American Experience

Follow George H.W. Bush from his childhood into war as a combat pilot in the U.S. Navy. Later, the Bushes moved to the oil fields of Texas where he became a Republican leader, the party that he would lead - and struggle with - as President.

Bush was a pivotal player during a critical moment in world history. But despite soaring approval ratings following victory in the Persian Gulf, his years as president after the war were marked by almost unrelieved decline.