[148] Bush also attacked Dukakis for opposing a law that would require all students to recite the Pledge of Allegiance. [162], Bush and Gorbachev met at the Malta Summit in December 1989. Bush)", "Bush pardons Weinberger, Five Other Tied to Iran-Contra", "Moving back to the 'hood /CITIZEN BUSH", "The memoir I wish George H.W. [66] Ultimately, Bentsen defeated Bush, taking 53.5 percent of the vote. [334][335] Bush also championed and signed into a law the Immigration Act of 1990, a sweeping bipartisan immigration reform act that made it easier for immigrants to legally enter the county, while also granting immigrants fleeing violence the temporary protected status visa, as well as lifted the pre-naturalization English testing process, and finally "eliminated the exclusion of homosexuals under what Congress now deemed the medically unsound classification of "sexual deviant" that was included in the 1965 act. He was the second son of Prescott Bush and Dorothy (Walker) Bush. [81] Bush accepted appointment as Chief of the U.S. Liaison Office in the People's Republic of China, making him the de facto ambassador to China. Without the strong backing of the Republican Party, Bush agreed to another compromise bill, this one more favorable to Democrats. [289] Though he avoided giving unsolicited advice to his son, Bush and his son also discussed some matters of policy, especially regarding national security issues. Bush argued that the act unconstitutionally expanded the powers of the federal government, but he was privately uncomfortable with the racial politics of opposing the act. [189] A cease fire was arranged on March 3, and the UN passed a resolution establishing a peacekeeping force in a demilitarized zone between Kuwait and Iraq. The officials had used the proceeds to fund the Contra rebels in their fight against the leftist Sandinista government in Nicaragua. [174] In January 1993, Bush and Yeltsin agreed to START II, which provided for further nuclear arms reductions on top of the original START treaty. [120] In the end, Reagan won re-election, winning 49 of 50 states and receiving 59% of the popular vote to Mondale's 41%. [327] Professor Steven Knott writes that "[g]enerally the Bush presidency is viewed as successful in foreign affairs but a disappointment in domestic affairs. [297], Bush supported his son Jeb's bid in the 2016 Republican primaries. In the general election, Bush attacked Yarborough's vote for the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which banned racial and gender discrimination in public institutions and in many privately owned businesses. [305][306] Bush, along with former Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush (son), Bill Clinton and First Ladies Melania Trump, Michelle Obama, Laura Bush (daughter-in-law) and Hillary Clinton attended the funeral and posed together for a photo as a sign of unity.

[70] Bush's ambassadorship was marked by a defeat on the China question, as the United Nations General Assembly voted, in Resolution 2758, to expel the Republic of China and replace it with the People's Republic of China in October 1971. George Herbert Walker Bush[a] (June 12, 1924 November 30, 2018) was an American politician, diplomat,[2] and businessman who served as the 41st president of the United States from 1989 to 1993. [12] He attended Greenwich Country Day School from 1929 to 1937 and Phillips Academy, an elite private academy in Massachusetts, from 1937 to 1942. [263] National polling taken in mid-1992 showed Perot in the lead, but Clinton experienced a surge through effective campaigning and the selection of Senator Al Gore, a popular and relatively young Southerner, as his running mate. From then on, the two men would have regular Thursday lunches in the Oval Office. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the 43rd vice president from 1981 to 1989 under Ronald Reagan, in the U.S. House of Representatives, as U.S. He also championed and signed three pieces of bipartisan legislation, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, Immigration Act of 1990 and the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990.

