Former President George Herbert Walker Bush turns 88 today. I think history will look at him a little better in the future. He wasn’t one of the great presidents but he had his successes. His foreign policy outshined his domestic record without question. His high water mark his coalition building and handling of Gulf War I.  He did make a miscalculation in thinking the Iraqi people would finish the job on Sadaam.  The Berlin Wall and the Soviet Union fell during his watch. He had 2 Supreme Court appointees David Souter didn’t turn out as he had hoped. Clarence Thomas was an outstanding choice. You never know with the Supreme Court. Ike always said his biggest mistake as president was appointing Earl Warren.

Bush was following a giant-Ronald “Dutch” Reagan- it’s difficult succeeding a giant.

He looked unbeatable in 1991 for re-election in 1992. All the top democrats seemed to recognize this and quickly announced they wouldn’t be running. By 1992 the feeling around the county-the image of George HW Bush seemed to have changed. He was seen as inattentive to domestic issues. Maybe after 8 years of Bush as VP and 4 of him as president-they wanted a change. I also sensed during the campaign that Bush had lost his hunger. He seemed tired. I think he wanted to win but I don’t think he was the most broken-hearted of men when he got to go back to Texas.

I have always thought if Lee Atwater wouldn’t have gotten the brain tumor and died that the election would have turned out differently. Atwater was ruthless. Bill Clinton was the Comeback Kid-but I think he wouldn’t have survived Atwaters assaults had he been there running the Bush campaign.

President Bush of course is along with John Adams-the only presidents who had sons who became president.