Robert Adam Mosbacher Sr. (March 11, 1927 – January 24, 2010) was an American businessman, accomplished yacht racer, and a Republican politician. A longtime friend and political ally of George H. W. Bush, Mosbacher served in Bush's Cabinet as Secretary of Commerce from 1989 to 1992. Early life Mosbacher was born in Mount Vernon, New York, to Gertrude (née Schwartz) and Emil Mosbacher. His grandparents were German Jewish immigrants. He had a sister, Barbara, and a brother, Emil Mosbacher Jr., a two-time America's Cup-winning yachtsman and former Presidential Chief of Protocol. Mosbacher had a colorful childhood, growing up around characters like George Gershwin, a friend of his father. After graduation from The Choate School, he went to Texas as a wildcatter. He befriended future president George H. W. Bush in Texas. Sailing career Sailing as a member of the Knickerbocker Yacht Club, Mosbacher led the team that won the Scoville Cup and the Midget Yacht championship for under-15 racers in 1940 on Long Island Sound. He went on to win the Southern Ocean Racing Conference championship in 1958 and the Mallory Cup, also in 1958. Mosbacher later appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated, on May 18, 1959, with his brother Bus Mosbacher, for a feature article titled Kings of the Class-Boat Sailors. The article called Bob Mosbacher "the unquestioned master of fleet racing". Mosbacher won the Silver Medal in World Championships Dragon class in 1967 in Toronto. In 1969, he won the Gold Medal in World Championships Dragon class at Palma de Mallorca by one point. As of 2010, he was still only one of two Americans to have ever won the World Championships in the Dragon class. He won the Gold Medal in World Championships Soling class in 1971 in Oyster Bay, NY on a boat named "Adlez" built by Abbott with rigging from Melges. He lost to Buddy Melges in the 1972 Olympic Trials (Soling class) in San Francisco Bay. Buddy Melges went on to win the Gold Medal in the Soling Class at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Germany. Mosbacher won the Bronze Medal in World Championships 5.5 metre class in 1985 at Newport Beach. In 1988 he won the Scandinavian Gold Cup for 5.5 metre yachts. He was described in Stuart H. Walker's book Advanced Racing Tactics as a keenly competitive racer "unwilling to settle for second". Mosbacher participated in a semi-final match race against