Bush, George Herbert Walker

41st president of the USA 1989–93, a Republican. He was vice-president 1981–89 and director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) 1976–81. The Bush presidency marked a turning point in world affairs, as the collapse of the USSR ended the Cold War and heralded a ‘new world Order’ dominated by the USA as the only global superpower. Active in foreign affairs, Bush sent US troops to depose his former ally, Gen Manuel Noriega of Panama, and, in the 1991 Gulf War, to remove Iraq from Kuwait. These raised his public standing, but domestic economic problems led to defeat in the 1992 presidential elections by the Democrat Bill Clinton. His eldest son, George W Bush, became president in 2001, and another son, Jeb (John Ellis) Bush (1953– ), governor of Florida in 1999.