George H.W. Bush: The Leadership Lessons

Episode 225 The LEADERSHIP of GEORGE BUSH (Part 1 ) Keeper of the Flame

September 25, 2023 Randal Wallace Season 11 Episode 225
George H.W. Bush: The Leadership Lessons
Episode 225 The LEADERSHIP of GEORGE BUSH (Part 1 ) Keeper of the Flame
Show Notes Chapter Markers


Welcome to season 11 of our podcast, the first of three seasons that will examine the life, career, and single term of President George H. W. Bush.  His life and political career are full of life lessons and leadership lessons we could all take to heart to help build better everyday lives and help the nation develop the type of leadership in our elected class that we could all be proud to have in charge of our Government. In my opinion, George H.W. Bush was the best President of my adult lifetime and clearly an argument could be made that he was the best one term President in our national history. Only James K. Polk could make an argument to challenge it. 

In this first episode we look back at the life of the 41st President, as we start at the end of his life with coverage of his passing on November 30, 2018. We will examine his many accomplishments from several people who served under him, from James Baker, the former Chief of Staff, to several different cabinet and staff members plus members of the media who dealt with him during his term. They will all talk about his many accomplishments, his qualities of leadership, his stressing of the importance of family, and his thoughtful statesmanship as the Communist World collapsed around him and he would have to fight a war in the Middle East, a war that has become the textbook example of how to fight a war and win it. 

We will also look back at his war record from World War 2 , as the youngest fighter pilot in the Navy.  You will listen in to his oral history as he tells the story of the shooting down of his plane, that killed the other two men in his plane,  and landed him in the Pacific Ocean. It is a harrowing tale that will dispel the mythology that this extremely nice man was , as Newsweek once called him , "a wimp."  When you listen to this story you will come away knowing he was anything but that description,  and his bravery, strength, and lifelong wisdom helped manage the closing days of the Cold War that would end with out firing a shot. Something that had never happened in the history of the civilized world :  the fall of a great world power without a catastrophic war to bring it about. 

Questions or comments at , Randalrgw1@aol.com , https://twitter.com/randal_wallace , and http://www.randalwallace.com/
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1992 Republican National Convention film for President - intro briefly by Senator Bob Dole
Music Intro
Former Secretary of State James Baker interview with Fareed Zacharia of CNN
ABC News Biographical Report on George H.W. Bush on the night of Bush's passing away
Randal Wallace.com ad
Host Randal Wallace talks about the coverage we have of President Bush for this episode
60 Minutes segment with three Presidents, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Barak Obama
CBS & NBC News morning coverage of the passing of President Bush
Host Randal Wallace talks about the relationship Bush had with the press
CNN Reliable Sources with Brian Stetler interview of Frank Sesno, Sam Donaldson and Charles Beirbauer
Host Randal Wallace talks about the Bush relationship with his neighbors in Kennebunkport, Maine, these were shop owners
WMUR Local News story about Maine neighbors of the Bush Family
CBS News story about the Bush World War 2 record when he was shot down
George Bush oral history about the day he was shot down in the pacific, we used this in our 9th episode of our podcast as well
Closing music