grocer and business owner. He is a descendant of early 19th century immigrants from England, Scotland, Denmark, and Norway.

He received his undergraduate degree and commission into the Army Air Forces from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1947. Scowcroft also earned an M.A. in 1953 and Ph.D. in 1967 from Columbia University.

Positions held

Prior to joining the Bush administration, Scowcroft was Vice Chairman of Kissinger Associates, Inc. He has had a long association with Henry Kissinger, having served as his assistant when Kissinger was the National Security Adviser under Nixon, from 1968.

He is the founder and president of The Forum for International Policy, a think tank. Scowcroft is also president of The Scowcroft Group, Inc., an international business consulting firm. He is co-chair, along with Joseph Nye, of the Aspen Strategy Group. He is a member of the Trilateral Commission, Council on Foreign Relations, a board member of The Center for Strategic and International Studies and The Atlantic Council of the United States.

Following his graduation from the United States Military Academy at West Point and commissioning as a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force in 1947, he subsequently completed USAF pilot training in October 1948 and then served in a variety of operational and administrative positions from 1948 to 1953. In the course of his military career, Scowcroft held positions in the Organization of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Headquarters of the United States Air Force, and the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs. Other assignments included faculty positions at the United States Air Force Academy and the United States Military Academy at West Point, and Assistant Air Attaché in the American Embassy in Belgrade, Yugoslavia.

As a senior officer, General Scowcroft was assigned to Headquarters U.S. Air Force in the office of the Deputy Chief of Staff, Plans and Operations, and served in the Long Range Planning Division, Directorate of Doctrine, Concepts and Objectives from 1964 to 1966. He next attended the National War College at Fort McNair, followed by assignment in July 1968 to the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs. In September 1969, he was reassigned to Headquarters U.S. Air Force in the Directorate of Plans as Deputy Assistant for National Security Council Matters. In March 1970 he joined the Joint Chiefs of Staff organization and became the Special Assistant to the Director of the Joint Staff.

General Scowcroft was appointed Military Assistant to the President in February 1972, and in August 1973 he was reassigned as Deputy Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs. Scowcroft was promoted Lieutenant General in the U.S. Air Force on August 16, 1974 and he retired in that rank on December 1, 1975. His military decorations and awards include the Air Force Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit with oak leaf cluster, and the Air Force Commendation Medal.

Scowcroft has chaired or served on a number of policy advisory councils, including the President's General Advisory Committee on Arms Control, the President's Commission on Strategic Forces, the President's Blue Ribbon Commission on Defense Management, the Defense Policy Board, and the President's Special Review Board (Tower Commission) investigating the Iran-Contra affair. He also serves on the Guiding Coalition of the nonpartisan Project on National Security Reform.

On the morning of September 11, 2001, Scowcroft was in the an E-4B aircraft, also known as the National Airborne Operations Command Center (NAOC,) on the tarmac waiting to takeoff and fly to Offutt Air Force Base, when the first hijacked airliner hit the World Trade Center (WTC). Scowcroft's aircraft was en route to Offutt when the second hijacked airliner struck the WTC and Scowcroft was involved in observing the command and control operations of both President George W. Bush in Florida and Vice President Dick Cheney, who was in the White House.

Scowcroft was a leading Republican critic of U.S. policy towards Iraq before and after the 2003 invasion, which war critics in particular have seen as significant given Scowcroft's close ties to former President George H.W. Bush. Despite his public criticism of the decision to invade, Scowcroft continued to describe himself as "a friend" of the Bush administration. He also strongly opposed a precipitous withdrawal, arguing that a pull-out from Iraq before the country was able to govern, sustain, and defend itself "would be a strategic defeat for American interests, with potentially catastrophic consequences both in the region and beyond." Scowcroft supported the invasion of Afghanistan as a "direct response" to terrorism.

In addition to his USAF aeronautical rating as a pilot and his numerous military awards and decorations and awards, President George H.W. Bush presented him with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1991. In 1993, he was created an Honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace. In 2005, Scowcroft was awarded the William Oliver Baker Award by the Intelligence and National Security Alliance.

He co-wrote ''A World Transformed'' with former President George H.W. Bush. This book described what it was like to be in the White House during the end of the Cold War, as the Soviet Union collapsed in the early 1990s. Explaining in 1998 why they didn't go on to Baghdad in 1991: "Had we gone the invasion route, the United States could conceivably still be an occupying power in a bitterly hostile land."

Scowcroft is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He is also a member of Honorary Council of Advisors for U.S.-Azerbaijan Chamber of Commerce (USACC). He is a member of the board of directors of the International Republican Institute. He is on the Advisory Board for Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs.

Personal life

Scowcroft married Marian Horner, a Catholic, in 1951. His wife, a Pennsylvania native, trained as a nurse at St. Francis School of Nursing in Pittsburgh and graduated from Columbia University. They had one daughter, Karen. Marian Horner Scowcroft, a diabetic, died on July 17, 1995, at George Washington University Hospital. In March 1993, when Scowcroft was invested by Queen Elizabeth with the Honorary KBE, his daughter was also received by the Queen.