[274] The charges against the six were that they lied to or withheld information from Congress. [310][311] At the time of his death he was the longest-lived U.S. president,[312] a distinction now held by Jimmy Carter. [260], Meanwhile, the Democrats nominated Governor Bill Clinton of Arkansas. 1953), Neil (b. Democrats had passed a law that appropriated funds could not be used to help the Contras. [45] While working for Dresser, Bush lived in various places with his family: Odessa, Texas; Ventura, Bakersfield and Compton, California; and Midland, Texas. [268][269] On the eve of the 1992 election, the unemployment rate stood at 7.8%, which was the highest it had been since 1984. [h] Bush lay in state in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol from December 3 through December 5; he was the 12th U.S. president to be accorded this honor. As the President of the Senate, Bush also stayed in contact with members of Congress and kept the president informed on occurrences on Capitol Hill. However, both sides knew that spending cuts or new taxes would be necessary in the following year's budget in order to avoid the draconian automatic domestic spending cuts required by the GrammRudmanHollings Balanced Budget Act of 1987. [85][f] During Bush's year in charge of the CIA, the U.S. national security apparatus actively supported Operation Condor operations and right-wing military dictatorships in Latin America. Bush's life and legacy", "George H.W. [266] Clinton performed well in the Northeast, the Midwest, and the West Coast, while also waging the strongest Democratic campaign in the South since the 1976 election. [232] Thomas became one of the most conservative justices of his era. As Reagan built up a commanding delegate lead, Bush refused to end his campaign, but the other candidates dropped out of the race. Bush was a champion for people with disabilities", "School House to White House: The Education of the Presidents", "Cheerleading of the '20s: Epitome of masculinity", "Two Future Presidents Slept Here latimes", "TO PASS H.R. [220] Throughout his presidency, the AIDS epidemic grew dramatically in the U.S. and around the world, and Bush often found himself at odds with AIDS activist groups who criticized him for not placing a high priority on HIV/AIDS research and funding. [240][241][242] Indeed, Bush's sound bite where he refers to the issue of overarching purpose as "the vision thing" has become a metonym applied to other political figures accused of similar difficulties. [286] George W. Bush defeated Al Gore in the 2000 election and was re-elected in 2004. George H. W. Bush speaking on February 17, 2011. [154], Bush's first major appointment was that of James Baker as Secretary of State. Bush had written", "frontline: the long road to war: assassination", "The 1994 Elections: The Nation The Bushes; Texas Elects George W. While Florida Rejects Jeb", "George W. Bush Is Re-elected in Texas; His Brother Jeb Is Victorious in Florida", "A Candidacy That May Test a Friendship's Ties", "People of the Year: Bill Clinton and George H. W. Bush", "George H.W. [332] They specifically noted Bush's accomplishments within the domestic policy by making bipartisan deals, including raising the tax budget among the wealthy with the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990. [347][348] Bush is commemorated on a postage stamp that was issued by the United States Postal Service in 2019. [82] According to biographer Jon Meacham, Bush's time in China convinced him that American engagement abroad was needed to ensure global stability, and that the United States "needed to be visible but not pushy, muscular but not domineering. [349], The George H.W. [117], Reagan's approval ratings fell after his first year in office, but they bounced back when the United States began to emerge from recession in 1983. [20] By the end of his period of active service, Bush had flown 58 missions, completed 128 carrier landings, and recorded 1228 hours of flight time. In 1988, Lowell P. Weicker Jr. and Tony Coelho had introduced the Americans with Disabilities Act, which barred employment discrimination against qualified individuals with disabilities. [291] Despite earlier political differences with Bill Clinton, the two former presidents eventually became friends. After an unsuccessful run for the United States Senate, he won the election to the 7th congressional district of Texas in 1966. [331], In 2018, Vox highlighted Bush for his "pragmatism" as a moderate Republican president by working across the aisle. Bush: Foreign Policy", "George H.W. Ambassador to the United Nations. Her funeral was held at St. Martin's Episcopal Church in Houston four days later. [98] Partly in response to the Bush campaign's frequent questioning of Reagan's age (Reagan turned 69 in 1980), the Reagan campaign stepped up attacks on Bush, painting him as an elitist who was not truly committed to conservatism. [141], Bush, occasionally criticized for his lack of eloquence when compared to Reagan, delivered a well-received speech at the Republican convention. A 2018 poll of the American Political Science Association's Presidents and Executive Politics section ranked Bush as the 17th best president out of 44. [107] Though the race was widely regarded as a close contest for most of the campaign, Reagan ultimately won over the large majority of undecided voters. [211] House Minority Whip Newt Gingrich led the conservative opposition to the bill, strongly opposing any form of tax increase. Meanwhile, he began to lay the groundwork for his candidacy in the 1980 Republican Party presidential primaries. Motivated by Tower's victory, and hoping to prevent the far-right John Birch Society from coming to power, Bush ran for the chairmanship of the Harris County Republican Party, winning election in February 1963. Another son, Jeb Bush, unsuccessfully sought the Republican presidential nomination in the 2016 Republican primaries. Portions of his letters and his diary were later published as The China Diary of George H. W. Bush and All the Best, George Bush. [15] He was a member of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity and was elected its president.

