Discussion President Gerge Herbert Walker - Essay Example

Discussion: President George Herbert Walker Bush The purpose of this paper is to provide a discussion on the presidency pf George H.W. Bush with specific reference to my personal impression of the president and what I have learned from my immediate family and from personal readings. Without question, the time of the Presidency of George H.W. Bush saw some fundamentally interesting moments in both American and global history. Probably the most significant events of the presidency would be both the collapse of the Soviet Union and the subsequent fall of the Berlin wall.

It could be argued that these events came relatively early during George H.W. Bush’s presidency, and really reflect initiatives and policies of the previous president (Ronald Reagan). Two major international political initiatives that were truly spearheaded by the Bush Presidency that I have seen through my research were the military incursions into Panama and Operation Desert Storm. Whilst the actual political details of these two events are well storied, my personal impressions of the event were that they demonstrated a kind of turnaround for the United States armed forces.

I recall watching an interview with Colin Powell in which he postulated that a real concern for the president was that the military incursions could expand into a second ‘Vietnam’ insofar as the nation would become involved in a prolonged un-winnable war. Ultimately the United States recognized an overwhelming military success in both incursions. After the collapse of the Soviet Union this left the United States in a militarily dominate position. On the negative side of the spectrum the Bush Presidency also recognized a serious downturn in the economy.

Moreover, as part of his initial presidential campaign promise, Bush utilized the slogan “Read my lips, no new taxes.” As part of a compromise with the Democratic Party ultimately Bush had implemented significant new taxes which in a way tarnished his reputation. Probably the most interesting point of the Bush Presidency would be the overall turnaround of the Presidential popularity rating. After the military successes of the United States, Bush recognized an extremely high popularity rating but because of a poor economy and ‘flip-flopping’ on a campaign promises Bush lost his campaign reelection.

This serves as an example that no matter how popular a President may be at one time there is always the opportunity for a turnaround.