See also

History of the United States National Security Council 1989–1992

Council on Foreign Relations

American Turkish Council

References

External links

"Don't Attack Saddam" by Brent Scowcroft.

Brent Scowcroft speech to Harvard Kennedy School, October 29, 2008.

Transcript: Charlie Rose interviews Zbigniew Brzezinski, Henry Kissinger and Brent Scowcroft (International Herald Tribune) June 18, 2007.

Brent Scowcroft résumé.

Brent Scowcroft profile.

Ivo H. Daalder and I.M. Destler, ''In the Shadow of the Oval Office: Profiles of the National Security Advisers and the Presidents They Served--From JFK to George W. Bush '' Simon & Schuster; 2009, ISBN 978-1416553199.

Category:1925 births Category:American Latter Day Saints Category:Columbia University alumni Category:Council on Foreign Relations Category:International Republican Institute Category:Living people Category:Political realists Category:Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients Category:United States Air Force generals Category:United States National Security Advisors Category:United States presidential advisors Category:Writers from Utah Category:United States Military Academy alumni Category:Nixon administration personnel Category:Utah Republicans Category:Honorary Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Category:Recipients of the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana, 3rd Class

az:Brent Soukroft de:Brent Scowcroft es:Brent Scowcroft fr:Brent Scowcroft he:ברנט סקוקרופט ja:ブレント・スコウクロフト

name	Dan Rather
birthname	Daniel Irvin Rather, Jr.
birth date	October 31, 1931
birth place	Wharton, Texas, U.S.
education	Sam Houston State University
occupation	JournalistAnchor
years active	1950–present
spouse	Jean Goebel
children	Daughter Robin, son Danjack
credits	''CBS Evening News'' anchor (1981–2005)''60 Minutes'' correspondent (1968–1981; 1999–2006) }}

Daniel Irvin "Dan" Rather, Jr. (born October 31, 1931) is an American journalist and the former news anchor for the ''CBS Evening News.'' He is now managing editor and anchor of the television news magazine ''Dan Rather Reports'' on the cable channel HDNet. Rather was anchor of the ''CBS Evening News'' for 24 years, from March 9, 1981, to March 9, 2005. He also contributed to CBS's ''60 Minutes''. Rather became embroiled in controversy about a disputed news report involving the 2004 U.S. presidential election and subsequently left ''CBS Evening News'' in 2005, and he left the network altogether after 43 years in 2006.

Early life

Daniel Irvin Rather Jr. () was born on October 31, 1931, in Wharton County, Texas, the son of Daniel Irvin Rather, Sr., and the former Byrl Veda Page. The Rathers moved to Houston, and Dan attended Love Elementary School and Hamilton Middle School. He graduated in 1949 from John H. Reagan High School in Houston. In 1953, he received a bachelor's degree in journalism from Sam Houston State University where he was editor of the school newspaper, ''The Houstonian''. At Sam Houston, he was a member of the Caballeros – the founding organization of the currently active Epsilon Psi chapter of the Sigma Chi fraternity. After obtaining his undergraduate degree, Rather briefly attended South Texas College of Law in Houston, which later awarded him an honorary Juris Doctor in 1990. In 1954, Rather enlisted in the United States Marine Corps, but did not complete recruit training because of a childhood bout with rheumatic fever.

Early career

Rather began his journalism career in 1950 as an Associated Press reporter in Huntsville, Texas. Later, he was a reporter for United Press (1950–1958), several Texas radio stations, and the ''Houston Chronicle'' (1954–1955). Around 1955, Rather did a story on heroin. Under the auspices of the Houston Police, he experienced the drug which he characterized as "a special kind of hell." While at Sam Houston State, Rather worked for KSAM-FM radio in Huntsville, Texas, calling junior high, high school, and Sam Houston State football games. He later spent four seasons as the play-by-play announcer for the University of Houston football team. During the 1959 minor league baseball season, Rather was the play-by-play radio announcer for the Houston Buffs team of the triple A American Association. In 1959, he began his television career as a reporter for KTRK-TV in Houston. Rather was subsequently promoted to the director of news for KHOU-TV, the CBS affiliate in Houston. Ray Miller, news director of KPRC-TV, the NBC affiliate in Houston, also mentored Rather in the early years.

In early September 1961, Rather reported live from the Galveston Seawall as Hurricane Carla threatened the Texas coastline. In his autobiography, Rather notes that back then, television stations did not have their own radar systems, and of course nobody then had the modern computerized radar that combines the radar image with an outline map. So he took a camera crew to a National Weather Service radar station located on the top floor of the Post Office Building on 25th Street in Galveston, where a technician drew a rough outline of the Gulf of Mexico on a sheet of plastic, and held that over the black and white radar display to give Rather's audience an idea of the storm's size and position its eye. His reporting, which has been imitated by countless other reporters, impressed the network executives at CBS, and they offered him a job as a CBS News correspondent. Rather refused CBS's first offer, but accepted its second offer when it came three months later.

