unlike father, unlike son

Society Pakistan & World Affairs
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Folks here may find the similarities and dissimilarities between the 41st and 43rd president interesing.

Taken from the this website. Please visit the site for embedded links.

President George H. W. Bush

High School

  • Admitted to prestigious Phillips Academy based on solid academic and athletic credentials
  • Captain of basketball and soccer teams
  • Elected president of senior class
  • Joined Air Force on graduation day

**Military Service **

  • Youngest pilot in Air Force
  • Flew 58 combat missions in World War II
  • Awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for bravery in action

College

  • Admitted to Yale based on outstanding academic, athletic, and leadership credentials
  • Captain of baseball team
  • Economics major, graduated in three years, elected to Phi Beta *]
  • Kappa (America’s most prestigious honor society)

Business

  • Left family connections in New England to strike out on own in Texas
  • Became a respected and remarkably successful businessman

Public Service

  • Two terms as US Representative from Texas
  • Ambassador to the United Nations
  • Ambassador to China
  • Director of the Central Intelligence Agency
  • Two terms as Vice-President

**Presidency - Election **

  • Defeated Michael Dukakis in popular vote by 6,930,000 votes
  • Defeated Michael Dukakis in electoral vote 426 to 111

Presidency - Economy

  • At great political cost and loss of face (“read my lips…”), raised taxes and restored US fiscal stability
  • Presided over one of shortest (and worst-timed for reelection) recessions in US history
  • Rather than artificially inflate the economy before the election, maintained fiscally responsible policies that helped lay the foundation for the subsequent elimination of budget deficits and the longest economic expansion in US history

Presidency - At War

  • Worked tirelessly to unite the world against Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait
  • Led Coalition with full UN backing and 160,000 troops from other nations into professional, quick, successful war against Iraq
  • Cut Saddam’s army to a third of its former size
  • Intimidated Saddam into never again attacking another nation
  • Forced Saddam to accept intrusive arms control inspections that ended his nuclear ambitions
  • Strategically chose to allow Iraq remain as a brutal but secular, stable government between fundamentalist Iran and Saudi Arabia, the region’s main terror exporters
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President George W. Bush

High School
- Attended Phillips Academy as legacy student after rejection elsewhere
- Head cheerleader
- C student

College

  • Admitted to Yale as legacy student
  • C student - no academic, athletic, or leadership accomplishments

*Military Non-Service *
- Used family connections to avoid Vietnam by serving in National Guard
- Grounded from flying in National Guard for failure to take physical after introduction of drug tests
- AWOL last 14 months of National Guard duty

*Graduate School *
- Admitted to Harvard MBA program after rejection by University of Texas law school
- No academic, athletic, or leadership accomplishments

*Business *
- While father was vice-President, used money from family connections to start oil company
- Drove company into near bankruptcy, rescued by family friends
- While father was President, given large share of Texas Rangers baseball team at deep discount, sold shares and became rich

*Public Service *
- Elected in 1994 as Governor of Texas after father lost Presidency in 1992
- Served 6 years in the largely ceremonial, part-time position - the budget in Texas is controlled by the Lt. Governor

*Presidency - Election *
- Won key debate with prophetic statement, "If we’re an arrogant nation, they’ll resent us. If we’re a humble nation but strong, they’ll welcome us."
- Lost national popular vote to Al Gore by 540,000 votes despite Ralph Nader taking over 2,000,000 votes from Gore
- Amid controversy over 179,855 uncounted ballots in Florida where brother Jeb was Governor, vote count was stopped by Supreme Court with Bush in lead by several hundred votes
- Supreme Court's 5-4 ruling included votes from Justices appointed by his father
- Newspaper consortium later counted all ballots - found full count gave Gore the victory, partial count gave Bush the victory

*Presidency - Economy *
- Rejected mainstream policies of his father
- With large tax cut for richest Americans, drove US back into deficit - record $400 billion deficit likely for 2003
- Presided over longest (though perhaps well-timed for reelection) recession since the 1930s

*Presidency - At War *
- Worked 16-hour weeks in first eight months of Presidency, took entire August off before 9/11 while CIA chief warned of Bin Laden threat
- Overthrew government of Afghanistan (Russia did so three times - keeping a friendly government is the hard part) and let it fall back into anarchy
- Following advice of chickenhawks with no war experience, strangely reinterpreted father's victory in Iraq as a failure
- Persuaded 51% of Americans, and perhaps himself, that Saddam was personally involved in 9/11 tragedy
- Persuaded 50% of Americans, and perhaps himself, that most or some of the 9/11 hijackers were Iraqi - none were
- Persuaded 79% of Americans, and perhaps himself, that they should worry about Iraq's (non-existent) nuclear weapons
- Persuaded 57% of Americans, and perhaps himself, that UN inspectors had found banned weapons when they had not
- Despite substantial financial inducements, could not persuade a majority of Security Council to support invasion of Iraq, leading to nation's worst diplomatic defeat in 80 years
- United world against US for first time in American history
- Led US and UK troops into war with approval from Macedonia, Slovakia, the Solomon Islands and other minor countries promised billions of taxpayer money
- Repeatedly claimed his coalition was larger than his father's
- Defeated remnants of Iraq's army decimated in previous war
- Left Iraq open to takeover by fundamentalists backed by Iran and Saudi Arabia