Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, January 17, 1993 TAG: 9301170221
SECTION: HORIZON PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By JULIA MALONE COX NEWS SERVICE
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Long
HIS UPS AND DOWNS
The following are vignettes depicting the highs and lows of George Bush's four years as president:\ UP: THE INAUGURAL. George Bush, victorious after one of the roughest presidential campaigns in recent memory, took the oath of office and called for a "kinder" America and `gentler" world. "A new breeze is blowing, and a nation refreshed by freedom stands ready to push on," he said on the blustery, overcast afternoon Jan. 20, 1989.
\ DOWN: TOWER DEFEAT. In a rare humiliation for a new president, the U.S. Senate on March 9, 1989, rejected Bush's choice of John Tower, a former Texas senator, to be defense secretary. Bush already was defending his fledgling presidency. "It's not adrift, and there isn't malaise," he said shortly before the vote.
\ UP: PANAMA INVASION. After a long diplomatic tussle, the president lost his patience with Manuel Noriega, the leader of Panama. On Dec. 20, 1989, as Bush hosted a Christmas party at the White House, he secretly ordered 13,000 U.S. troops to invade Panama, dislodge Noriega, and bring him back to the United States to stand trial for drug charges. For the first time, Bush won nearly unanimous applause on Capitol Hill, and his favorable rating shot up to 80 percent in the Gallup Poll.
\ DOWN: RAISING TAXES. After weeks of stalled budget talks with Congress, Bush abandoned the "Read my lips: No new taxes" pledge from his election campaign. On June 26, 1990, he issued a statement accepting "tax revenue increases." His popularity plummeted.
\ UP: PERSIAN GULF WAR. A few days after Iraq's army rolled into oil-rich Kuwait Aug. 2, 1990, Bush declared of the invasion: "This will not stand." Over the next four months, he sent nearly 400,000 U.S. troops to the Persian Gulf region and organized a broad coalition in the United Nations against Iraq. Allied air strikes began Jan. 16, 1991, and six weeks later the Iraqi military was in shambles. Bush declared a cease-fire Feb. 27, 1991. Although President Saddam Hussein still ruled Iraq, Bush said: "Kuwait is liberated. Iraq's army is defeated. Our military objectives are met."
\ UP: CELEBRATION. Bush, a conquering hero, strode into the chamber of the House of Representatives for a televised victory speech on March 6, 1991. His popularity had soared to nearly 90 percent in polls, the highest ever recorded for a president. The opposition party didn't dare even deliver the customary Democratic response to his victory address. But amid the triumph, Bush hardly focused on growing signs that the domestic economy was sputtering.
\ DOWN: UNEMPLOYMENT. As a recession gripped the country and millions were left jobless, Bush vetoed an extension for unemployment benefits. On Oct. 13, 1991, he defended his action as budgetary prudence as he arrived at a Maryland suburban country club. "I'm concerned about those families in America that are having difficulty making ends meet," he declared just before he and family members headed off in their carts for a round of Sunday afternoon golf. He added of the economy: "Fortunately, it's less bad than it was."
\ DOWN: COLLAPSE IN TOKYO. During a trip to Japan to plea for open markets for American goods, Bush caught a stomach flu just before a formal dinner at Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa's residence on Jan. 8, 1992. At the dinner table, the president suddenly vomited and collapsed into the lap of his surprised host.
\ DOWN: APOLOGY IN NEW ENGLAND. On his first election campaign trip, Bush headed Jan. 15, 1992, for recession-wracked New Hampshire, site of the nation's first primary. Asking forgiveness for failing to recognize the economic "free fall" sooner, Bush told voters cryptically that he was there to tell them: "Message: I care."
\ UP: TRADE AGREEMENT. Ending a long-standing effort, Bush announced Aug. 12 that the United States, Mexico and Canada had reached an accord to create a free trade zone throughout North America. Open markets "mean more American jobs," said Bush.
\ DOWN: THE DEBATES. Trailing in the final stretch of the election campaign and badly needing to give a commanding performance, Bush appeared disengaged as he debated Democrat Bill Clinton and Independent Ross Perot on Oct. 15, 1992. In a Richmond University gym converted to a talk-TV studio, the cameras caught the president stealing glances at his watch three times.
\ DOWN: ELECTION LOSS. On the eve of the Election Day, Air Force One winged toward a campaign stop in Louisville with the Oak Ridge Boys traveling aboard as guests and leading the campaign entourage in song. The president, family members and aides, with tears welling in their eyes, joined in singing "Amazing Grace." The mood presaged the president's Nov. 3 loss at the polls.
\ DOWN: POST-ELECTION BLUES. A week after the election, a saddened Bush spent four days in a secluded Florida hamlet, fishing for snook and redfish and playing golf. Amid reports from friends that he was immobilized by depression, Bush's spokesman said that the president would passively allow his term to play out.
\ UP: HELP FOR SOMALIA. Snapping suddenly back into action, Bush met with top national security aides on Nov. 25 and on Thanksgiving Day announced he would offer as many as 30,000 U.S. troops to bring famine relief to Somalia. The decision marked the first time American military forces had been dispatched on a purely humanitarian mission.
\ DOWN: PARDONS. On Christmas Eve, the president issued pardons to former Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger and five others who have been charged in cases stemming from the Iran-Contra arms-for-hostages scandal. The surprise pardons renewed questions about Bush's own role in the affair.
\ UP: SOMALIA VISIT. Traveling to Somalia on New Year's Day, Bush donned camouflage fatigues and hat to greet the troops. He told them their mission to feed starving Somalians "will go down in the books not only as historic, but as a principled humanitarian effort."
\ UP: LAST SUMMIT. With less than a month to go in his term, Bush traveled to frigid Moscow where he signed a treaty Jan. 3 for the deepest nuclear arms reductions since the dawn of the Cold War. In a farewell gesture, Russian President Boris Yeltsin turned to his summit partner: "Spasibo [Thank you], George."