On February 28, 1962, Rather left Houston for New York City for a six-month trial initiation. Rather didn't fit in easily on the East Coast, and his first reports for CBS included coverage of the crash of American Airlines Flight 1 in Jamaica Bay, and a less memorable event on the suffocation of children at a hospital in Binghamton. Shortly after, Rather was made chief of CBS's Southwest bureau in Dallas. In 1963, he was appointed chief of the Southern bureau in New Orleans, responsible for coverage of news events in the South, Southwest, Mexico and Central America. It would be only a matter of time before Rather reported on one of the most tragic events in American history.

CBS News

JFK assassination to Watergate

Rather was the first network television journalist to report that U.S. President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas. In his autobiography, he also claims to be one of the first to see the Zapruder film showing the assassination and the first to describe it on television. The film was not itself shown on television to the general public, and Rather reported the fatal headshot as forcing Kennedy's head to be thrown violently forward, when it was thrown backwards. This misreporting is sometimes included as part of conspiracy theories which purport that the direction in which Kennedy's head moved supports one theory or another.

Later, he reported that some schoolchildren in Dallas had applauded when they were notified of the president's death. Administrators said that, in fact, the thrust of the announcement was that school was to be dismissed early (making the students' delight more understandable). This story infuriated local journalists at then-CBS affiliate KRLD-TV (now Fox owned-and-operated KDFW-TV), who temporarily threw the CBS News staff out of their workspace

Rather's reporting during the national mourning period following the Kennedy assassination and subsequent events brought him to the attention of CBS News management, which rewarded him in 1964 with the network's White House correspondent position.

After serving as a foreign correspondent for CBS in London in 1965 and Vietnam in 1966, he served his second tenure as White House correspondent during the Richard Nixon presidency. He covered the Watergate investigation as well as the impeachment proceedings. In 1970, he drew the assignment as primary anchor for the CBS Sunday Night News.

CBS Evening News anchor

After President Nixon's resignation in 1974, Rather took the assignment of chief correspondent for the documentary series ''CBS Reports''. He later became a correspondent of the long-running Sunday night news show ''60 Minutes,'' just as the program was moved from a Sunday afternoon time-slot to primetime. Success there (and a threat to bolt to ABC News) helped Rather pull ahead of longtime correspondent Roger Mudd in line to succeed Walter Cronkite as anchor and Managing Editor of ''CBS Evening News''.

Rather assumed the position upon Cronkite's retirement, making his first broadcast on March 9, 1981. From the beginning of his tenure, it was clear that Rather had a significantly different style of reporting the news. In contrast to the avuncular Cronkite, who ended his newscast with "That's the way it is", Rather searched to find a broadcast ending more suitable to his tastes. For one week during the mid-1980s, Rather tried ending his broadcasts with the word "courage" and was roundly ridiculed for it. He eventually found a wrap-up phrase more modest than Cronkite's and more relaxed than his own previous attempt; for nearly two decades, Rather ended the show with "That's part of our world tonight."

While Rather had inherited Cronkite's ratings lead, the success of the ''Evening News'' with Rather at the helm fluctuated wildly. After a dip to second place, Rather regained the top spot in 1985 until 1989 when he ceded the ratings peak to rival Peter Jennings at ABC. By 1992, however, the ''Evening News'' had fallen to third place, where it remained.

The traditionally strong journalistic bench of CBS News was weakened in 1984, when new owner Lawrence Tisch oversaw layoffs of thousands of CBS News employees, including correspondents David Andelman, Fred Graham, Morton Dean and Ike Pappas. Fewer videotape crews were dispatched to cover stories and numerous bureaus were closed. Reporting by Peter Boyer of the ''New York Times'' indicates that Rather did relatively little to stop this, having already chosen to marginalize the people he considered to be "B" level correspondents.

For a short time from 1993 to 1995, Rather co-anchored the evening news with Connie Chung. Chung had previously been a Washington correspondent for CBS News and anchored short news updates on the west coast. On joining the ''CBS Evening News'', however, she worked to report "pop news" stories that did not fit the style of the broadcast. In one incident, she was on an airplane interviewing Tonya Harding, who was accused of being behind the plot to injure fellow Olympic ice skater Nancy Kerrigan. Chung ultimately left the network, and Rather went back to doing the newscast alone.

At the end of Rather's time as anchor, the ''CBS Evening News'' lagged behind the ''NBC Nightly News'' and ''ABC World News Tonight'' in the ratings, although it was still drawing approximately 7 million viewers a night. Criticism of Rather reached a fever pitch after 60 Minutes II ran his report about President Bush's military record; numerous critics questioned the authenticity of the documents upon which the report was based. Rather subsequently admitted on air that the document's authenticity could not be proved. In the aftermath of the incident, CBS fired multiple members of the CBS News staff but allowed Rather to stay on. Rather retired under pressure as the anchor of the ''CBS Evening News'' on March 9, 2005.

Personal life

Rather married his wife Jean in 1957. They have a son and daughter, and maintain homes in New York City and Austin, TX. Their daughter Robin is an environmentalist and community activist in Austin, Texas. Their son Dan is an assistant district attorney in the District Attorney's office in Manhattan, New York.

