George Bush was a throwback to a different era. A patrician figure not known for eloquence, Bush dismissed ideology as "the vision thing." Yet, as biographer Naftaliargues, no one was better prepared for the challenges facing the United States as the Cold War ended. Bush wisely encouraged the liberalization of the Soviet system and skillfully orchestrated the reunification of Germany. Following Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990, he united theglobal community to defeat Saddam Hussein. At home, Bush reasserted fiscal discipline after the excesses of the Reagan years. Ultimately, his political awkwardness cost Bush a second term: his toughest decisions widened fractures in the Republican Party, and Bush lost his bid for reelection in 1992. In a final irony, the conservatives who scorned him would return to power eight years later, under his son and namesake, with the result that the elder George Bush would see his reputation soar.--From publisher description. "George H. W. Bush was a throwback to a different era. A patrician figure not known for eloquence, Bush dismissed ideology as "the vision thing." Yet, as Timothy Naftali argues in this reassessment of our forty-first president, no one of his generation was better prepared for the challenges facing the United States as the Cold War ended.When the people of Eastern Europe took the first actions against communist rule in 1989, Bush not only encouraged Mikhail Gorbachev to allow events to play out peacefully but also gave the Soviet leader room to maneuver by managing the Western reaction to the fall of the Berlin Wall and the other milestones of freedom. And the following year, it was Bush who decisively guided the process of German reunification. Moreover, Bush's masterlyhandling of the collapse of communism enabled him to marshal the grand coalition that defeated Saddam Hussein and reversed the annexation of Kuwait in 1991." "At home, Bush reasserted fiscal discipline after the excesses of the Reagan years, risking his political future by reversing his famous pledge, "Read my lips - no new taxes." Never a strong candidate, Bush entered 1992 weakened by the loss of the Reaganite core of the Republican Party, a soft economy, and a sense among many that he was out of touch with post-Cold War priorities. With his party divided and lacking broad popular appeal ofhis own, Bush was handily defeated in his bid for reelection." "In a final irony, the conservatives who scorned George H. W. Bush would return to power eight years later during the troubled presidency of his son and namesake, with the unexpected result that the elder Bush would see his reputation soar. Naftali's biography argues that this newfound appreciation is richly deserved."--BOOKJACKET.