George H. W. Bush

=== Head of U.S. Liaison Office in China ===
[[File:George Bush as United States Liaison to China, 1974-1975 - NARA - 186378.tif|thumb|upright=0.7|left|Bush as U.S. Liaison to China, {{circa|lk=no|1975}}]]

Upon his ascension to the presidency, Ford [[1974 United States vice presidential confirmation|strongly considered]] Bush, [[Donald Rumsfeld]], and Nelson Rockefeller for the vacant position of vice president. Ford ultimately chose Nelson Rockefeller, partly because of the publication of a news report claiming that Bush's 1970 campaign had benefited from a secret fund set up by Nixon; Bush was later cleared of any suspicion by a special prosecutor.{{sfn|Meacham|2015|pp=176–177}} Bush accepted appointment as Chief of the [[De facto embassy#China and the United States|U.S. Liaison Office]] in the People's Republic of China, making him the de facto ambassador to China.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bush |first1=George H. W. |editor-last1=Engel |editor-first1=Jeffrey A. |title=The China Diary of George H.W. Bush: The Making of a Global President |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jRvdwoKQOgQC&pg=PA36 |date=2011 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-1-4008-2961-3 |page=36}}</ref> According to biographer Jon Meacham, Bush's time in China convinced him that American engagement abroad was needed to ensure global stability and that the United States "needed to be visible but not pushy, muscular but not domineering."{{sfn|Meacham|2015|p=181}}