Post-presidency of George H. W. Bush
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On January 20, 1993, following the first inauguration of his successor Bill Clinton, George H. W. Bush and his wife Barbara Bush built a retirement house in the community of West Oaks, Houston. He established a presidential office within the Park Laureate Building on Memorial Drive in Houston. He also frequently spent time at his vacation home in Kennebunkport, took annual cruises in Greece, went on fishing trips in Florida, and visited the Bohemian Club in Northern California. He declined to serve on corporate boards, but delivered numerous paid speeches and served as an adviser to The Carlyle Group, a private equity firm. He never published his memoirs, but he and Brent Scowcroft co-wrote A World Transformed, a 1998 work on foreign policy. 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.
During his post-presidency, his sons George and Jeb became governors of Texas and Florida, respectively. With the victory of George in the 2000 presidential election, the two became the second father–son pair to serve as the nation's president, following John Adams and John Quincy Adams. In his retirement, Bush used the public spotlight to support various charities. Despite earlier political differences with Bill Clinton, the two former presidents eventually became friends. They appeared together in television ads, encouraging aid for victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami and Hurricane Katrina. However, when interviewed by Jon Meacham, Bush criticized Donald Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney, and even his own son George W. Bush for their handling of foreign policy after the September 11 attacks. George H. W. Bush remained active in charity works and as a speaker on political issues, and represented the United States in delegations to inaugurations and funerals around the world. Barbara Bush died on April 17, 2018, after 73 years of marriage. Bush's post-presidency ended when he died on November 30, 2018.
First Clinton term (1993–1997)
Upon leaving office, Bush retired with his wife, Barbara, and temporarily moved into a friend's house near the Tanglewood community of Houston as they prepared to build a permanent retirement house nearby.[1] Ultimately they built their retirement house in the community of West Oaks, near Tanglewood.[2] They had a presidential office within the Park Laureate Building on Memorial Drive.[3] Mimi Swartz of National Geographic wrote that "The Bushes are too studiously sedate to live in River Oaks".[4] They spent their summers at Walker's Point in Kennebunkport, Maine.[5]
In 1993, Bush was targeted in an assassination plot when he visited Kuwait to commemorate the coalition's victory over Iraq in the Gulf War. Kuwaiti authorities arrested 17 people who were allegedly involved in using a car bomb in an attempt to kill Bush. Through interviews with the suspects and examinations of the bomb's circuitry and wiring, the FBI established that the plot had been directed by the Iraqi Intelligence Service. A Kuwaiti court later convicted all but one of the defendants. Two months later, Clinton retaliated when he ordered the firing of 23 cruise missiles at Iraqi Intelligence Service headquarters in Baghdad. The day before the strike, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Madeleine Albright went before the Security Council to present evidence of the Iraqi plot. After the missiles were fired, Vice President Al Gore said the attack "was intended to be a proportionate response at the place where this plot" to assassinate Bush "was hatched and implemented".[6]
In September 1993, Bush and other living former presidents were invited back to the White House for the signing of the Oslo I Accord. They also made the case to Clinton for a repeal of NAFTA.[7]
On April 22, 1994, Bush attended the funeral of former president Richard Nixon.[8]
In the 1994 gubernatorial elections, his sons George W. and Jeb concurrently ran for Governor of Texas and Governor of Florida. The elder Bush frequently telephoned their respective campaign headquarters for updates on the races.[9] George W. won his race against Ann Richards while Jeb lost to Lawton Chiles. After the results came in, the elder Bush told ABC, "I have very mixed emotions. Proud father, is the way I would sum it all up."[10] Jeb would again run for governor of Florida in 1998 and win at the same time that his brother George W. won re-election in Texas. It marked the second time in United States history that a pair of brothers served simultaneously as governors.[11]
From 1993 to 1999, he served as the chairman of the board of trustees for Eisenhower Fellowships,[12] and from 2007 to 2009 was chairman of the National Constitution Center.[13]
On September 28, 1994, Bush said he was opposed to sending American troops to Haiti, citing his loss of confidence in President of Haiti Jean-Bertrand Aristide while speaking to business and civic leaders in Houston.[14]
In an October 22, 1994, speech in Cancún, Mexico, Bush said history would vindicate him for not attempting to force Saddam Hussein out of power while in office: "The Mideast peace talks that offer hope to the world would never have started if we had done that. The Arabs would never have talked to us."[15]
On July 17, 1995, Bush returned to the White House for the unveiling of his official portrait in an East Room ceremony attended by former members of his administration.[16]
On September 21, 1995, Bush met with President of Vietnam Lê Đức Anh and party secretary Đỗ Mười in Vietnam.[17] On September 2, Bush and his son George W. participated in a parade commemorating World War II in Fredericksburg, Texas, where the elder Bush reasoned the United States had become united in the aftermath of the attack on Pearl Harbor and stressed America would have to stay involved in world affairs to continue its unity.[18]
On July 26, 1996, Bush met with Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole and pledged he would do everything in his power to aid in securing a victory for Dole in the upcoming presidential election.[19] The two met again in October while Dole was preparing for upcoming debates with President Clinton. Bush's experience with debating Clinton prompted Dole to seek out his advice.[20]
Second Clinton term (1997–2001)
On February 8, 1997, Bush endorsed the chemical weapon banning treaty supported by United States Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, saying the United States would need to approve the treaty ahead of the April deadline.[21]
On April 4, 1997, Bush gave a speech at a convocation of a weekend conference analyzing his presidency[22] and joined President Bill Clinton, former president Ford, and Nancy Reagan in signing the "Summit Declaration of Commitment" in advocating for participation by private citizens in solving domestic issues within the United States.[23] Also on April 4, the Houston Intercontinental Airport was renamed George Bush Intercontinental Airport after a proposal received the unanimous approval of the Houston City Council.[24] The renaming took effect on May 2, with Bush presiding over the ceremonies as he took a 50-minute flight during the official changeover.[25]
On August 10, 1997, Bush agreed to be interviewed by The New York Times, as long as he would not be portrayed as giving credit to himself over the balanced budget deal that was composed by President Clinton and House Speaker Newt Gingrich. During a telephone interview, he stated his belief that history would show that his administration laid the groundwork for the agreement.[26]
President Bush was Honorary Chairman of Points of Light, an international nonprofit dedicated to engaging more people and resources in solving serious social problems through voluntary service.[27]
On September 14, 1998, A World Transformed, a book Bush and Brent Scowcroft co-wrote about foreign policy was released, and on October 5, 1999, Bush released All the Best, George Bush, a book made up of a collection of letters, diary entries, and memos.
