Skip to main content

George Bush

George Bush
Usage Conditions Apply
Artist
Ronald N. Sherr, 1952 - 2022
Sitter
George Herbert Walker Bush, 12 Jun 1924 - 30 Nov 2018
Date
1994-95
Type
Painting
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
Stretcher: 125.1 x 86.7cm (49 1/4 x 34 1/8")
Frame: 148.6 x 110.5 x 12.7cm (58 1/2 x 43 1/2 x 5")
Topic
Home Furnishings\Furniture\Seating\Chair
Interior\Domestic
Home Furnishings\Mirror
Architecture\Building\White House
Architecture\Fireplace
George Herbert Walker Bush: Male
George Herbert Walker Bush: Politics and Government\Vice-President of US
George Herbert Walker Bush: Politics and Government\President of US
George Herbert Walker Bush: Military and Intelligence\Intelligence agent\CIA director
George Herbert Walker Bush: Politics and Government\US Congressman\Texas
George Herbert Walker Bush: Military and Intelligence\Navy\Naval aviator
George Herbert Walker Bush: Politics and Government\Diplomat\Ambassador\United Nations
George Herbert Walker Bush: Business and Finance\Businessperson\Business executive\Oil executive
George Herbert Walker Bush: Presidential Medal of Freedom
Portrait
Place
United States\New York\Kings\New York
Credit Line
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of Mr. and Mrs. Robert E. Krueger
Restrictions & Rights
Usage conditions apply
Object number
NPG.95.120
Exhibition Label
Forty-first president, 1989–1993
A decorated naval aviator in World War II, George H. W. Bush went on to a successful career in the oil industry of West Texas. Subsequently, high-level governmental positions, including the directorship of the Central Intelligence Agency and the vice presidency, gave him one of the most distinguished résumés. He was the natural Republican nominee after Reagan and easily won the 1988 election over Massachusetts governor Michael Dukakis. In addition to successfully managing the complicated policy transitions prompted by the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War, he marshalled a U.S.-backed military coalition to eject Iraq’s army from Kuwait after the invasion of 1990. The First Gulf War, as it is now known, was a dramatic and comprehensive triumph, one that signaled the recovery of the American military following the war in Vietnam. Even with Bush’s victory in the Persian Gulf, however, domestic politics—especially his breaking of a pledge not to raise taxes—lowered his popularity, and Bill Clinton easily defeated him in 1992.
41o presidente, 1989–1993
Aviador naval condecorado de la Segunda Guerra Mundial, George H. W. Bush hizo más tarde una próspera carrera en la industria petrolera en el oeste de Texas. Luego ocupó puestos de alto nivel en el gobierno, entre ellos la dirección de la Agencia Central de Inteligencia y la vicepresidencia de la nación, con lo cual redondeó una muy distinguida hoja de vida. Después de Ronald Reagan, Bush era el candidato republicano lógico para la presidencia y en 1988 ganó fácilmente las elecciones contra el gobernador de Massachusetts, Michael Dukakis. Además de manejar con éxito las complejas transiciones de política pública a raíz de la caída de la Unión Soviética y el fin de la Guerra Fría, Bush dirigió una coalición militar respaldada por EE.UU. para expulsar de Kuwait al ejército de Iraq, que había invadido dicho país en 1990. El conflicto conocido como Primera Guerra del Golfo concluyó con una victoria dramática y abarcadora que evidenció la recuperación military estadounidense después de la Guerra de Vietnam. Sin embargo, a pesar de esta victoria de Bush, los problemas de política interna, sobre todo el incumplimiento de la promesa de no aumentar los impuestos, afectaron la popularidad del presidente, quien fue derrotado con facilidad en 1992 por Bill Clinton.
Provenance
Commissioned by NPG 1994, purchased 1995
Data Source
National Portrait Gallery
Exhibition
America's Presidents (Reinstallation September 2017)
On View
NPG, West Gallery 210