What Was George H.W. Bush's Net Worth?
George H.W. Bush was an American politician and former American President who had a net worth of $25 million at the time of his death in 2018. George Herbert Walker Bush, often referred to as George H.W. Bush, was the 41st President of the United States, serving from 1989 to 1993. Born into a prominent family on June 12, 1924, in Milton, Massachusetts, Bush had a rich and varied life that extended far beyond his presidency. His eldest son, George W. Bush, also served as President of the United States, and his son Jeb Bush served as the Governor of Florida.
Bush's early life was marked by his service as a Navy pilot during World War II. He was shot down over the Pacific and miraculously survived. This experience instilled in him a sense of duty and resilience that would guide his later endeavors.
In the years that followed, George entered the world of politics. He served as a U.S. Congressman, Ambassador to the United Nations, and Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. His extensive foreign policy experience became a hallmark of his presidency.
George H.W. Bush's presidency was characterized by international diplomacy and leadership. He successfully navigated the end of the Cold War, overseeing the peaceful reunification of Germany and the dissolution of the Soviet Union. He also orchestrated the coalition effort to liberate Kuwait from Iraq during the Gulf War. Domestically, Bush faced challenges, including economic difficulties, but his leadership during a tumultuous time in history earned him respect on both sides of the political aisle. However, his term was marked by his inability to secure a second term as he lost his re-election bid to Bill Clinton in 1992.
After leaving the White House, Bush remained active in public life, often engaging in humanitarian efforts alongside his fellow former presidents. His commitment to service and his dedication to his family were enduring aspects of his character. George H.W. Bush's life was one of dedication to his country, marked by a long and distinguished career in public service. He passed away on November 30, 2018, leaving behind a legacy of leadership and integrity that continues to inspire and shape the nation's history.
Early Life
George Herbert Walker Bush was born on June 12, 1924, in Milton, Massachusetts. He grew up in Greenwich, Connecticut. His father was a very successful investment banker. Due to his family's wealth, they were largely unaffected by the Great Depression. Bush attended Greenwich Country Day School and Phillips Academy in Massachusetts, serving as president of the senior class and graduating in 1942. George enlisted in the Navy as a naval aviator and served in the Pacific during World War II immediately following his graduation. During an attack on Chicijima, Bush's aircraft was downed by enemy fire, and both of his fellow crew members died. Several aviators shot down during the attack were captured, executed, and cannibalized by their captors, but George was successfully rescued by the USS Finback. Bush was released from active duty in September 1945, and he subsequently graduated from Yale with honors in 1948.
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Early Career and Entry into Politics
After college, Bush moved his young family to West Texas, where he launched a successful career in the oil business. He became a millionaire by age 40 and went on to get involved in politics. By the early '60s, he was widely regarded as an appealing political candidate in the Republican Party. An unsuccessful 1965 run for Senate gave way to him winning a seat in the US House of Representatives in Texas's 7th congressional district. He was then appointed by Nixon as Chair of the Republican National Committee in 1972. It was during his tenure at the RNC that the Watergate scandal emerged into public view. In January 1976, Bush became the Director of Central Intelligence and was in charge of the CIA, whose reputation had been damaged for its role in various covert operations during Watergate.
Bush ran for president in 1980 but was defeated in the primaries by Ronald Reagan. He was then selected as Reagan's running mate and was elected Vice President in 1980 and 1984.
Presidency
In 1988, Bush ran a successful presidential campaign, beating out Democrat Michael Dukakis, to succeed Reagan as the 41st President of the United States. He was the first incumbent vice president to be elected president since Martin Van Buren in 1836. Bush was the last veteran of World War II to serve as President. Foreign policy drove his presidency as he navigated the final years of the Cold War and the reunification of Germany. During his time in office, military operations were conducted in Panama and the Persian Gulf. The Berlin Wall fell in 1989, and the Soviet Union dissolved two years later. He also negotiated and signed NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement). Bush reneged on a 1988 campaign promise by signing a bill that increased taxes but helped to reduce the federal budget deficit. During his presidency, George drove attention to voluntary service as a means to solve America's most serious social problems. He also signed the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and appointed two Supreme Court judges, David Souter and Clarence Thomas. His speeches were famous for using the phrase "a thousand points of light" to describe the power of citizens to solve community problems. Following an economic recession and decreased emphasis on foreign policy in a post-Cold War political climate, Bush lost the 1992 presidential election to Democrat Bill Clinton. He left the office of President with a job approval rating of 56 percent, an above-average ranking.
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Post Presidency
After he left office, Bush and his wife, Barbara, built a retirement home in Houston. He frequently spent time at his vacation home in Kennebunkport and took annual cruises in Greece. He declined to serve on any corporate boards but delivered many speeches and served as an advisor to private equity firm The Carlyle Group. Bush never published a memoir but co-wrote a book with Brent Scowcroft on a 1999 work on foreign policy, "A World Transformed." He supported his sons George W. and Jeb in their successful runs for Governor of Texas and Governor of Florida, respectively. He also supported George W. in his 2000 presidential election but did not actively campaign or give a speech at the 2000 Republican National Convention. George W. was elected president in 2000 and was reelected in 2004, and Bush and his son thus became the second father-son pair to each serve as President, following John Adams and John Quincy Adams.
In his retirement, Bush would often work with his former rival turned friend President Clinton on humanitarian efforts. They appeared together in various ads encouraging aid for victims of Hurricane Katrina and the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami. George supported John McCain in the 2008 presidential election and Mitt Romney in 2012, but both were defeated by Barack Obama. In 2011, Obama awarded Bush with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Neither George H.W. nor George W. Bush endorsed the 2016 republican nominee, Donald Trump, and Bush later said he voted for the Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton.
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Personal Life
George H. W. Bush married Barbara Pierce Bush in 1945. They would eventually have six children. His three-year-old daughter Robin tragically died from leukemia in 1953. On April 17, 2018, Former First Lady Barbara Bush died at the age of 92 at her home in Houston, Texas. George H. W. Bush died just seven months later, on November 30, 2018, at the age of 94. He had suffered from Grave's disease and a form of Parkinson's disease and had been confined to a wheelchair for some of his final years.
Honors
Bush was named "Time" magazine's Man of the Year in 1990. In 1997, the Houston airport was renamed the George Bush Intercontinental Airport. In 1999, the CIA headquarters was named the George Bush Center for Intelligence in his honor. An avid golfer, George was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2011. Bush was commemorated on a postage stamp by the USPS in 2019. The George H.W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum was completed in 1997 on a 90-acre site on the west campus of Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas. Texas A&M is also home to the Bush School of Government and Public Service, a graduate public policy school.
