George H. W. Bush

=== Public image ===
[[File:Bush I approval rating.png|thumb|right|upright=1.2|Bush's approval ratings (red) compared to his disapproval ratings (blue) during his presidency]]

Bush was widely seen as a "pragmatic caretaker" president who lacked a unified and compelling long-term theme in his efforts.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/presidents/george-h-w-bush-1482924.html |title=The Independent George H. W. Bush |work=The Independent |location=UK |date=January 22, 2009 |access-date=September 5, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/54609/michael-howard/the-prudence-thing-george-bush-s-class-act |title=The Prudence Thing: George Bush's Class Act |issue=November/December 1998 |journal=Foreign Affairs |date=November 1, 1998 |access-date=September 5, 2010 |last1=Howard |first1=Michael |volume=77 |pages=130–134 |doi=10.2307/20049135 |jstor=20049135 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,963342-2,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100108084103/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,963342-2,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 8, 2010 |magazine=Time |title=Where Is the Real George Bush? |date=January 26, 1987 |access-date=May 3, 2010 |first=Robert |last=Ajemian}}</ref> A Bush [[sound bite]], referring to the issue of overarching purpose as "the vision thing", has become a metonym applied to other political figures accused of similar difficulties.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.askoxford.com/worldofwords/quotations/phrasefable/visionthing/?view=uk |title=Quotations : Oxford Dictionaries Online |publisher=Askoxford.com |access-date=July 30, 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030204213218/http://www.askoxford.com/worldofwords/quotations/phrasefable/visionthing/?view=uk |archive-date=February 4, 2003}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Listen Up, Mr. President: Everything You Always Wanted Your President to Know and Do |isbn=978-1-4391-4815-0 |last1=Thomas |first1=Helen |first2=Craig |last2=Crawford |publisher=Scribner |url=https://archive.org/details/listenupmrpresid00thom |year=2009 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/joseph-a-palermo/meg-whitmans-vision-thing_b_300845.html |title=Joseph A. Palermo: Meg Whitman's "Vision Thing" |work=HuffPost |access-date=September 5, 2010 |date=September 26, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.timesargus.com/article/20090929/NEWS02/909290341/1003/NEWS02 |title=It's time to do the 'vision' thing |work=[[Barre Montpelier Times Argus]] |date=September 29, 2009 |access-date=September 5, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130204102054/http://www.timesargus.com/article/20090929/NEWS02/909290341/1003/NEWS02 |archive-date=February 4, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Mazurak |first=Zbigniew |url=http://www.therealitycheck.org/?p=7492 |title=Sarah Palin as a GOP Nominee? |publisher=The Reality Check |access-date=September 5, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://rothkopf.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2009/10/01/barack_obama_does_not_want_to_become_known_as_the_great_ditherer |title=Obama does not want to become known as 'The Great Ditherer' |first=David |last=Rothkopf |date=October 1, 2009 |work=Foreign Policy |access-date=September 5, 2010 |archive-date=March 26, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140326180923/http://rothkopf.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2009/10/01/barack_obama_does_not_want_to_become_known_as_the_great_ditherer |url-status=dead }}</ref> His ability to gain broad international support for the [[Gulf War]] and the war's result were seen as both a diplomatic and military triumph,<ref name="white house bio">{{cite book |last1=Freidel |first1=Frank |last2=Sidey |first2=Hugh |title=The Presidents of the United States of America |date=2006 |publisher=White House Historical Association|chapter-url=https://www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-house/presidents/george-h-w-bush/ |access-date=February 15, 2017 |chapter=George H. W. Bush}}</ref> rousing bipartisan approval,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://people-press.org/report/182/modest-bush-approval-rating-boost-at-wars-end |title=Modest Bush Approval Rating Boost at War's End: Summary of Findings – Pew Research Center for the People & the Press |publisher=People-press.org |access-date=September 5, 2010|date=April 18, 2003}}</ref> though his decision to withdraw without removing Saddam Hussein left mixed feelings, and attention returned to the domestic front and a souring economy.<ref name="pbs">{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/bush41/program/intro.html |work=American Experience |title=George H. W. Bush |publisher=PBS |date=October 3, 1990 |access-date=September 5, 2010 |archive-date=April 30, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090430215321/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/bush41/program/intro.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> A ''New York Times'' article [[Supermarket scanner moment|mistakenly depicted]] Bush as being surprised to see a supermarket [[barcode reader]];<ref name=Goldberg08>{{cite journal |last=Goldberg |first=Jonah |date=August 22, 2008 |title=The Corner: The Supermarket Scanner Story Cont'd |journal=[[National Review]] |url=http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/167613/supermarket-scanner-story-contd-jonah-goldberg | access-date=June 26, 2017}}</ref><ref name=Rosenthal92>{{cite news |last=Rosenthal |first=Andrew |date=February 5, 1992 |title=Bush Encounters the Supermarket, Amazed |journal=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/02/05/us/bush-encounters-the-supermarket-amazed.html | access-date=November 5, 2015}}</ref> the report of his reaction exacerbated the notion that he was "out of touch".<ref name=Goldberg08 />

Bush was popular throughout most of his presidency. After the Gulf war concluded in February 1991, his approval rating saw a high of 89 percent, before gradually declining for the rest of the year, and eventually falling below 50 percent according to a January 1992 [[Gallup Inc.|Gallup]] poll.<ref>{{cite news |date=January 21, 1992 |title=Stop panicking in public, Mr. President |journal=[[Democrat and Chronicle]] |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/democrat-and-chronicle-stop-panicking-in/129085796/}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=September 24, 2001 |title=Bush Job Approval Highest in Gallup History |journal=[[Gallup Inc.]] |last=Moore |first=David W. |url=https://news.gallup.com/poll/4924/bush-job-approval-highest-gallup-history.aspx}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Presidential Job Approval Center |journal=[[Gallup Inc.]] |url=https://news.gallup.com/interactives/507569/presidential-job-approval-center.aspx |access-date=July 29, 2023}}</ref> His sudden drop in his favorability was likely due to the [[early 1990s recession]], which shifted his image from "conquering hero" to "politician befuddled by economic matters".<ref name="snopes">{{cite web |url=http://www.snopes.com/history/american/bushscan.htm |title=Maybe I'm Amazed |date=April 1, 2001 |access-date=April 11, 2008 |website=Snopes.com |archive-date=May 27, 2012 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120527030747/http://www.snopes.com/history/american/bushscan.asp |url-status=dead}}</ref> At the elite level, several commentators and political experts lamented the state of American politics in 1991–1992 and reported the voters were angry. Many analysts blamed the poor quality of national election campaigns.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Troy|first=Gil|year=1995|title=Stumping in the Bookstores: A Literary History of the 1992 Presidential Campaign|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27551506|journal=Presidential Studies Quarterly|volume=25|issue=4|pages=697–710|jstor=27551506|issn=0360-4918}}</ref>