George Bush Biography

Fast Facts

• Received an honorary degree from Sacred Heart University and an honorary Doctor of Laws from Dartmouth College
• Queen Elizabeth II made him an Honorary Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath in 1993
• Was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for bravery in action
• Was captain of the baseball team and a member of Phi Beta Kappa during his time at Yale University
• Enlisted in the armed forces on his 18th birthday, and was the youngest pilot in the Navy when he received his wings
• Started a career in the West Texas oil industry after graduating from college
• Quote: "The totalitarian era is passing, its old ideas blown away like leaves from an ancient, lifeless tree․ A new breeze is blowing, and a nation refreshed by freedom stands ready to push on․"
• From 1989 to 1993, he served as the 41st president of the United States
• Known for his foreign policy, he was president during the fall of the Berlin Wall, military operations in Panama and the Persian Gulf and the dissolution of the Soviet Union
• Briefly taught as a part-time professor of Administrative Science at Rice University's Jones School of Business