Sam Houston State University renamed its mass communications building after Rather in 1994. The building houses ''The Houstonian'' and KSHU, the student-run radio and television stations. In May 2007, Rather received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Siena College in Loudonville, New York, for his lifetime contributions to journalism.

A columnist whose work is distributed by King Features Syndicate, Rather continues to speak out against alleged influence in journalism by corporations and governments. At a recent conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota, sponsored by the group Free Press, Rather criticized both local and national news organizations, stating – according to reports – that there is no longer incentive to do "good and valuable news."

On May 28, 2007, Rather compared historical events to events in the ''Star Wars'' films in the History Channel special, "Star Wars: The Legacy Revealed".

Journalistic history and influence

Nixon

During the presidency of Richard Nixon, critics accused Rather of biased coverage against President Nixon. At a Houston news conference in March 1974, Nixon fielded a question from Rather, still CBS's White House correspondent, who said, "Thank you, Mr. President. Dan Rather, of CBS News. Mr. President.... Mr. President...." The room filled with jeers and applause, prompting Nixon to joke, "Are you running for something?" Rather replied "No, sir, Mr. President. Are you?". In his question, Rather accused Nixon of not cooperating with the grand jury investigation and the House Judiciary Committee in relation to the Watergate scandal.

According to NBC’s Tom Brokaw, the network considered hiring him, Brokaw, as its White House correspondent to replace Rather. But these plans were scrapped after word was leaked to the press. The controversy did little to dent Rather's overall tough coverage of the Watergate scandal, which helped to raise his profile.

Afghanistan, Reagan, and George H.W. Bush

During the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan, Rather was on camera wearing a traditional Mujahadeen headdress and garments while reporting from near the front lines. These reports helped Rather gain prominence with the Evening News audience (and the nickname "Gunga Dan"; Rather's reports were also spoofed by the comic strip ''Doonesbury''). It later turned out that Rather's reports played a role in moving Congressman Charlie Wilson to try to help the struggling mujahideen, which led to the largest-ever CIA covert operation in supplying aid and advanced arms to the mujahideen, which in turn eventually led to the Soviets quitting Afghanistan.

Rather's energy and spirit helped him out-compete Roger Mudd for the anchor spot on the ''Evening News''. Mudd was a more senior correspondent and a frequent substitute anchor for Walter Cronkite on the ''Evening News'', and he also anchored the Sunday evening broadcast. But it was Rather who traveled through Afghanistan when the news led there. A few years into his service as anchorman, Rather began wearing sweaters beneath his suit jacket to soften and warm his on-air perceptions by viewers.

Later during the 1980s, Rather gained further renown for his forceful and skeptical reporting on the Iran-Contra Affair, which eventually led to an on-air confrontation with then Vice President George H. W. Bush: Bush referred to Rather's "dead air incident" saying, "I want to talk about why I want to be President, why those 41 percent of the people are supporting me. And I don't think it's fair to judge my whole career by a rehash on Iran. How would you like it if I judged your career by those seven minutes when you walked off the set in New York?" Rather ignored Bush's comment.

Shortly after Iraq invaded Kuwait, Rather secured an interview with Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

On February 24, 2003, Rather conducted another interview with Hussein before the 2003 Invasion of Iraq. In the interview, Hussein invited Rather to be the moderator of a live television debate between himself and George W. Bush. The debate never took place.

''The Wall Within''

On June 2, 1988, Rather hosted a CBS News special, ''The Wall Within''. In it, he interviewed six former servicemen, each of whom said he had witnessed horrible acts in Vietnam. Two of the men said that they had killed civilians, and two others said that they had seen friends die. Each talked about the effects the war had upon their lives – including depression, unemployment, drug use and homelessness.

In their book ''Stolen Valor: How the Vietnam Generation Was Robbed of its Heroes and its History'', authors B. G. Burkett and Glenna Whitley said they had obtained the service records of all six men, documenting where each was stationed during the Vietnam War. According to the records, the authors said, only one of the men was actually in Vietnam; he claimed to have been a 16-year-old Navy SEAL but, said Burkett and Whitley, the records listed him as an equipment repairer.

Chandra Levy reporting

On July 12, 2001, Brent Bozell of the Media Research Center issued a press release stating that the failure of CBS News to run a single story regarding the disappearance of former Congressional intern Chandra Levy was evidence of "media bias". According to Bill Press, Rather chose to avoid covering the Levy story because he preferred what he called "decent, responsible journalism". CBS News eventually ran a single story about the Levy disappearance the following week.

Killian documents

On September 8, 2004, Rather reported on ''60 Minutes Wednesday'' that a series of memos critical of President George W. Bush's Texas Air National Guard service record had been discovered in the personal files of Lt. Bush's former commanding officer, Lt. Col. Jerry B. Killian. Once copies of the documents were made available on the internet, their authenticity was quickly called into question. Much of this was based on the fact that the documents were proportionally printed and displayed other modern typographic conventions unavailable on military typewriters of the 1970s. This led to claims that the memos were forgeries. The accusations then spread over the following days into mainstream media outlets including ''The Washington Post'', ''The New York Times'', and the ''Chicago Sun-Times''.

