SEPTEMBER 2nd HAS BEEN A MEMORABLE DAY FOR GEORGE BUSH

SEVERAL SEPTEMBER 

SECONDS IN THE 

CALENDAR OF 

GEORGE BUSH'S LIFE 

Vice-President George Bush Photographed in 

His Old Executive Office Building Office 

Being Tough on Deregulation 

Published in the March 9, 1981, issue of BUSINESS WEEK (p. 64)   

"As one of his first official acts, President Reagan created a Presidential task force on regulatory relief and named Vice-President George Bush to head it." Key quote from the Vice-President: "We must get this country back to work." 

A few memorable September 2nd events in the life of George Bush, two from World War II, and one from the Cold War: 

September 2, 1944:  "Navy pilot George H.W. Bush was shot down by Japanese forces as he completed a bombing run over the Bonin Islands." (New York Times) 

September 2, 1945:  "On Sept. 2, 1945, Japan formally surrendered in ceremonies aboard the USS Missouri, ending World War II."  (New York Times) 

September 2, 1991: "The Bush administration officially recognized the three Baltic states [which had been part of the Soviet Union: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania] on September 2, 1991." (George Bush Library) [p.1] 

And then of course there is this September 2 in the life of the other George Bush: 

September 2, 2005: "President George W. Bush told Michael Brown, head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, 'Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job" during a tour of Hurricane Katrina damage in Alabama.'" (New York Times) 

ANN RICHARDS b. September 1, 1933

ANN RICHARDS 

September 1, 1933-September 13, 2006 

ANN RICHARDS, THEN STATE TREASURER, & 

LATER GOVERNOR OF, TEXAS (1991-1995), 

AS KEYNOTE SPEAKER AT THE 1988 

DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION, 

ATLANTA, GEORGIA 

It was one memorable speech.  Michael Dukakis and Lloyd Bentsen were the presidential and vice presidential nominees of the the Democratic party, running against Ronald Reagan's two-term vice-president, George Bush, and Senator Dan Quayle. 

The speech can be seen here. 

It is available to be read here. 

Two memorable points:  First, about what women can do: "if you give us a chance, we can perform.  After all, Ginger Rogers did everything that Fred Astaire did. She just did it backwards and in high heels." 

I do not know how many times I have seen this quoted since then.  Richards did not claim to have invented this. It is credited to the Thaves's Frank and Ernest comic strip; the Astaire-Rogers one can be found here. Ann Richards is credited with popularizing the notion. 

A second vivid moment from the speech:  "Poor George, he can't help it -- he was born with a silver foot in his mouth." 

"Poor George" Bush and Dan Quayle went on to beat Dukakis and Bentsen. 

Ann Richards went on to become the first woman elected governor of Texas in her own right, serving from 1991-1995.  A nice summing-up can be found here. 

Then she "misunderestimated" poor George's son George W. Bush and lost her chance at a second term; W became governor of Texas, and used it as his launching pad to the presidency. 

THE MAKING OF THE VICE-PRESIDENT ... August 16, 1988

DAN QUAYLE 

GOES FOR 

GRAVITAS 

Senator QUAYLE (R-IN) 

in the Senate 

Armed Services Committee 

Vice-President George Bush, Republican nominee for President, goes for Dan Quayle for his vice-presidential nominee, August 16, 1988. They go on to defeat Democrats Michael Dukakis and Lloyd Bentsen and serve one four-year term. 

JULY 30, 1991: MARCHING TO THE END OF THE SOVIET UNION, TWENTY YEARS AGO

A HANDSHAKE 

ON THE WAY TO 

THE END OF 

THE SOVIET UNION 

TWENTY YEARS AGO 

U.S. PRESIDENT GEORGE BUSH MEETS 

RUSSIAN PRESIDENT BORIS YELTSIN 

IN YELTSIN'S NEW KREMLIN OFFICE 

JULY 30, 1991 

Story coming in RUSSIA REDUX, Ch. 4 

"Russia Takes a President; the U.S. Takes Notice" 

JACK KEMP b. July 13, 1935

JACK KEMP 

July 13, 1935-May 2, 2009 

JACK KEMP & 

THE QUARTERBACK FINGERS 

Jack Kemp was a football star (twice AFL champion with the Buffalo Bills); Republican member of the House of Representatives; tax cutter influence on Ronald Reagan; presidential candidate (1988; beaten in the primaries by George Bush); appointed Secretary of Housing and Urban Development by the first President George Bush; and vice-presidential nominee on the ticket with Bob Dole (1996; they were beaten by Bill Clinton and Al Gore).   (The official Congressional "Bioguide" has a quick summary here.) 

Described as a "bleeding heart conservative," but thought Reagan was too quick to compromise on tax cuts. 

Is said to have had his broken middle finger set around a football so he could keep his quarterback's grip (see above). 

ALEKSANDR KORZHAKOV b. January 31, 1950

ALEKSANDR KORZHAKOV

b. January 31, 1950

RUSSIAN PRESIDENT BORIS YELTSIN

AND HIS KOMANDA

EMERGE FROM A MEETING

IN THE KREMLIN

WITH U.S. PRESIDENT GEORGE BUSH,

JULY 31, 1991.

KORSHAKOV HAS HIS BACK.

BUSH AND YELTSIN SIGN START II, January 3, 1993: Nuclear Warheads to be Cut in Half

START II

SIGNED

January 3, 1993

GEORGE BUSH IS MANEUVERED INTO

HOLDING A JOINT PRESS CONFERENCE

WITH BORIS YELTSIN, OUTSIDE THE NEW

RUSSIAN PRESIDENT'S NEW OFFICE IN

THE KREMLIN, July 30, 1991.

The American president's aides let it be known that George Bush was not best pleased by this and other example's of Yeltsin's "boorish" behavior. Less than a year and a half later the two presidents were pledging to cut their countries' nuclear warheads in half: START II was signed in Moscow.

More to come in RUSSIA REDUX

GEORGE BUSH & BORIS YELTSIN & RUSSIA DAY

GEORGE BUSH &

BORIS YELTSIN &

RUSSIA DAY

GEORGE BUSH & BORIS YELTSIN

outside the newly elected

First President of Russia's

new Kremlin office,

July 30, 1991

GEORGE HERBERT WALKER BUSH, formerly known simply as 

GEORGE BUSH, 41st president of the United States, was born on 

June 12, 1924.

"RUSSIA DAY" was proclaimed in honor of the declaration of Russian 

sovereignty, June 12, 1990, while the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist 

Republic was still part of the USSR.

One year later to the day, June 12, 1991, Russia held its first election 

for president, and Boris Yeltsin won. By the end of the year, the Soviet 

Union was no more.

Subjecting himself to a popular election (unlike Mikhail Gorbachev) won 

Yeltsin a meeting with U.S. President George Bush in the U.S. nine days 

later, and then, on July 30, a courtesy call by President on President 

Yeltsin in his new Kremlin office.

The rest of the story is coming in RUSSIA REDUX.