George H. W. Bush

=== U.S. House of Representatives ===
[[File:George H. W. Bush 91st Congress.jpg|thumb|upright|Bush in 1969]]

In [[1966 United States House of Representatives elections|1966]], Bush ran for the [[United States House of Representatives]] in [[Texas's 7th congressional district]], a newly redistricted seat in the [[Greater Houston]] area. Initial polling showed him trailing his Democratic opponent, Harris County District Attorney Frank Briscoe, but he ultimately won the race with 57 percent of the vote.{{sfn|Meacham|2015|pp=130–132}} To woo potential candidates in the South and Southwest, House Republicans secured Bush an appointment to the powerful [[United States House Committee on Ways and Means]], making Bush the first freshman to serve on the committee since 1904.{{sfn|Meacham|2015|pp=133–134}} His voting record in the House was generally [[Conservatism in the United States|conservative]]. He supported the [[Presidency of Richard Nixon|Nixon administration]]'s [[Vietnamization|Vietnam policies]] but broke with Republicans on the issue of [[birth control]], which he supported. He also voted for the [[Civil Rights Act of 1968]], although it was generally unpopular in his district.<ref name="ea">{{cite web |url=http://198.181.165.52/article?assetid=0068080-00&templatename=/article/article.html |title=Bush, George Herbert Walker |access-date=March 29, 2008 |publisher=Scholastic Library Publishing, Inc |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080615195838/http://198.181.165.52/article?assetid=0068080-00&templatename=%2Farticle%2Farticle.html |archive-date=June 15, 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=House – August 16, 1967|journal=[[Congressional Record]]|volume=113|issue=17|publisher=[[United States Government Publishing Office|U.S. Government Printing Office]]|page=22778|url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-CRECB-1967-pt17/pdf/GPO-CRECB-1967-pt17-5-1.pdf|access-date=February 27, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=House – April 10, 1968|journal=[[Congressional Record]]|volume=114|issue=8|publisher=[[United States Government Publishing Office|U.S. Government Printing Office]]|page=9621|url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-CRECB-1968-pt8/pdf/GPO-CRECB-1968-pt8-1-2.pdf|access-date=February 27, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite episode|title=George H.W. Bush (Part 1)|title-link=George H.W. Bush (film)|series=American Experience|series-link=American Experience|network=[[PBS]]|station=[[WGBH-TV|WGBH]]|date=May 5, 2008|season=20|number=13|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/bush/|access-date=November 14, 2022}}</ref> In 1968, Bush joined several other Republicans in issuing the party's [[Response to the State of the Union address]]; Bush's part of the address focused on a call for fiscal responsibility.{{sfn|Meacham|2015|pp=136–137}}

Though most other Texas Republicans supported [[Ronald Reagan]] in the [[1968 Republican Party presidential primaries]], Bush endorsed [[Richard Nixon]], who went on to win the party's nomination. Nixon considered selecting Bush as his running mate in the [[1968 United States presidential election|1968 presidential election]], but he ultimately chose [[Spiro Agnew]] instead. Bush won re-election to the House unopposed, while Nixon defeated [[Hubert Humphrey]] in the presidential election.{{sfn|Meacham|2015|pp=141–142}} In 1970, with President Nixon's support, Bush gave up his seat in the House to [[1970 United States Senate election in Texas|run for the Senate]] against Yarborough. Bush easily won the Republican primary, but Yarborough was defeated by the more conservative [[Lloyd Bentsen]] in the Democratic primary.{{sfn|Meacham|2015|pp=146–147}} Ultimately, Bentsen defeated Bush, taking 53.5 percent of the vote.{{sfn|Meacham|2015|p=150}}