George Bush is a perfect example of a Renaissance man.

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George Bush is a perfect example of a Renaissance man. He has been involved in many different things. He started an oil business, fought in World War II, served as a representative to congress, an Ambassador to the United Nations, Chairman of the Republican National Committee, Chief of the US Liaison Office in the People's Republic of China, the Director of the CIA, as president, and as vice president. Bush has done many things in his life to make him a renaissance man.

George Bush was born on June 12, 1924 in Milton, Massachusetts. He was raised in Greenwich, Connecticut. His father, Prescott Bush, was an investment banker and a partner in the Wall Street firm Brown Brothers, Harriman Company. Prescott also served as a senator from 1952 to 1963. Bush had one sister and three brothers. Bush went to school at Country Day School then later went to Phillips Academy.

He graduated from Yale with a bachelor's degree in economics in 1948. In 1945, Bush married Barbara Pierce and had six children: George W, John, Neil, Marvin, Dorothy, and Robin.

On June 12, 1942, on his 18th birthday Bush joined the Navy. He was trained to fly an avenger, which was a torpedo plane. In January 1944, he was assigned to San Jacinto, an aircraft carrier bound for the Pacific. The ship's crew encountered two crash landings on the ship, one due to mechanical failure and the other from enemy fire. While on a mission, Bush's plane was hit by enemy fire. Bush continued his mission, and managed to take out his target, a Japanese radio tower. He ended up bailing out nine miles later and paddled his life raft two hours until he was picked up by the submarine Finback. Bush returned to his ship and finished the war with a total of 1,228 hours of flying that included 58 combat missions. After the war, Bush was presented with the Distinguished Flying Cross. ("The American Presidents: Their Roles in World War II") After World War II, Bush started in the oil business. First, he went to Texas with his wife and son to work at Dresser Industries, an oil-field supply company. Later, in 1953, he co-founded Zapata Petroleum Corporation and became the President of the Zapata Off-Shore Company. In 1958, Bush moved the headquarters from Midland, TX to Houston. Bush kept the role of president until 1964. He later sold the company and made a large profit. (Grolier Encyclopedia. http://gi.grolier.com/presidents/ea/bios/41pbush.html) Bush's political career started to take off in the sixties when Bush ran for Senator of Texas. He won his party's nomination, but lost the election. Later, in 1966, he ran for a Representative of Texas and won. He was re-elected in 1968. He tried to run for Senate again in 1970, but failed again. Nixon respected that Bush gave up his seat on the House of Representatives and appointed him as a Representative of the US to the United Nations. Bush was criticized at first, but when he proposed his first agreement with the Middle East, he was accepted by Congress. In 1973, Bush was asked to serve as chairman of the Republican National Committee by President Nixon. When Gerald Ford became President, he asked Bush to pick which job he wanted. Bush picked the Chief of the U.S. Liaison Office in the People's Republic of China. He remained there for about 14 months, until 1975. While there Bush helped develop an important relation between China and the U.S. In 1975, Ford asked Bush to take over the role of director of the CIA. At the time, the CIA still had open investigations on the Watergate scandal. (Grolier Encyclopedia. http://gi.grolier.com/presidents/ea/bios/41pbush.html) In 1980, Bush decided to run against Ronald Regan for presidency. Bush was losing to Regan, when Regan ask Bush to be his vice president. Bush accepted and they won the 1980 election. They were sworn in on January 20, 1981. In 1987, Bush ran for president for the 1988 election. Bush picked Dan Quayle as his vice-president. Bush was inaugurated on January 20, 1989. Bush had much opposition in his presidency. The government was almost shut down during the time when they were balancing the budget. While in office, Bush handled foreign affairs very well. In the 1992 election, Bush ran against Democrat Bill Clinton and lost. (Grolier Encyclopedia. http://gi.grolier.com/presidents/ea/bios/41pbush.html) George bush did many things in his life to make him a renaissance man. He had many government roles including serving as a representative to congress, an Ambassador to the United Nations, Chairman of the Republican National Committee, Chief of the US Liaison Office in the People's Republic of China, the Director of the CIA, as president, and as vice president. He also started an oil business and fought in World War II as a fighter pilot. Bush did many different things in his life that made him a great renaissance man.