Rather and CBS initially defended the story, insisting that the documents had been authenticated by experts. CBS was contradicted by some of the experts it originally cited, and later reported that its source for the documents – former Texas Army National Guard officer Lt. Col. Bill Burkett – had misled the network about how he had obtained them.

On September 20, CBS retracted the story. Rather stated, "If I knew then what I know now, I would not have gone ahead with the story as it was aired, and I certainly would not have used the documents in question." The controversy has been referred to by some as "Memogate" and "Rathergate."

Following an investigation commissioned by CBS, CBS fired story producer Mary Mapes and asked three other producers connected with the story to resign. Many believe Rather's retirement was hastened by this incident. On Thursday, September 20, 2007, Rather was interviewed on ''Larry King Live'' commenting "Nobody has proved that they were fraudulent, much less a forgery. ... The truth of this story stands up to this day."

In a 2010 issue of ''TV Guide'', Rather's report was ranked #3 on a list of TV's ten biggest "blunders".

Lawsuit

On September 19, 2007, Rather filed a $70 million lawsuit against CBS, its former parent company Viacom; CBS President and CEO Leslie Moonves; Sumner Redstone, chairman of both Viacom and CBS; and Andrew Heyward, former president of CBS News. Rather accused the network and its ownership and management of making him a "scapegoat" in the Killian story. A CBS spokesman claimed that the lawsuit was "old news" and "without merit". On September 21, 2009, Rather's lawyers claimed that Bush's military service would be proven to be a sham and Rather would be vindicated. On September 29, 2009, a New York state appeals court dismissed Rather's lawsuit against CBS. On January 12, 2010, New York's top court refused to reinstate Rather's $70 million breach-of-contract lawsuit against CBS Corp.

Departure from the ''CBS Evening News''

Rather retired as the anchorman and Managing Editor of the ''CBS Evening News'' in 2005; his last broadcast was Wednesday, March 9, 2005. He had worked as the anchorman for 24 full years, the longest tenure of anyone in American television history, and for a short time continued to work as a correspondent for ''60 Minutes''. Bob Schieffer, a fellow Texan and host of ''Face the Nation,'' took over Rather's position on an interim basis, with Katie Couric replacing Schieffer in 2006.

Since retiring, Rather has spoken out strongly about what he perceives as a lack of courage by American journalists. On January 24, 2006, Rather spoke to a Seattle audience. Before the speaking engagement, he told a newspaper reporter, "In many ways on many days, [reporters] have sort of adopted the attitude of 'go along, get along.'"

"What many of us need is a spine transplant", Rather added. "Whether it's City Hall, the State House, or the White House, part of our job is to speak truth to power."

Departure from CBS News

In June 2006, reports surfaced that CBS News would most likely not renew Dan Rather's contract. According to a ''Washington Post'' article, sources from CBS said that executives at the network decided "there is no future role for Rather".

On June 20, 2006, CBS News and Sports president Sean McManus announced that Rather would leave the network after 44 years. Rather issued a separate statement which accompanied the news of the departure:

Rather has since resumed his career as a producer with HDNet, a high-definition cable television station, and as of October 24, 2006, hosts ''Dan Rather Reports'' – a weekly one-hour show. A guest contributor on ''The Chris Matthews Show'' and on ''The Daily Show,'' Rather has formed an independent company called News and Guts Media and is reported to be working on a book.

Awards

He has received numerous Emmy Awards, several Peabody Awards, and various honorary degrees from universities.

! Award	! Year	! Program Title
Peabody	1975	CBS News
Peabody	1976	60 Minutes
Peabody	1994	CBS Reports: D-Day
Peabody	1995	CBS Reports: In the Killing Fields of America
Peabody	2000	48 Hours: Heroes Under Fire
Peabody	2001	60 Minutes II: Memories of a Massacre
Peabody	2004	60 Minutes II: Abuse at Abu Ghraib

Criticism

As one of the last broadcast news journalists from the era of the "Big Three" network news primacy, Rather was highly regarded within his profession by many long-serving journalists. Rather has, however, been the object of criticism from many people who accuse him of having a liberal bias. Still others have expressed dislike for Rather's on-air delivery or argued that Rather was too "ham-handed", "pseudo-folksy" or "old-fashioned."

Claims of bias

Rather has been described as having a liberal bias for much of his career. Media Research Center, a conservative organization which claims to identify liberal bias in the media, has a file devoted to what it says are examples of Rather's bias. The pun "rather biased" has become a catchphrase used frequently by those who believe he has a bias. In 1985, Senator Jesse Helms, Republican of North Carolina and leading spokesman of the group Fairness in Media (FIM), sent out a letter to members urging them to buy twenty shares each of CBS common stock in an attempt to curb Rather's and CBS's alleged liberal bias. CBS fought back with the help of investment banking houses, and several law and public relations firms.

