President George Herbert Walker Bush: His Life in Photos

Look back at the life of the 41st U.S. President, from his New England upbringing to his turn as Commander in Chief

George Herbert Walker Bush was born June 12, 1924, in Milton, Massachusetts, to a well-to-do but humble family. His parents were politically active (his father would eventually become a U.S. senator) and instilled in George and his four siblings the idea that giving back to society was crucial.

"I was part of a strong family growing up," Bush said in 1988. "Family is not a neutral word for me. It's a powerful word, full of emotional resonance."

He went on to become the 41st President of the United States, and the rest is history. He left behind a family legacy that includes the presidency of his son, George W. Bush, plus an extended family that includes twin granddaughters Jenna Bush Hager and Barbara Pierce Bush.

Here, on the fifth anniversary of the former president's death, look back on his life in photos.

An Early Leader

Young George (shown here in 1945) got his first taste of public service as a student leader and captain of the baseball and soccer teams at the prestigious Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. The institution's motto, designed into the school's seal by Paul Revere in 1782, was "not for self," which fit perfectly with the Bush family values.

Defending His Country

The 1941 bombing of Pearl Harbor had a major impact on Bush. On his 18th birthday in 1942, he joined the U.S. Navy, earning his wings a year later and becoming the service's youngest pilot. During World War II, Bush (pictured in the cockpit of his TBM Avenger) flew 58 combat missions and was later awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for bravery in action when his plane was shot down over the Pacific. "I remember how terrified I was," Bush told the Academy of Achievement in 1995. "And it made me feel close to my family, and to God, and to life."

A Growing Family

After he was discharged from the Navy, Bush earned a degree in economics from Yale University and became a dad; George Walker Bush was born in 1946. Eventually, the Bushes had six children, including a daughter, Robin, who died at age 4 in 1953 from leukemia. Bush (shown here in 1964 with, from left: Marvin, Jeb, Barbara, Neil, George Jr. and Dorothy) talked about her death in a 1995 interview: "It had a profound effect on me and on Barbara… There's a common wisdom that the loss of a loved one for parents divides them later on. In our case it was just the other way around... That horrible incident drew us even closer together."

Striking It Rich

Instead of joining his father's Wall Street investment firm after graduation in 1948, Bush took a job in the Texas oil industry. The young man (shown here in the oil fields of Midland, Texas) worked his way up from sweeping warehouses to selling drill bits. When he started his own company with a neighbor in 1950 and then merged with another firm, the venture was so successful that Bush reportedly became a millionaire by the time he was 40.

Political Wins and Losses

Next up: politics. Though he lost his bid for a U.S. Senate seat in 1964, he ultimately won two terms as a Republican representative to Congress (he's shown here on the campaign trail in 1966). Over the years, he would lose two more Senate races (the 1970 defeat "sent me to the depths," he told a friend, according to pbs.com). In December 1970, President Richard Nixon appointed him U.S. ambassador to the United Nations; by 1973 he was the Republican National Committee chairman who would encourage Nixon to resign amid the Watergate scandal the next year. Other stints: ambassador to China in 1974 and Central Intelligence Agency director in 1976.

On the Reagan Ticket

Undeterred when he lost the Republican nomination for President to Ronald Reagan in 1980, Bush accepted the former California governor's offer to be his Vice Presidential running mate that year. "I won't permit myself to get bogged down in trying to find or accentuate… differences that I had with the governor during the campaign because they had been minimal," said Bush in a statement. Together, he and Reagan captured more than 50 percent of the popular vote, defeating incumbent Jimmy Carter, who won just 41 percent.

Winning the White House

Bush ran for president (with Dan Quayle as his running mate) against Democrat Michael Dukakis in 1988 with a slogan that became instantly famous: "Read my lips — no new taxes." In January 1989, Bush became the 41st U.S. President. In his inaugural address, he pledged to use American strength as "a force for good" and called for a "kinder, gentler" nation. Among his achievements: the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990 and spearheading Operation Desert Storm, in which a coalition of countries liberated Kuwait from Iraqi occupation in 1991.

A Final Defeat

In November 1992, with the economic recession in full swing, Bush lost his bid for reelection to Democrat Bill Clinton. As the ex-Commander in Chief told his granddaughter, Today show correspondent Jenna Bush Hager, in 2012, losing to Clinton was a "terrible feeling." The 88-year-old had "really wanted to win and worked hard. Later on, people said, 'Well, he didn't really care,' which is crazy. I worked my heart out."

His Son Becomes President

Only the second father and son to each be elected to the Oval Office (the first were John Adams in 1797 and John Quincy Adams in 1825), Bush witnessed his eldest child, George Walker Bush, take office as the 43rd U.S. President in 2001. Four years later, he gave the thumbs up, alongside wife Barbara and daughter-in-law Laura, during his son's second-term swearing-in ceremony. About what it's like having a son as President, he told an audience of insurance agents in 2007, "You've got to look at it strictly as family — not that anyone is a big shot, even though he's president of the United States. It's family. It's the pride of a father in his son."

Taking to the Skies

On his 85th birthday in 2009, Bush did a tandem jump with Sgt. Michael Elliott of the Army's Golden Knights, parachuting over Kennebunkport, Maine, near the Bush family's summer home. The ex-President, who'd previously jumped on his 75th and 80th birthdays, said after his free fall, "It's a great, exhilarating feeling. I don't feel a day over 84." Five years later, in June 2014, he did another jump to celebrate his 90th birthday.

A Great Love

Former first lady Barbara Bush died on April 17, 2018. Her husband, 93, sat in his wheelchair gazing at her casket one day before her funeral. His long-time chief of staff Jean Becker said in a statement the former president was "broken-hearted" about her loss. "He held her hand all day today and was at her side when [she] left this good earth."

Hospitalization

Less than 24 hours after burying his wife, Bush was hospitalized with an infection. His spokesman Jim McGrath said in a statement Bush "was admitted to the Houston Methodist Hospital yesterday morning after contracting an infection that spread to his blood. He is responding to treatments and appears to be recovering. We will issue additional updated as events warrant."

What He Leaves Behind

In 1999, the ex-politician wrote a book, All the Best, George Bush: My Life in Letters and Other Writings, in which he shared his private thoughts in notes he called "serious," "nutty" and "caring." In 2005 he and onetime rival Bill Clinton together raised millions of dollars to help victims of the Gulf Coast hurricane. Then in 2012, he and Barbara attended the Kennebunkport, Maine, screening of 41, an HBO documentary about his life told in his own words. Bush, who passed away on at 10:10 p.m. on Friday Nov. 30, 2018, said in 1995, "The American Dream means giving it your all, trying your hardest, accomplishing something. And then I'd add to that, giving something back. No definition of a successful life can do anything but include serving others."

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