[28] On September 2, 1945, before any invasion took place, Japan formally surrendered following the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In early 1945, he was assigned to a new combat squadron, VT-153, where he trained to take part in an invasion of mainland Japan. [39] He also captained the Yale baseball team and played in the first two College World Series as a left-handed first baseman. [102] Though he favored lower taxes, Bush feared that dramatic reductions in taxation would lead to deficits and, in turn, cause inflation. [98] With help from Governor John H. Sununu and an effective campaign attacking Dole for raising taxes, Bush overcame an initial polling deficit and won New Hampshire with 39 percent of the vote. [68] The position represented Bush's first foray into foreign policy, as well as his first major experiences with the Soviet Union and China, the two major U.S. rivals in the Cold War. After the war, he graduated from Yale and moved to West Texas, where he established a successful oil company. [288] Bush advised his son on some personnel choices, approving of the selection of Dick Cheney as running mate and the retention of George Tenet as CIA Director. [222], In June 1989, the Bush administration proposed a bill to amend the Clean Air Act. Bush did not agree with many of the Reagan policies, but he did tell Gorbachev that he would seek to continue improving relations if he succeeded Reagan. With the victory of his son, George W. Bush, in the 2000 presidential election, the two became the second fatherson pair to serve as the nation's president, following John Adams and John Quincy Adams. [46] In 1952, he volunteered for the successful presidential campaign of Republican candidate Dwight D. Eisenhower. Working with Senate Majority Leader George J. Mitchell, the administration won passage of the amendments over the opposition of business-aligned members of Congress who feared the impact of tougher regulations. 'George Bush and the diplomacy of German unification. [323] His faith was reflected in his "thousand points of light" speech, his support for prayer in schools, and his support for the pro-life movement (following his election as vice president). [129] The IranContra scandal, as it became known, did serious damage to the Reagan presidency, raising questions about Reagan's competency. [206], Bush and congressional leaders agreed to avoid major changes to the budget for fiscal year 1990, which began in October 1989.

[223] The legislation sought to curb acid rain and smog by requiring decreased emissions of chemicals such as sulfur dioxide,[224] and was the first major update to the Clean Air Act since 1977. [147] Dukakis damaged his own campaign with a widely mocked ride in an M1 Abrams tank and a poor performance at the second presidential debate. [257] However, Bush's tax increase had angered many conservatives, who believed that Bush had strayed from the conservative principles of Ronald Reagan. [351] The library is located on a 90-acre (36ha) site on the west campus of Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas. "[80], Upon his ascension to the presidency, Ford strongly considered Bush, Donald Rumsfeld, and Nelson Rockefeller for the vacant position of vice president. [57] Despite the loss, the New York Times reported that Bush was "rated by political friend and foe alike as the Republicans' best prospect in Texas because of his attractive personal qualities and the strong campaign he put up for the Senate". [345] In 2011, Bush, an avid golfer, was inducted in the World Golf Hall of Fame. ", Bush's remarks at the signing ceremony for the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990[214], The disabled had not received legal protections under the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964, and many faced discrimination and segregation by the time Bush took office. Bush easily won the Republican primary, but Yarborough was defeated by the more conservative Lloyd Bentsen in the Democratic primary. Bush stamp", "National Archives Accepts Bush Library as Tenth Presidential Library", National Archives and Records Administration, "The Birth of the Tenth Presidential Library: The Bush Presidential Materials Project, 19931994", "How Texas A&M became home to the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum", "The President Who Treated Me Like a Son", "Interview with: George W. Bush, Barbara Bush", George H.W. [230], Bush appointed two justices to the Supreme Court of the United States. "[329] Bush himself noted that his legacy was "lost between the glory of Reagan and the trials and tribulations of my sons. [280], During a 1993 visit to Kuwait, Bush was targeted in an assassination plot directed by the Iraqi Intelligence Service. Bush (CVN-77), the tenth