The Daily - The Legacy of George Bush

George Bush rode the Reagan revolution to the White House, where he had one of the highest approval ratings of any president, and where he successfully oversaw the end of the Cold War. So why was he denied a second term? Guest: Peter Baker, who covers the White House for The New York Times. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily.

Duration: 31m
Broadcast on: 03 Dec 2018
Audio Format: other

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

With no fees or minimums on checking accounts, it's no wonder the Capital One Bank Guy is so passionate about banking with Capital One. If he were here, he wouldn't just tell you about no fees or minimums. He'd also talk about how Capital One cafes are open seven days a week to assist with your banking needs. Yep, even on weekends. It's pretty much all he talks about in a good way. What's in your wallet? Terms apply, see CapitalOne.com/BankGuy, Capital One NA. Member FDIC. From the New York Times, I'm Michael Barbero. This is The Daily. Today, the legacy of George Herbert Walker Bush. He rode the Reagan Revolution to the White House, where he had one of the highest approval rates of any president, and where he successfully oversaw the end of the Cold War. So, why was he denied a second term? It's Monday, December 3rd. And I will keep America moving forward, always forward, for a better America, for an endless enduring dream and a thousand points of life. This is my mission, and I will complete it. Well, George Bush came from a family in New England, son of a senator who had been part of the investment bank, Brown Brothers Harriman, went to the best schools of the East Coast, Spanish Country Day School, Phillips Andover, eventually Yale. But, like, a lot of the bushes, he felt a need to prove himself as more than just a product of his family. Peter Baker covers the White House for the Times. From the NBC News, Roman, New York, President Roosevelt said in a statement today that the Japanese have attacked Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, from the air. Our big dad, President Roosevelt says, when World War II broke out, when Pearl Harbor was bombed, he raced to sign up. The day Pearl Harbor was bombed, December 7th, 1941. I was 17 years old. It was a Sunday walk by the chapel. Somebody came running by and yelled at Pearl Harbor had been attacked. Went into the Navy as a pilot, the youngest combat pilot in the Navy at the time during the war. I knew fact-certain that I wanted to serve duty on our country. But I hate telling you this because I don't want to be sounding like I'm different. I'm not. Shot down at one point, a bombing run over the Pacific. Two men in his plane died in that crash. The plunge is into the water but is rescued by a submarine, which just happens to be nearby. I wonder if I could have done something different. I wonder who got out of the plane. I wonder why the shoot didn't open for the other guy. Why me? Why am I blessed? Why am I still alive? That has plagued me. And what happens after he's rescued and he leaves the Navy? When it comes back to the United States, he marries his high school sweetheart, Barbara Pierce takes his family, his young family, including a young boy named George Walker, puts them in a student-maker, drives him down to Texas where he's going to make his own way. He wants to find a way to prove himself as a businessman and Texas is the place to do it. He has helped from the family, of course, but he basically sets up a house in Odessa that's a duplex, a small place. They share a bathroom with the people next door. The people next door happened to be a mother and daughter prostitute team. It's not the life of privilege that you think of when it comes to the bushes and he's out there hustling business. He forms his own company and he's lucky. He gets the break and he becomes a millionaire through the work that he does there in Texas. So how exactly does he enter politics? As a father and a family man, I know you and I share a lot of worries about the future of our state and nation. I certainly hope and I'll bet you do too. Well, there's a history of politics and public service in his family. His father was Prescott Bush, a senator from Connecticut, one of those who stood up to Joseph McCarthy and in that same tradition, George H.W. Bush, having made his fortune in Texas enters public life there. Both George and Barbara Bush campaign hard during the week. On Sunday, however, they try to be with their children after church services at St. Martin's Episcopal Church where Barbara teaches Sunday school. The Bush clan and some of the neighborhood kids gather in the backyard where the youngsters run up the American and Texas flags. Baseball is the Bush game. In fact, you might call them a Bush league. George says Jim's going to be a real athlete and he's trying to accommodate himself to a state that is concerned to begin with and turning more so. I'd like my children to be able to pray in school if they want to and I'd like that right to be a part of our Constitution. He's in a place where he needs to tilt to the right at

Transcription truncated.