George Bush Signed Photograph.

BUSH, George H. W.

Item Number: 135831

Original color photograph of George Bush at the helm of a boat inscribed by him as the 43rd Vice President of the United States, “To Big Red – Good Plumber, Good Santa, Good Guy! Full Speed Ahead! George Bush Aug. ’87.” The recipient, Red Sullivan, was a friend of the Bushes who worked as a plumber at Fort McNair and dressed up as Santa Claus during the Christmas season. In near fine condition.

American politician and diplomat George Herbert Walker Bush served as the 41st president of the United States from 1989 to 1993. A member of the Republican Party, Bush also served as the 43rd vice president from 1981 to 1989 under Ronald Reagan, in the U.S. House of Representatives, as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, and as Director of Central Intelligence. Foreign policy drove the Bush presidency, as he navigated the final years of the Cold War and played a key role in the reunification of Germany. Bush presided over the invasion of Panama and the Gulf War, ending the Iraqi occupation of Kuwait in the latter conflict. Though the agreement was not ratified until after he left office, Bush negotiated and signed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which created a trade bloc consisting of the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Domestically, Bush reneged on a 1988 campaign promise by enacting legislation to raise taxes with the justification of reducing the budget deficit.