and last Nimitz-class supercarrier of the United States Navy, was named for Bush. [262] Perot also attacked NAFTA, which he claimed would lead to major job losses. This would be his final public appearance. [207] Bush and other leaders also wanted to cut deficits because Federal Reserve Chair Alan Greenspan refused to lower interest rates, and thus stimulate economic growth, unless the federal budget deficit was reduced. [213], "Even the strongest person couldn't scale the Berlin Wall to gain the elusive promise of independence that lay just beyond. [190] A March 1991 Gallup poll showed that Bush had an approval rating of 89 percent, the highest presidential approval rating in the history of Gallup polling. [131] The investigations continued after Reagan left office and, though Bush was never charged with a crime, the IranContra scandal would remain a political liability for him. [255], Bush announced his reelection bid in early 1992; with a coalition victory in the Persian Gulf War and high approval ratings, Bush's reelection initially looked likely. [172] Later that month, Gorbachev resigned as general secretary of the Communist party, and Russian president Boris Yeltsin ordered the seizure of Soviet property. [149], Bush defeated Dukakis by a margin of 426 to 111 in the Electoral College, and he took 53.4 percent of the national popular vote. Bush and his son thus became the second fatherson pair to each serve as President of the United States, following John Adams and John Quincy Adams. ", "Obama does not want to become known as 'The Great Ditherer', "Modest Bush Approval Rating Boost at War's End: Summary of Findings Pew Research Center for the People & the Press", "The Corner: The Supermarket Scanner Story Cont'd", "Bush Encounters the Supermarket, Amazed", "Stumping in the Bookstores: A Literary History of the 1992 Presidential Campaign", "What if Mario Cuomo had run for president? About 300 Americans, as well as approximately 65 soldiers from other coalition nations, died during the military action. Bush issue joint statement condemning racism and anti-Semitism", "Barbara Bush, Wife of 41st President and Mother of 43rd, Dies at 92", "Bush family releases details on Barbara Bush's funeral, public visitation", "Presidents pay their respects as Barbara Bush is laid to rest", "Barbara Bush remembered at funeral as 'the first lady of the greatest generation', "The story behind that viral photo of the past 4 presidents all in the same place", "George H.W. [135] Though he had moved to the right during his time as vice president, endorsing a Human Life Amendment and repudiating his earlier comments on "voodoo economics," Bush still faced opposition from many conservatives in the Republican Party. [187] Bush believed that the UN resolution had already provided him with the necessary authorization to launch a military operation against Iraq, but he wanted to show that the nation was united behind a military action. 1956), and Doro (b. He progressively developed problems walking, initially needing a walking stick for mobility aid before he eventually came to rely on a wheelchair from 2011 onwards. "[43] His first position in Texas was an oil field equipment salesman[44] for Dresser Industries, which was led by family friend Neil Mallon. The pardons effectively brought an end to the Iran-Contra scandal. [132], On July 3, 1988, the guided missile cruiser USSVincennes accidentally shot down Iran Air Flight 655, killing 290 passengers. [352] Texas A&M University also hosts the Bush School of Government and Public Service, a graduate public policy school. [47], With support from Mallon and Bush's uncle, George Herbert Walker Jr., Bush and John Overbey launched the Bush-Overbey Oil Development Company in 1951. No new taxes. [89], Bush's tenure at the CIA ended after Carter narrowly defeated Ford in the 1976 presidential election. [350] It contains the presidential and vice presidential papers of Bush and the vice presidential papers of Dan Quayle. [217], In August 1990, Bush signed the Ryan White CARE Act, the largest federally funded program dedicated to assisting persons living with HIV/AIDS. [74][75] In that position, he was charged with fundraising, candidate recruitment, and making appearances on behalf of the party in the media. [111] The Bushes attended a large number of public and ceremonial events in their positions, including many state funerals, which became a common joke for comedians. [84] In the aftermath of the Watergate scandal and the Vietnam War, the CIA's reputation had been damaged for its role in various covert operations, and Bush was tasked with restoring the agency's morale and public reputation. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 1948 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics.