Rather was criticized for speaking as part of a Democratic Party fundraiser in Texas in 2001. Rather claimed afterwards that he did not realize it was a fundraiser for the party.

Rather's on-screen comments and election-night reporting have come under attack as well, dating back to Richard Nixon's presidency. In a June 2002 interview with Larry King, his long-time co-worker (and self-described liberal) Andy Rooney stated that Rather is "transparently liberal".

Critics claim Rather has a double standard on how and which news stories to report, the Killian documents being the most famous example of this. During the weeks following the Killian documents stories, Rather received widespread criticism from other journalists and historians for his approach on reporting and confirmation of the documents' authenticity, as well as his continued insistence on standing by them. It is also claimed that many of his interviews of public officials reflect a liberal bias, being either overly harsh (when interviewing a conservative) or "soft-ball" (when interviewing a liberal). In an interview with commentator Bill Maher, Rather accused Fox News Channel of receiving "talking points" from the Republican-controlled White House. Fox News commentator Bill O'Reilly, who had defended Rather during the Killian documents incident, criticized Rather heavily for not offering any evidence to support the claim:

In 2002, Bernard Goldberg published a book with the title "Bias", speaking mainly of liberal bias in the news. In the book, Goldberg used Dan Rather as a primary example of a news anchor with a liberal bias. He also criticises the anchor for his criticisms about President George W. Bush and Vice President Dan Quayle about their military service, when Rather's own service had been brought into question.

Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting has accused Rather of having "an unwillingness to challenge official power and policy" in his reporting. Investigative reporter Mark Hertsgaard characterized Rather as a "stern anti-Communist" during the Reagan administration for allegedly having "reported the pronouncements of public officials with considerable respect".

Criticism from Walter Cronkite

During an appearance on CNN's ''American Morning'', former CBS anchor Walter Cronkite said about Rather: "It surprised quite a few people at CBS and elsewhere that, without being able to pull up the ratings beyond third in a three-man field, that they tolerated his being there for so long." Cronkite also stated that Bob Schieffer's succession was long overdue.

Notable incidents/Controversies

1968 Democratic convention

During live coverage of the 1968 Democratic National Convention, Rather attempted to interview a delegate from Georgia who appeared as though he was being forcibly removed by men without identification badges.

As Rather approached the delegate to question the apparent strong-arm tactics of the Chicago political machine, he was punched in the stomach by one of the men, knocking him to the ground. "He lifted me right off the floor and put me away. I was down, the breath knocked out of me, as the whole group blew on by me...In the CBS control room, they had switched the camera onto me just as I was slugged."

Chicago cab ride

On November 10, 1980, Rather landed at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport and got into a cab. He asked the cab driver to take him to the home of Studs Terkel whom he was interviewing for 60 Minutes. The cab driver couldn't locate the address and Rather felt that he was being ripped off. When he asked to be let out of the cab, the cabbie asked for the fare. Rather refused to pay and the cabbie sped off through the streets of downtown Chicago looking for the police. Rather shouted out the window that he was being kidnapped and eventually the police pulled over the cab. Rather later refused to press charges against the cabbie and CBS paid the $12.55 fare.

Galloway Suit Won by CBS

In 1980, Rather and CBS were taken into court when Carl Galloway, a California doctor, claimed that a report on 60 Minutes wrongfully implicated him in an insurance fraud scheme. CBS stated Galloway had signed the bogus report and was suing Rather because he was upset at being caught. The jury sided with CBS and Rather and they won the case. During the trial, Galloway's side used outtakes from the TV report showing that one interview was rehearsed. After the trial, Rather refused repeated interview requests from a reporter who later tried to get a surprise interview as Rather was entering CBS' studio building. Rather said, "Get the microphone right up, will you?". With the camera rolling, Rather looked at the reporter in the eye and said, "Fuck you. You got it?". The clip was played over and over again on TV and Rather apologized. "I mistook who you were and what you were doing. That was inexcusable, rude and un-Christian behavior, for which I am remorseful," Rather's statement said.

"Kenneth, what is the frequency?"

On October 4, 1986, as Rather was walking along Park Avenue in Manhattan to his apartment, he was attacked and punched from behind by a man who demanded to know, "Kenneth, what is the frequency?", while a second assailant also chased and beat him. As the assailant pummeled and kicked Rather, he kept repeating the question over and over again. In describing the incident, Rather said, "I got mugged. Who understands these things? I didn't and I don't now. I didn't make a lot of it at the time and I don't now. I wish I knew who did it and why, but I have no idea."

The incident and Rather's account led some to doubt the veracity of Rather's story, although the doorman and building supervisor who rescued Rather fully confirmed his version of events. The story entered popular lore and remained unsolved for some time. The incident inspired a song called "Kenneth, What's the Frequency?" by the band Game Theory in 1987. In October 1990, the phrase "What's the frequency, Kenneth?" appeared in an issue of the Daniel Clowes comic ''Eightball'' as part of the serialized graphic novel ''Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron'', and was revealed in a later episode to be a key part of the Mister Jones conspiracy theory. Also in 1990, Scott McCloud used the phrase in the first 24-hour comic. In 1994 the band R.E.M. released the song "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?" on the album ''Monster''. The phrase became the subject of many jokes over the years and slang for a confused or clueless person. Rather was a good sport about it, and actually sang with R.E.M. during a soundcheck prior to a gig at Madison Square Garden, New York, which was shown the following night on The Late Show With David Letterman before their performance of Crush with Eyeliner.

