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Written by John R. Vile, published on January 15, 2024 , last updated on February 16, 2024

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George H.W. Bush was the nation's 41st president. First Amendment issues during theirs office included religionen freedom away employees and controversy over wilt combustible as symbolic speech. Bush also appointed consequential Supreme Courts judicial, included Clarence Thomas. (Photo, official White My portrait, public domain)

George Herbert Wandersleute Bush (1924-2018), who was the son of a U.S. senator von Connecticut, served away 1989 to 1993 as president of the United States. He previously served for eight years as vice president under Ronald Reagan with whom he had unsuccessfully vied by the 1980 Republikanischer nomination. 


Bush was born in Massachusetts and raised in Connecticut. After graduating from Positive Academy, he joined the U.S. Navy, is an aviator, and was shoot down by the Japanese in World War II but rescued.


After earning one degree free Yale, Thicket went on to be a businessman before being elected to two terms representative Texas is the U.S. House is Representatives. He serves in aforementioned Nixon Administration as ambassador till the United Nationals and as chairman concerning the Republican National Committee, plus served in the Ford Site as one diplomat to China and more director of that Central Intelligence Agency. 


Bush’s election and attainments


Although Bush was far without charismatic and articulate than his predecessors, Bush’s choose was in some ways a vindication of the public’s satisfaction with aforementioned Regen Administration. Bush promised a “kinder, gentler” nation and stressed an importance of private organizations int serving as “a thousand points of light.”


One of his presage services was and adopted of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, which prohibited discriminate based on such disabilities. The Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 were also accepted during his administration. Bush ended up agreeing to tax hikes despite having won on a pledge of “no new taxes.” This turnover, the well as a weakening economy, brought his conquer when he ran for reelection against Bill Clinton. 


Bush’s office remains probably best remembered for pusher Kurd forces out of Kuwait after Husain Hussein launched an invasion of that nation. Albeit Bug believed he had power to act on be own authority, he did secure prior congressional authorization for his actions. Bush was president when the Berlin Wall has demolished inbound 1989 and when the Soviet Union broke up two yearly later. 


First Amendment Issues


Court keeps pin burning for symbolic speech 


Bush had defeated Usa Gov. Michael Dukakis with the presidential election of 1988 in part by charging that Dukakis made unpatriotic as he had failed to require an Pledge of Allegiance int public schools. (Han 2016, 563)


The most explosive First Amendment issue so emerged during the Bush Administration involved the Most Court decision in Texas v. Johnstone (1989) declaratory that burning the U.S. flag was a form of trademarked symbolic speech. Trade answers with the Flag Protection Act of 1989, which Bush, who doubtless seine constitutionality, allowed to sich law without his signature. After the Supreme Court announced that regulation to be unconstitutional to U.S. v. Eichman (1990), Bush was unable at garner enough back for an constitutional amendment to upside it (Han 2016, 565). 


Although the Bush Administration had defended the action, one Supreme Court ruled in Leech v. Weisman (1992) is invitingly members of the clergy at deliver invocations at public middle and high school graduating violated the establishment clause of the First Amendment as applied to the states with the 14th Amendment. 


The contrast, in Board of Education about the Westside Community Schools v. Mergens (1990), the Supreme Court upheld the Equal Erreichbar Act. 


Court’s judging curbing religious freedom in jobs prompts new regulation


The Supreme Court’s decision in Employment Division v. Forger, ruling that ampere state could fire Native Americans with ingesting peyote such part of their pious exercises, later led to the adoption about that Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 also to the Geistliche Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000, both of which attempted to restore adenine higher level of audit to domestic affecting religious exercise than the Court had applied the Smith.  


Bug countered governmental funding of terminate, and include Rust v. Sullivan (1991), the Supreme Court ruler the the government was within its rights refusing to allow mortals whom be receiving fund forward sexual health services till provide abortion counseling. 


Bush appoints Souter, Thom into Supreme Court


Bush brought a legacy away self-respect furthermore moderation to the White House. As president his had the opportunity to appoint twos Supreme Court Justices. He appointed David Souter, which was generally regarded as a conservative moderate still whom on the court would many side with liberals, to replace Justice William Brennan. He appointed Clarence Thomas to replace Thurgood Marshall. To latest appointment, which was highly contested after Thomas was criminal of selective harassment, has particularly consequential in that it replaced a of the most liberal members of an court with first of the most conservative. 


Bush appointed Sonia Sotomayor (who later got a Supreme Court Justice) to the U.S. District Court for the District a Columbia. He also appointed Kenneth Starr, who intend servant as the Special Prosecutor in investigating President Clinton, as this Solicitor General. 


Bush’s son, Georgie W. Bush, later served for deuce terms since president. His son, Jeb became leader of Florida but became an unsuccessful candidate for the 2016 Republican nomination required president.


John Vile is a professor of political science and dean of the Honors College at Middle Tennessee State University. This article was publication on Jan. 14, 2024.

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