Word: bushing
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...late 20s, still single, he decided to attend Harvard Business School. The curriculum appealed to him far more than Cambridge's liberal atmosphere. Watergate was nearing its climax, and Bush pere was in a defensive crouch as Republican national chairman. The son sympathized from afar, then decided to take his M.B.A. back to Midland, to learn the oil business as a "landman," one who researches mineral and land records...
Initially this meant a two-room apartment off an alley and a lot of generosity from old pals. During this period he reinforced a reputation for frugality. At Midland's annual golf tournament, one of the gag trophies is the George Bush Dress Award, shaggy plaid trousers bestowed on the competitor sporting the worst attire. Its eponym still buys bargain threads at a factory outlet. Despite his recent affluence, he continues to describe himself as "all name and no money." Thrift is a virtue for someone trying to build his own business without capital. Bush became known as a shrewd...
With an open congressional seat beckoning, George decided to try politics in 1978. He won the Republican primary over a more experienced rival. But in the general election Bush faced a Democrat as conservative as he and one who had spent his entire life in the district. Bush's Ivy League education became a cultural liability. He lost by 6 points. By the mid-1980s the oil industry's downward cycle had made capital increasingly difficult to come by for smaller operators. So he agreed to merge his outfit with Harken Energy...
...Bush's presidential efforts accelerated in early 1987, George and the second oldest son Jeb had doubts about Lee Atwater as campaign manager. To % allay those concerns, Atwater invited one of the brothers to join the campaign organization full-time. So George, Laura and their twin daughters moved to Washington for the duration. After a dozen years of independence, he was back in his father's orbit being called Junior...
...deny salacious gossip about the candidate. It was a brash act that both got the adultery rumor into print and choked off its circulation. Occasionally Atwater used him as an emissary to the candidate when the mission was delicate. It fell to Junior to present the idea that Bush would strengthen his image by "swinging the ax" on Don Regan at a time when the White House chief of staff was about to topple. The Vice President said...