[271] Bush blamed Perot in part for his defeat, though exit polls showed that Perot drew his voters about equally from Clinton and Bush. [191] After 1991, the UN maintained economic sanctions against Iraq, and the United Nations Special Commission was assigned to ensure that Iraq did not revive its weapons of mass destruction program. [231] Souter was easily confirmed and served until 2009, but joined the liberal bloc of the court, disappointing Bush. Nixon considered selecting Bush as his running mate in the 1968 presidential election, but he ultimately chose Spiro Agnew instead. [98] Bush also generally enjoyed a good relationship with Reagan staffers, including Bush's close friend James Baker, who served as Reagan's initial chief of staff. While Britain and France were wary of a re-unified Germany, Bush joined West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl in pushing for German reunification. [198][199] Large federal deficits, spawned during the Reagan years, rose from $152.1billion in 1989[200] to $220billion for 1990;[201] the $220 billion deficit represented a threefold increase since 1980.

[179], Faced with massive debts and low oil prices in the aftermath of the IranIraq War, Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein decided to conquer the country of Kuwait, a small, oil-rich country situated on Iraq's southern border. [258] He faced a challenge from conservative political columnist Pat Buchanan in the 1992 Republican primaries. "[227] During his presidency, Bush honored numerous volunteers with the Daily Point of Light Award, a tradition that was continued by his presidential successors. [218][219] In November 1991, Bush signed the Civil Rights Act of 1991, which was largely similar to the bill he had vetoed in the previous year. [256] As a result, many leading Democrats, including Mario Cuomo, Dick Gephardt, and Al Gore, declined to seek their party's presidential nomination. [30], Bush met Barbara Pierce at a Christmas dance in Greenwich in December 1941,[31] and, after a period of courtship, they became engaged in December 1943. That same year, his father won election to represent Connecticut in the United States Senate as a member of the Republican Party. The 1988 presidential election remains the only presidential election since 1948 in which either party won a third consecutive term. Senator from Maryland, to force his brother, George Beall the U.S. Attorney in Maryland, to shutdown the investigation into Agnew. Initial polling showed him trailing his Democratic opponent, Harris County District Attorney Frank Briscoe, but he ultimately won the race with 57 percent of the vote. [116] In 1983, Bush toured Western Europe as part of the Reagan administration's ultimately successful efforts to convince skeptical NATO allies to support the deployment of Pershing II missiles. NAFTA was signed in December 1992, after Bush lost re-election,[195] but President Clinton won ratification of NAFTA in 1993. [76], During Bush's tenure at the RNC, the Watergate scandal emerged into public view; the scandal originated from the June 1972 break-in of the Democratic National Committee, but also involved later efforts to cover up the break-in by Nixon and other members of the White House. [98] When news of affair broke to the media, Bush stated that he had been "out of the loop" and unaware of the diversion of funds. Bush in Iowa: The family campaign", "Vice Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (19811989)", "The 40th President: Between 2 First Families, A Complicated Rapport", "Reagan Transfers Power to Bush For 8-Hour Period of 'Incapacity', "When should a president say he's sorry? [151] He became the fourth sitting vice president to be elected president and the first to do so since Martin Van Buren in 1836 and the first person to succeed a president from his own party via election since Herbert Hoover in 1929. [98] Public opinion polling consistently showed a Reagan lead in the 1984 campaign, and Mondale was unable to shake up the race. Bush dead at 94", "George Bush, 41st President, Dies at 94", "Bush 41 becomes longest-living president in US history", "Jimmy Carter's new milestone: Longest-lived U.S. president", "Texans who were presidents, vice-presidents", "George H.W. [106] The 1980 general election campaign between Reagan and Carter was conducted amid a multitude of domestic concerns and the ongoing Iran hostage crisis, and Reagan sought to focus the race on Carter's handling of the economy. [185] Bush convinced Britain, France, and other nations to commit soldiers to an operation against Iraq, and he won important financial backing from Germany, Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. [212] Some liberals also criticized the budget cuts in the compromise, and in October, the House rejected the deal, resulting in a brief government shutdown. In 2011, Obama awarded Bush with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the United States. Gorbachev clung to power as the President of the Soviet Union until December 1991, when the Soviet Union