On January 18, 1999, Bush spoke in the Old Senate chamber as part of a lecture series for Senators in an address warning against the collapse of political decorum and invasions into the privacy of individuals.[28]
On February 26, 1999, Bush was part of the American delegation to the funeral of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman.[29]
On April 6, 1999, Bush called for the release of former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet when Spain had him arrested and sought to try him for human rights violations.[30]
On May 23, 1999, Bush and his wife Barbara honored six senior citizens during the annual Ageless Heroes honors in Chicago, Illinois.[31]
2000s
First George W. Bush term (2001–2005)
His eldest son, George W. Bush, was inaugurated as the 43rd president of the United States on January 20, 2001, and re-elected in 2004. Through previous administrations, the elder Bush had ubiquitously been known as "George Bush" or "President Bush", but following his son's election the need to distinguish between them has made retronymic forms such as "George H. W. Bush" and "George Bush Sr." and colloquialisms such as "Bush 41" and "Bush the Elder" became much more common. H.W. Bush was traveling to Minnesota for a speaking engagement on the day of the September 11 attacks. George W. made multiple calls to get in contact with his father before the two men reconnected after the elder Bush had gone to a Brookfield, Wisconsin, motel.[32] Bush told biographer Jon Meacham that his son's vice president, Dick Cheney, underwent a change following the September 11 attacks: "His seeming knuckling under to the real hard-charging guys who want to fight about everything, use force to get our way in the Middle East."[33]
On December 6, 2002, George W. sought counsel from the elder Bush regarding Iraq and informed him of "my efforts to rally the Saudis, Jordanians, Turks, and others in the Middle East".[34]
Following the fall of Baghdad, Bush praised George W. in an April 2003 email to the incumbent president.[35] In a September 14, 2003, interview with BBC, Bush stated his support for a continuation of his son's war against terrorism and that the U.S. was in a better state in terms of protecting itself from terrorism than two years prior.[36] While visiting Houston VA Medical Center on December 17, Bush told reporters of his satisfaction with the capture of Saddam Hussein.[37]
President and Mrs. Bush attended the state funeral of Ronald Reagan on June 5, 2004,[38] and of Gerald Ford on December 26, 2006.[39] One month later, he was awarded the Ronald Reagan Freedom Award in Beverly Hills, California, by former First Lady Nancy Reagan. In April 2007, Bush and former president Bill Clinton spoke together at the funeral of Russian president Boris Yeltsin.[40]
Despite Bush's political differences with Bill Clinton, reports acknowledged that the two former presidents had become friends.[41] In the aftermath of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami and Hurricane Katrina, Bush established, with fellow former president Clinton, the Bush-Clinton Tsunami Fund and the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund, respectively, for which they were awarded the 2006 Philadelphia Liberty Medal on October 5, 2006.[42] He and Clinton appeared together in television ads in 2005, encouraging aid for victims of the tsunami and Hurricane Katrina.[43]
On October 5, 2004, Bush endorsed Pete Sessions and Ted Poe in Texas congressional races.[44]
Second George W. Bush term (2005–2009)
On February 20, 2006, Bush delivered a eulogy at the funeral of Coretta Scott King.[45]
On March 2, 2006, President Bush announced that his father would lead the American delegation to the inauguration of the president-elect of the Republic of Portugal Aníbal Cavaco Silva.[46]
On September 29, 2006, Bush campaigned for New Jersey Senate candidate Thomas Kean Jr., praising him as well as stating his respect for Kean for calling on the resignation of U.S. defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld.[47] Kean went on to lose the election. The following month, he was honored by the National Italian American Foundation (NIAF) with the NIAF One America Award for fundraising, with Bill Clinton, for the victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami and Hurricane Katrina.[48]
On February 18, 2008, Bush formally endorsed Senator John McCain for President of the United States.[49] The endorsement offered a boost to McCain's campaign, because the Arizona Senator had been facing criticism among many conservatives.[50] During a trip to Tokyo, Japan, Bush said that he would campaign vigorously against Senator Hillary Clinton if she were to initiate a presidential bid.[51]
On March 26, 2008, Bush met with President of the People's Republic of China Hu Jintao, who praised Bush for his attempts at harmonizing relations between the U.S. and China.[52]
During an address at the University of Kansas on November 16, 2008, Bush said that President-elect Obama would encounter diverse issues upon taking office and experience a wave of enthusiasm.[53]
On January 10, 2009, George H. W. and George W. Bush were both present at the commissioning of USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77), the tenth and last Nimitz-class supercarrier of the United States Navy.[54][55] Bush paid a visit to the carrier again on May 26, 2009.[56]
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