Years in Office: 1989 to 1993

On Tuesday, November 8, 1988, George Bush and Dan Quayle were elected President and Vice-President of the U.S. They represented the Republican Party and defeated Mike Dukakis and Lloyd Bentsen of the Democratic Party.

Mr. Bush had served as Vice-President to Ronald Reagan for the last 8 years and he became the first Vice-President to be elected to the Presidency on his own since Martin Van Buren.

Bush was a pilot during World War II and won the Distinguished Flying Cross for heroism. He later graduated from Yale University. He worked as a salesman in the oil industry in Texas and later he and his two partners founded their oil company. He has also been President of an off-shore drilling company. He married Barbra Peirce in 1945 and they have five living children (Robin, a daughter died in 1953 at the age of five).

Bush entered politics in 1964 when he ran for Senate and lost. In 1966, he won a seat in the House of Representatives. He served 2 terms. He has also served as an Ambassador of the United Nations, been chairman of the Republican National Committee, and been Director of the C.I.A.

Quote: We know how to secure a more just and prosperous life for man on earth: through free markets, free speech, free elections and the exercise of free will unhampered by the state. — Inaugural Address, January 20, 1989