Following are key events in the life of George H. W. Bush, the 41st president of the United States who died on Friday at the age of 94.
(Reuters) — Following are key events in the life of George H. W. Bush, the 41st president of the United States who died on Friday at the age of 94.
June 12,1924 — Born to New York banker, and later U. S. senator from Connecticut, Prescott Bush and Dorothy Walker Bush in Massachusetts.
1941 — After Japan attacks Pearl Harbor, Bush joins the Navy and becomes the youngest U. S. naval aviator, flying 58 combat missions during World War Two.
1944 — His plane is hit by Japanese anti-aircraft fire, forcing him to bail out over the Pacific. He is rescued by a submarine crew.
1945 — Marries Barbara Pierce, with whom he has six children including George W. Bush, the 43rd U. S. president, and Jeb Bush, a former Florida governor and a 2016 presidential candidate.
1948 — Graduates from Yale University and moves his family to West Texas, where he enters the oil business.
1964 — Loses his first political race, for a U. S. Senate seat from Texas.
1966 — Wins his first elected office, a seat in the U. S. House of Representatives from Texas. He is elected to a second term in 1968.
1970 — Loses his second bid for a Senate seat to Lloyd Bentsen.
1971 — President Richard Nixon appoints him U. S. ambassador to the United Nations.
1973 — Becomes Republican National Committee chairman.
1974 — Becomes chief of the U. S. Liaison Office in Beijing under President Gerald Ford.
1976 — Named by Ford as director of Central Intelligence. Credited with helping to restore morale at the agency after investigations into illegal and unauthorized activities.