Republican presidential candidate George H.W. Bush waving above a crowd amid shower of parade confetti, with wife Barbara by his side at a send-off gala for the US Olympic team.Cynthia Johnson—Time Life Pictures/Getty Image
The 41st president of the United States celebrates his ninth decade of life on Wednesday. George Herbert Walker Bush served as commander-in-chief from 1989-1993, a one-term president sandwiched between two-termers — Ronald Reagan, under whom he served as vice president during most of the 1980s, and Bill Clinton, who beat the New England native handily in 1992 but later became, by many accounts, a fast friend.
“Bush Senior,” whose son, George W. Bush or “Dubya,” became the 43rd president just eight years after that hard-fought 1992 election, was born in Massachusetts in 1924, but later moved to Texas to make a fortune in oil. Entering young adulthood during the thick of World War II, he flew 58 combat missions for the United States Navy. He has been married to his wife, Barbara, since 1945, was famously lampooned on Saturday Night Live by comedian Dana Carvey.
Republican presidential candidate George H.W. Bush waving above a crowd amid shower of parade confetti, with wife Barbara by his side at a send-off gala for the US Olympic team.Cynthia Johnson—Time Life Pictures/Getty ImageGeorge H.W. Bush at 13 years old on July 13, 1937.CorbisA portrait of an adolescent George H.W. Bush and a teammate in their baseball uniforms. Bush was the captain of the baseball team at Phillips Academy, where he attended from 1937 to 1942.CorbisNavy Lieutenant George H.W. Bush and Barbara Pierce get married in the First Prsbyterian Church in Rye, New York on January 6, 1945.CorbisU.S. Navy pilot George H.W. Bush sits in the cockpit of his torpedo bomber "Barbara III", named after his girlfriend and future wife Barara Pierce. Bush was in the navy from 1943-1945.CorbisGeorge H.W. Bush carries his infant son George W. Bush on his shoulders at Yale University in New Haven, Conn. CorbisGeorge H.W. Bush raises his arms in victory after winning an election against oilman Jack Cox for Texas Senate on June 7, 1964 in Houston, Texas.
Bettmann—CorbisGeorge H.W. Bush, director of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, attends a Cabinet meeting in Washington in 1976.David Hume Kennerly—Getty ImagesRepublican Presidential candidate George H.W. Bush campaigning for the presidential primary elections in 1980.Dirck Halstead—Getty ImagesReagan would prove to be the more popular conservative candidate in the race for the Presidency and would eventually gain the Republican nomination, but in a surprising turn of events, Reagan would pick Bush to be his vice presidential nominee. Here, the two candidates join Senate Majority leader Howard Baker for a rally on Capitol Hill in September 1980. Ron Edmonds—Bettmann/CorbisVice President George H.W. Bush prepares to throw a horseshoe while on the campaign trail on September 3, 1988. Bush and his running mate Dan Quayle defeated Michael Dukakis in the Presidential election.
Cynthia Johnson—Getty ImagesVice president George H.W. Bush and his wife Barbara relax in bed as their daughter and grandchildren join them at home in Kennebunkport, Maine in 1987.CNP/Getty ImagesPresident elect George H.W. Bush casting a fishing rod with surf splashing around him on January 1, 1988.Allen Eyestone—Time &; Life Pictures/Getty ImagesGeorge H.W. Bush dressed in hunting gear with friend & oil heir William Farish on a quail hunt at Lazy F Ranch on January 1, 1989.David Valdez—Time Life Pictures/Getty ImagesGOP Chairman Lee Atwater and President George H.W. Bush playing guitar during the inaugural weekend bash on 1989.Joe Mcneely—SIPA USAPresident H.W. Bush on the White House lawn with three of 1st dog Millie's puppies nestling under his arm on May 4, 1989.Susan Biddle—Time Life Pictures/Getty ImagesPresident George H.W. Bush on the phone with State Secretary Jim Baker during the gulf crisis, with White House Chief of Staff John Sununu & National Security Council Adviser Brent Scowcroft, at the White House in Washington on January 16, 1991.David Valdez—Time Life Pictures/Getty ImagesPresident George H.W. Bush and Barbara Bush poised above a crowd of First Marine Division Desert Command Post marines on thanksgiving during the Gulf Crisis on November 22, 1990.Diana Walker—Time Life Pictures/Getty ImagesPresidents George H.W. Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev shake hands at the end of a press conference about the peace summit in Moscow on July 31, 1991.Peter Turnley—CorbisPresident George H.W. Bush addressing a crowd at a campaign rally on September 29, 1992.Diana Walker—Time Life Pictures/Getty ImageGeorge H.W. Bush celebrates his 80th birthday with a tandem parachute jump over Texas A&M University with the U.S. Army Golden Knights parachute team. on June 13, 2004 in College Station, Texas.
Golden Knights—CorbisPresident George H.W. Bush taking a last look around the Oval Office with his dog Ranger, before vacating the White House to incoming president Bill Clinton in Washington on January 2, 1993.David Valdez—Time Life Pictures/Getty ImagesRepublican presidential candidate George W. Bush awaits the election results with his parents, George H.W. Bush and former First Lady Barbara Bush on November 7, 2000 in Austin, Texas, Brooks Kraft—Sygma/CorbisFormer U.S. President George W. Bush turns around and checks on his father and former President George H.W. Bush as all five living presidents, including Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter, come out on stage during the opening ceremony of the George W. Bush Presidential Center on April 25, 2013 in Dallas, Texas. Alex Wong—Getty ImagesGeorge H. W. Bush attends a dedication at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston on Oct. 1, 1993.Greg Smith—Corbis