In 1997, a TV critic writing in the ''New York Daily News'' solved the mystery, and published a photo of the alleged assailant, William Tager. Rather confirmed the story: "There's no doubt in my mind that this is the person." "William Tager's identity as the man who attacked Mr. Rather was established in the course of an investigation by my office", said New York District Attorney Robert M. Morgenthau.

Tager was sentenced to a 25-year prison sentence for killing NBC stagehand Campbell Montgomery outside ''The Today Show'' studio in 1994. He was paroled in October 2010 and is believed to be living in New York City.

In the December 2001 issue of ''Harper's Magazine'', writer Paul Limbert Allman speculated that postmodern fiction writer Donald Barthelme (who died in 1989) had somehow orchestrated, or was otherwise connected to, the attack through other unnamed persons, citing unusual passages in Barthelme's writing, including the phrase "What is the frequency?", a recurring character named Kenneth, and a short story about a pompous editor named Lather. Limbert also uncovered the facts that Barthelme and Rather were likely to have known each other professionally early in their careers. The article was adapted into two plays, both entitled "Kenneth, What Is the Frequency?" The first was by Ian Allen and Monique LaForce and debuted in Washington, D.C., in 2003. The second, written by Allman himself, premiered in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 2004.

In the 2006–07 graphic novel ''Shooting War'', the fictional Dan Rather of the year 2011 it portrays has adopted the personal motto, "The frequency is courage." In the 2006 film ''Land of the Blind'', the phrase briefly appears on a blackboard in a re-education camp for opponents of the dystopian regime led by Donald Sutherland.

The phrase and a coincidental similarity to Rather by a fictional hero is worked into the book called 'Lady Slings The Booze' by author Spider Robinson. It uses a fictional set-up to explain the mugging incident.

"Courage"

For one week in September 1986, Rather signed off his broadcasts to CBS with the single word "Courage". Apparently it was just a signature line and had nothing to do with the news at the time (which included the Joseph Cicippio abduction and a threat by Arab extremists to "become familiar with your skyscrapers and extend the terror campaign to the United States"), although TV critic Peter Boyer suggested it may have been in response to recent staff cutbacks at CBS News. Other newscasters ridiculed and parodied Rather, and he dropped it. Afterward, he said "And that's part of our world." On his last ''CBS Evening News'' broadcast, he once again signed off with "Courage", this time linking it to the September 11, 2001 attacks, as well as to courage shown by fellow journalists.

Dead air

On September 11, 1987, Rather walked off the set in anger just before a remote ''Evening News'' broadcast from Miami, where Pope John Paul II had begun a rare U.S. tour, when a U.S. Open tennis match was being broadcast into the time scheduled for the newscast. He was upset that the news was being cut into to make room for sports and discussed it with the sports department. The Steffi Graf-Lori McNeil tennis match coverage then ended sooner than expected at 6:32 p.m., but Rather was nowhere to be found. (CBS Sports had finally agreed to break away immediately after the match without commentary.) Over 100 affiliates broadcast six minutes of dead air. The next day, Rather apologized for leaving the anchor desk. The next year, when Rather asked then Vice President Bush about his role in the Iran-Contra affair during a live interview, Bush responded by saying, "Dan, how would you like it if I judged your entire career on the time you walked off the set?"

"Ratherisms"

Rather is known for his many off-the-cuff colorful analogies and descriptions during live broadcasts. Similar to those used by baseball announcer Red Barber, cycling commentator Phil Liggett and Formula 1 commentator Murray Walker, these "Ratherisms" are also called "Texanisms" or "Danisms" by some. A few of the more colorful ones, several of which were used throughout the 2008 HBO made-for-TV movie Recount (film) about the 2000 Election, include:

"This race is shakier than cafeteria Jell-O."

"Things are getting hotter than a Times Square Rolex."

"This thing is as tight as the rusted lugnuts on a '55 Ford."

(When Georgia was called for Clinton in 1992) "Clinton is off to a start, rolling like a big wheel through a Georgia cotton field."

"This race is tight like a too-small bathing suit on a too-long ride home from the beach."

"He swept through the South like a tornado through a trailer park."

"Don't bet the trailer money on it yet."

"It's a ding-dong battle back and forth."

"Look at that. Can't get a cigarette paper between 'em."

"His chances are slim to none right now, and if he doesn't carry Florida, Slim will have left town."

"If a frog had side pockets, he'd carry a hand gun."

"You would sooner find a tall talking broccoli stick to offer to mow your lawn for free."

"Turn the lights down, the party just got wilder."

"It's cardiac-arrest time in this presidential campaign."

"It's too early to say he has the whip hand."