dissolved. [22], Bush flew his first combat mission in May 1944, bombing Japanese-held Wake Island,[23] and was promoted to lieutenant (junior grade) on August 1, 1944. ", "1992 Presidential General Election Results", "The 1992 Elections: Disappointment News Analysis An Eccentric but No Joke; Perot's Strong Showing Raises Questions On What Might Have Been, and Might Be ", "THE 1992 ELECTIONS: NEWS ANALYSIS; The Economy's Casualty ", "How the Presidents Stack Up: A Look at U.S. Presidents' Job Approval Ratings (George H.W. Concerning their political careers, he advised them both that "[a]t some point both of you may want to say 'Well, I don't agree with my Dad on that point' or 'Frankly I think Dad was wrong on that.' [110] His understanding of the vice presidency was heavily influenced by Vice President Walter Mondale, who enjoyed a strong relationship with President Carter in part because of his ability to avoid confrontations with senior staff and Cabinet members, and by Vice President Nelson Rockefeller's difficult relationship with some members of the White House staff during the Ford administration. In 1974, President Gerald Ford appointed him as the Chief of the Liaison Office to the People's Republic of China, and in 1976 Bush became the Director of Central Intelligence. Bush's decision to sign the bill damaged his standing with conservatives and the general public, but it also laid the groundwork for the budget surpluses of the late 1990s. He often used the "thousand points of light" theme to describe the power of citizens to solve community problems. "[336][337] Bush stated, "Immigration is not just a link to our past but its also a bridge to America's future".[338]. [343] In 1997, the Houston Intercontinental Airport was renamed as the George Bush Intercontinental Airport. [142] The election is widely considered to have had a high level of negative campaigning, though political scientist John Geer has argued that the share of negative ads was in line with previous presidential elections. At the time of his wife's death on April 17, 2018, George H. W. had been married to Barbara for 73 years, the longest presidential marriage in American history at that point. Bush also helped pass the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 which The New York Times described as "the most sweeping anti-discrimination law since the Civil Rights Act of 1964. [72] Bush's support for India at the UN put him into conflict with Nixon who was supporting Pakistan, partly because Yahya Khan was a useful intermediary in his attempts to reach out to China and partly because the president was fond of Yahya Khan.[73].

", "President Richard Nixon and the Presidents", "The George Bush Center for Intelligence", "Will Bush and Dole End Their Grand Old Rivalry? [96] He won a close victory in Iowa with 31.5% to Reagan's 29.4%. Bush Was Last Seen in Public 1 Month Before Death and It Was to Vote with His Dog", "Former President George H.W. Between March and May 1945 he trained in Auburn, Maine where he and Barbara lived in a small apartment. [309], After a long battle with vascular Parkinson's disease, Bush died at his home in Houston on November 30, 2018, at the age of 94. [279] He never published his memoirs, but he and Brent Scowcroft co-wrote A World Transformed, a 1998 work on foreign policy. [352], President of the United States from 1989 to 1993, This article is about the 41st president of the United States.

"[26] He was later awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his role in the mission. A moderate who was affiliated with the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC), Clinton favored welfare reform, deficit reduction, and a tax cut for the middle class. All six candidates took the stage, but Bush refused to speak in the presence of the other candidates. After the win, Bush stated that his campaign was full of momentum, or "the Big Mo",[97] and Reagan reorganized his campaign.

Bush Professorship of International Relations", "George HW Bush: What makes a one-term president? [300] After the election, Bush wrote a letter to president-elect Donald Trump in January 2017 to inform him that because of his poor health, he would not be able to attend Trump's inauguration on January 20; he gave him his best wishes. In December 1992, he granted executive clemency to six former senior government officials implicated in the Iran-Contra scandal, most prominently former Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger. [103], After Reagan clinched a majority of delegates in late May, Bush reluctantly dropped out of the race. President Reagan had intended it as the first step towards a larger trade agreement to eliminate most tariffs among the United States, Canada, and Mexico. [98], On March 30, 1981, while Bush was in Texas, Reagan was shot and seriously wounded by John Hinckley Jr. Bush immediately flew back to Washington D.C.; when his plane landed, his aides advised him to proceed directly to the White House by helicopter in order to show that the government was still functioning.