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George H. W. Bush: Difference between revisions
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[[File:Entire Bush family.jpg|thumb|Bush, top right, standing with his wife and children, mid-1960s]] | [[File:Entire Bush family.jpg|thumb|Bush, top right, standing with his wife and children, mid-1960s]] | ||
After graduating from Yale, Bush moved his young family to [[West Texas]]. Biographer Jon Meacham writes that Bush's relocation to Texas allowed him to move out of the "daily shadow of his Wall Street father and Grandfather Walker, two dominant figures in the financial world," but would still allow Bush to "call on their connections if he needed to raise capital."{{sfn|Meacham|2015|p=78}} His first position in Texas was an [[oil field]] equipment salesman<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-oct-11-me-bush11-story.html |title=Two Future Presidents Slept Here — latimes |date=October 11, 2005 |access-date=May 17, 2017|newspaper=Los Angeles Times |last1=Chawkins |first1=Steve}}</ref> for [[Dresser Industries]], which was led by family friend Neil Mallon.{{sfn|Meacham|2015|pp=77, 83}} While working for Dresser, Bush lived in various places with his family: [[Odessa, Texas]]; [[Ventura, California|Ventura]], [[Bakersfield, California|Bakersfield]] and [[Compton, California]]; and [[Midland, Texas]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://bush41library.tamu.edu/archives/finding-aids/donated-materials/george-bush#zapata_oil |title=George Bush Collection |publisher=George Bush Presidential Library and Museum |access-date=July 30, 2016}}</ref> In 1952, he volunteered for the successful presidential campaign of [[Republican (United States)|Republican]] candidate | After graduating from Yale, Bush moved his young family to [[West Texas]]. Biographer Jon Meacham writes that Bush's relocation to Texas allowed him to move out of the "daily shadow of his Wall Street father and Grandfather Walker, two dominant figures in the financial world," but would still allow Bush to "call on their connections if he needed to raise capital."{{sfn|Meacham|2015|p=78}} His first position in Texas was an [[oil field]] equipment salesman<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-oct-11-me-bush11-story.html |title=Two Future Presidents Slept Here — latimes |date=October 11, 2005 |access-date=May 17, 2017|newspaper=Los Angeles Times |last1=Chawkins |first1=Steve}}</ref> for [[Dresser Industries]], which was led by family friend Neil Mallon.{{sfn|Meacham|2015|pp=77, 83}} While working for Dresser, Bush lived in various places with his family: [[Odessa, Texas]]; [[Ventura, California|Ventura]], [[Bakersfield, California|Bakersfield]] and [[Compton, California]]; and [[Midland, Texas]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://bush41library.tamu.edu/archives/finding-aids/donated-materials/george-bush#zapata_oil |title=George Bush Collection |publisher=George Bush Presidential Library and Museum |access-date=July 30, 2016}}</ref> In 1952, he volunteered for the successful presidential campaign of [[Republican (United States)|Republican]] candidate Dwight D. Eisenhower. That same year, his father won election to represent Connecticut in the [[United States Senate]] as a member of the Republican Party.{{sfn|Meacham|2015|pp=94–96}} | ||
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.{{sfn|Meacham|2015|pp=92–93}} In 1953, he co-founded the [[HRG Group|Zapata Petroleum Corporation]], an oil company that drilled in the [[Permian Basin (North America)|Permian Basin]] in Texas.<ref>{{Cite web |title=National Archives NextGen Catalog |url=https://catalog.archives.gov/id/10555130?organizationNaId=10480871 |access-date=May 14, 2023 |publisher=National Archives}}</ref> In 1954, he was named president of the Zapata Offshore Company, a subsidiary which specialized in [[offshore drilling]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Perin |first=Monica |date=April 25, 1999 |title=Adios, Zapata! |url=https://www.bizjournals.com/houston/stories/1999/04/26/story2.html |work=[[American City Business Journals|Houston Business Journal]] |access-date=November 30, 2018}}</ref> Shortly after the subsidiary became independent in 1959, Bush moved the company and his family from Midland to [[Houston]].<ref>Bush, George W. ''41: A Portrait of My Father.'' Crown Publishers, 2014, p. 64.</ref> There, he befriended [[James Baker]], a prominent attorney who later became an important political ally.{{sfn|Meacham|2015|pp=144–146}} Bush remained involved with Zapata until the mid-1960s, when he sold his stock in the company for approximately $1 million.{{sfn|Meacham|2015|pp=130–131}} | 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.{{sfn|Meacham|2015|pp=92–93}} In 1953, he co-founded the [[HRG Group|Zapata Petroleum Corporation]], an oil company that drilled in the [[Permian Basin (North America)|Permian Basin]] in Texas.<ref>{{Cite web |title=National Archives NextGen Catalog |url=https://catalog.archives.gov/id/10555130?organizationNaId=10480871 |access-date=May 14, 2023 |publisher=National Archives}}</ref> In 1954, he was named president of the Zapata Offshore Company, a subsidiary which specialized in [[offshore drilling]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Perin |first=Monica |date=April 25, 1999 |title=Adios, Zapata! |url=https://www.bizjournals.com/houston/stories/1999/04/26/story2.html |work=[[American City Business Journals|Houston Business Journal]] |access-date=November 30, 2018}}</ref> Shortly after the subsidiary became independent in 1959, Bush moved the company and his family from Midland to [[Houston]].<ref>Bush, George W. ''41: A Portrait of My Father.'' Crown Publishers, 2014, p. 64.</ref> There, he befriended [[James Baker]], a prominent attorney who later became an important political ally.{{sfn|Meacham|2015|pp=144–146}} Bush remained involved with Zapata until the mid-1960s, when he sold his stock in the company for approximately $1 million.{{sfn|Meacham|2015|pp=130–131}} | ||
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== Early political career (1963–1971) == | == Early political career (1963–1971) == | ||
=== Entry into politics === | === Entry into politics === | ||
[[File:George Herbert Walker Bush and Eisenhower 1.jpg|thumb|left|Former president | [[File:George Herbert Walker Bush and Eisenhower 1.jpg|thumb|left|Former president Dwight D. Eisenhower with Bush]] | ||
By the early 1960s, Bush was widely regarded as an appealing political candidate, and some leading Democrats attempted to convince Bush to become a Democrat. He declined to leave the Republican Party, later citing his belief that the national Democratic Party favored "big, centralized government". The Democratic Party had historically dominated Texas, but Republicans scored their first major victory in the state with [[John G. Tower]]'s victory in a 1961 special election to the United States Senate. 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, Texas|Harris County]] Republican Party, winning election in February 1963.{{sfn|Meacham|2015|pp=112–114}} Like most other Texas Republicans, Bush supported conservative Senator [[Barry Goldwater]] over the more centrist [[Nelson Rockefeller]] in the [[1964 Republican Party presidential primaries]].{{sfn|Meacham|2015|pp=116–117}} | By the early 1960s, Bush was widely regarded as an appealing political candidate, and some leading Democrats attempted to convince Bush to become a Democrat. He declined to leave the Republican Party, later citing his belief that the national Democratic Party favored "big, centralized government". The Democratic Party had historically dominated Texas, but Republicans scored their first major victory in the state with [[John G. Tower]]'s victory in a 1961 special election to the United States Senate. 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, Texas|Harris County]] Republican Party, winning election in February 1963.{{sfn|Meacham|2015|pp=112–114}} Like most other Texas Republicans, Bush supported conservative Senator [[Barry Goldwater]] over the more centrist [[Nelson Rockefeller]] in the [[1964 Republican Party presidential primaries]].{{sfn|Meacham|2015|pp=116–117}} | ||