"It's about as complicated as a wiring diagram to some dynamo."

"This election swings like one of those pendulum things."

"This will show you how tight it is – it's spandex tight."

"Al Gore has his back to the wall, shirt tails on fire with this race in Florida."

"Smelling salts for all Democrats, please."

"Maybe you can bring some perspective on this, we're plumb out."

"When the going gets weird, anchor men punt."

"She didn't go to school just to eat her lunch."

"[President Obama] couldn't sell watermelons if you gave him the state troopers to flag down the traffic." (his characterization of the Republican Party's assessment of Obama)

In Pop culture

He has been referenced in the television shows ''Saturday Night Live'' and ''Family Guy'' and many films. An animated caricature of him made a cameo appearance in the JibJab political cartoon, ''Good to Be in D.C.''

In 2004, he was featured in the documentary film "Barbecue: A Texas Love Story" by Austin-based director Chris Elley. Two years later, Rather and Elley educated a group of New Yorkers in Madison Square Park about the true meaning of BBQ and its significance to the identity of the Lone Star State. Rather began the discussion with a direct statement: "Let's get this straight folks. If it ain't beef and it ain't in Texas, then it ain't barbecue."

In the 2006–07 graphic novel ''Shooting War,'' which is set in the year 2011, an 80-year-old Dan Rather is shown to be one of the last journalists still reporting from Iraq.

Rather had a cameo in the premiere of the Fall 2007 drama Dirty Sexy Money on ABC television.

He guest-starred as himself in ''The Simpsons'' episode, "E Pluribus Wiggum".

Rather appeared on "The Daily Show" in May 2009 wearing an Afro wig and mutton-chop sideburns to narrate a segment about the late former President Nixon eating a burrito, as a parody of MSNBC's extensive coverage of President Obama and Vice President Biden's hamburger lunch.

Rather appears in the 2008 award-winning documentary Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story.

A character "Dano", a spot-on imitation of Rather, appears on the Brad and Britt morning show on WZTK radio, 101.1 FM, in Burlington, North Carolina. The show is heard weekday mornings. Features of the imitation include mentioning "I have the documents" whenever a dubious claim is made. Dano is also heard sometimes interviewing President Obama's teleprompter.

Ratings

Under predecessor Walter Cronkite, CBS Evening News was a strong #1 in the ratings, and Rather maintained a small ratings lead for a few years among the networks' news broadcasts through the early 1980s. However, Tom Brokaw and his ''NBC Nightly News'' and Peter Jennings of ABC News ''World News Tonight'' both became more popular than Rather's broadcast.

Quotes

"There's an old saying that you should marry a girl from Texas because no matter how tough things get, she's tougher."

"I cannot remember a time when I didn't want to be a reporter."

During the newscast on May 21, 1980 regarding the Mount St. Helens eruption, Rather (who was substituting for Cronkite) stated "It is an event that defies superlatives."

"You can't be a good reporter and not regularly be involved in some kind of controversy."

In reference to the CBS News, while referring to Katie Couric, Rather stated that "the mistake was to try to bring the 'Today' show ethos to the 'Evening News,' and to dumb it down, tart it up in hopes of attracting a younger audience." Mistakenly referred to Barack Obama as Osama bin Laden. "I have a respect for Jesse Jackson. That he was an important figure in paving the way for an Osama bin Laden to appear."

References

Further reading

Downie, Leonard Jr., and Kaiser, Robert G. ''The News About The News: American Journalism in Peril''. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2002. ISBN 0-375-71415-4. Contemporary history of American journalism. Candid interviews with Rather and many others.

Rather, Dan. ''The Palace Guard'', with Gary Gates

.

Rather, Dan. ''I Remember'', with Peter Wyden.

Rather, Dan with Herskowitz, Mickey. ''The Camera Never Blinks Twice''. 1995. William Morrow.

Rather, Dan. ''Deadlines and Datelines'', Perennial, (Harper Collins), 1999, ISBN 0-688-16566-4 (pbk.)

Boyer, Peter J. ''Who Killed CBS'', St. Martin's Press. 1989. ISBN 0-312-91531-4

2nd Saddam interview

External links

CBS biography of Rather

Dan Rather discusses the 2008 Presidential Campaign

PDF of Dan Rather's lawsuit against CBS

PDF of CBS' motion to dismiss Rather's lawsuit

"It's running of the bull", Michael Goodwin, ''New York Daily News'', 9 March 2005

"Wrong from the Beginning", Phillip Chalk, ''Weekly Standard'', March 14, 2005.

Rather-CBS lawsuit

Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story">Dan Rather appears in Lee Atwater documentary Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story

Category:1931 births Category:Living people Category:American television news anchors Category:American television reporters and correspondents Category:Emmy Award winners Category:Texas Democrats Category:Houston, Texas television anchors Category:Killian documents controversy Category:Television Hall of Fame inductees Category:Peabody Award winners Category:People from New York City Category:Sam Houston State University alumni Category:60 Minutes correspondents Category:War correspondents Category:Associated Press reporters Category:People from Wharton, Texas

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