George Bush Essays (2950 words) - Bush Family, Livingston Family

George Bush George W. Bush Politics have been the family business for more than one family in the United States. The familiar family of several generations is the Kennedy family who remains in the political spotlight for fifty-three years and running. As Elizabeth Dole attempts to gain the Republican nomination for the 2000 presidential race she hopes to continue the forty-nine year Dole family streak. Coming close to twenty-five years in politics Bill Clinton prepares to turn the scepter over to Hillary Clinton as she prepares for a possible seat in the United States Senate. Perhaps the most interesting dynasties are those carried on by father-son teams. Both John Adams and John Quincy Adams were United States Presidents. It also appears as though former President George Bush will be able to watch one of his two Governor sons take the presidential oath in the near future. His namesake child, the current governor of Texas, won in a close and hotly debated election. However, the Texas governor was not always in the limelight and known. According to the June 21, 1999 issue of Newsweek 65% of voters they polled still knew nothing or little of George W. Bush. When looking at a possible future President of the United Sates of America it is not uncommon to start with there past and works forward to see their progress and failures. George W. Bush attended a preparatory school at Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. At Andover Bush was an average student with high interest in sports. He successfully finished and the following year attended Yale. During Georges time at Yale he barely seemed to notice his father had been elected to Congress (1966). George, W as many refer to him, was not interested in any of the political organizations at the University. George W. Bush seemed to be more concerned with social matters than political matters. He knew stories about most people that would pass him by on the campus and was a fan of his schools sports teams. In the late 1960s he joined a fraternity of Delta Kappa Epsilon, a fraternity for sportsmen and those who loved to watch them. During his stay at Yale Bush had two encounters with the law including drunkenness and misdemeanor theft. After graduating Yale George moved to Houston to live at the ritzy Chateaux Dijon, a popular place for late baby bloomers to live in the 1970s. Not only was he changing girlfriends rapidly he was also changing jobs frequently. When he joined the Air National Guard in Texas many criticized him for overriding the long waiting list. The young man denied receiving any special favors from the Guard because of his fathers status. George worked in for an agriculture company at this time and then left calling the work dull and boring. He then worked for a group that mentored young minority athletes but also left that job not being fulfilled. After applying for University of Texas Law School and being denied he applied to Harvard School of Business. George W. Bush graduated from Harvard with his Masters in Business in 1975. After Harvard George returned to Midland, Texas where he grew up. There he thought that he would try his hand at the oil business. He had no experience in this field yet he insisted on jumping into to it without working his way up the ranks. At the same time he started the oil firm he married a young lady by the mane of Laura Welch, a quiet librarian. In Midland, George thought that he might run for Congress and in the 1977 race he went up against Kent Hance. He won much support in the Midland area but Hance took a huge lead in Lubbock and won the 1977 election. That wasnt the only misfortune he experienced during that period in his life. The gas prices were plummeting causing the price of oil to be forced down. Many people in the Midland area were losing jobs and very few oil companies could survive on their own. In 1982 George W. Bush sold 10% of his oil firm to a Panamanian investor. As prices began to fall further Bush began drinking heavier and more steadily. In 1984 he