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1 of 24George H.W. Bush, pictured during his run for a Texas Senate seat, on the Oct. 26, 1970, cover of TIME. Illustration by Mort Drucker.TIME Magazine -
2 of 24George H.W. Bush, pictured as part of Gerald Ford's team, on the Nov. 17, 1975, cover of TIME.TIME Magazine -
3 of 24Ronald Reagan & George H.W. Bush on the Jul. 28, 1980, cover of TIME. Cover photo by Neil Leifer.TIME Magazine -
4 of 24Ronald Reagan & George H.W. Bush on the Aug. 27, 1984, cover of TIME. Cover photo by Dirck Halstead.TIME Magazine -
5 of 24George H.W. Bush, top left, with Geraldine Ferraro, Walter Mondale and Ronald Reagan, on the Oct. 22, 1984, cover of TIME. Illustration by Edward Sorel.TIME Magazine -
6 of 24George H.W. Bush, pictured among other presidential contenders, on the Feb. 29, 1988, cover of TIME.TIME Magazine -
7 of 24George H.W. Bush on the Mar. 21, 1988, cover of TIME. Illustration by Daniel Schwartz.TIME Magazine -
8 of 24George H.W. Bush on the Aug. 22, 1988, cover of TIME. Cover photo by William Coupon.TIME Magazine -
9 of 24George H.W. Bush and Dan Quayle on the Aug. 29, 1988, cover of TIME. Cover photo by Dennis Brack.TIME Magazine -
10 of 24October 24, 1988 cover of TIME magazine. Cover photos: 1960 debate by Paul Schutzer, 1988 debate by Steve Liss.TIME Magazine -
11 of 24George H.W. Bush on the Nov. 21, 1988, cover of TIME. Cover photo by Cynthia Johnson.TIME Magazine -
12 of 24George H.W. Bush, with Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev, on the Dec. 19, 1988, cover of TIME. Cover photo by Dirck Halstead.TIME Magazine -
13 of 24George H.W. Bush on the Jan. 30, 1989, cover of TIME. Photo credit by Dirck Halstead.TIME Magazine -
14 of 24George H.W. Bush on the Aug. 21, 1989, cover of TIME.TIME Magazine -
15 of 24George H.W. Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev on the Dec. 11, 1989, cover of TIME. Cover photo by Diana Walker.TIME Magazine -
16 of 24Saddam Hussein and George H.W. Bush on the Aug. 20, 1990, cover of TIME. Cover photo credits: Dirck Halstead (Bush); Thomas Hartwell (Saddam).TIME Magazine -
17 of 24George H.W. Bush, Men of the Year, on the Jan. 7, 1991, cover of TIME. Cover photo by Gregory Heisler.TIME Magazine -
18 of 24George H.W. Bush, with possible vice-presidential candidates, on the May 20, 1991, cover of TIME. Computer-altered State of the Union photo by Diana Walker.TIME Magazine -
19 of 24George H.W. Bush on the Aug. 24, 1992, cover of TIME. Photo credit by William Coupon.TIME Magazine -
20 of 24George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and H. Ross Perot on the Oct. 12, 1992, cover of TIME Cover photos: George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Ross Perot; Bush by Diana Walker, Clinton by Steve Liss, Perot by Shelly Katz-Black Star.TIME Magazine -
21 of 24Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush on the Oct. 19, 1992, cover of TIME. Photo by Cynthia Johnson.TIME Magazine -
22 of 24The 'Bush Dynasty' on the Aug. 7, 2000, cover of TIME.TIME Magazine -
23 of 24George H.W. Bush, Jeb Bush and George W. Bush on the Mar. 16, 2015, cover of TIME. Cover photo: George Bush Presidential Library and Museum/Corbis.TIME Magazine -
24 of 24Photograph by Richard Avedon © The Richard Avedon Foundation
When President George H.W. Bush, who died on Nov. 30 at the age of 94, eight months after his wife Barbara, first appeared on the cover of TIME in 1970, it was as a knight battling for a Senate seat in Texas. Bush was part of a wave of Republicans seeking office in that chamber at the time — one whose sense of humor made an impression on the magazine:
Chronicling the travels and travails of Texas’ George Bush, Correspondent Leo Janos reports that one afternoon they landed at a private airport in Fort Worth only to find the place deserted. “Well, what does TIME think of this warm and friendly reception?” Bush asked. “Positively Humphreyish,” replied Janos. “No,” grinned the candidate. “Bush-league.”
Bush lost that race, but over the nearly 50 years that followed he would prove that his political skills were anything but amateur. From Senate candidate to President of the United States to political patriarch, Bush appeared on the cover of TIME in all those guises, nearly two dozen times during his life. With his death, that list gained an entry.
Here’s a look back at that evolution.
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