March 26, 2019 Updated: March 26, 2019 7:53 a.m.
3of39JUNE 12, 1924: Born in Milton, Mass., the second child (of five) of Prescott and Dorothy Walker Bush. Dorothy wanted to name her son after her father, George Herbert Walker, but couldn’t decide between George Herbert Bush and George Walker Bush, so young George got two middle names.
1937-1942: Attends Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass.
1940: Contracts a staph infection that requires hospitalization, forcing him to repeat a year in Andover.
4of39DECEMBER 1941: Meets his future wife, Barbara Pierce, at a Christmas dance.
JUNE 12, 1942: Graduates from Phillips Academy on his 18th birthday and enlists in the armed forces, forcing him to repeat a year in Andover.
5of39JUNE 9, 1943: Receives his wings and commission while still 18, becoming the youngest pilot in the Navy.
DECEMBER 1943: Assigned to the aircraft carrier San Jacinto – a prophetic choice, considering his future life in Texas.
SEPT. 2, 1944: His Avenger bomber, with the inscription “Barbara,” is hit by anti-aircraft fire while making a run over the Bonin Island of Chichi Jima, 600 miles south of Japan. Bush bails out and is rescued by the submarine USS Finback.
6of39JAN. 6, 1945: Marries Barbara, a descendant of Franklin Pierce, the 14th president of the United States.
SEPT. 18, 1945: Honorably discharged, earning the Distinguished Flying Cross for his actions over Chichi Jima.
Pictured: George and Barbara Bush on their wedding day in Rye, New York on January 6, 1945.
7of39SUMMER 1945: Enrolls in Yale, where he becomes captain of the baseball team and a member of the secret society known as Skull and Bones. Has photograph taken with baseball legend Babe Ruth.
8of39JULY 6, 1946: First child, George Walker Bush, is born.
SUMMER 1948: Graduates Yale as Phi Beta Kappa, accepts a job with Dresser Industries and moves his family to West Texas. Over the next two years, the family will live in Midland and four California cities: Whittier, Huntington Park, Bakersfield and Compton.
9of39DEC. 20, 1949: Daughter Pauline Robinson “Robin” Bush is born.
1950: Forms the Bush-Overbey Company with partner John Overbey in Midland.
1952: Co-founds Zapata Petroleum with Overbey and William and Hugh Liedtke. Zapata soon makes headlines with its successful James Field exploration in Coke County.
10of39FEB. 11, 1953: Son John Ellis Bush - called Jeb because of his initials - is born.
OCT. 12, 1953: Robin Bush dies of leukemia at the age of 3.
1954: Co-founds and becomes president of Zapata Offshore Co.
JAN. 22, 1955: Son Neil Mallon Bush is born.
OCT. 22, 1956: Son Marvin Pierce Bush is born.
11of39AUG. 18, 1959: Daughter Dorothy Walker "Doro" Bush is born.
SUMMER 1959: The Bush family moves to Houston.
1962: Becomes chairman of the Harris County Republican Committee.
1962: Prescott Bush announces his retirement from the Senate, citing ill health.
1964: Loses U.S. Senate election to Democrat Ralph Yarborough.
12of391966: Wins a seat in Congress, becoming the first Republican to represent a Houston district on Capitol Hill and the first freshman in 63 years to be offered a seat on the powerful Ways and Means Committee.
JAN. 3, 1967: First day in office as U.S. representative for Texas’ 7th Congressional District.
1968: Wins re-election to the House.
1970: Challenges Yarborough again but ends up losing the Senate race to Lloyd Bentsen, who unseats the liberal incumbent in the Democratic primary.
13of39DEC. 11, 1970: Selected by Richard Nixon as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
JAN. 3, 1971: Final day as a member of Congress.
1971-1973: Serves as U.S. ambassador to the U.N.
OCT. 8, 1972: Prescott Bush dies of lung cancer.
14of39JANUARY 1973: Leaves the U.N. to become chairman of the Republican National Committee seven months after the Watergate break-in and one month before the Senate appoints a select committee to investigate the growing scandal. Bush quickly becomes one of Nixon’s staunchest public defenders.
AUG. 6, 1974: Bush tells Nixon that Watergate is sapping public confidence in him.
AUG. 7, 1974: Bush sends a letter to the president suggesting that he resign.
AUG. 9, 1974: Nixon resigns.
15of39AUG. 24, 1974: President Gerald Ford calls Bush at Kennebunkport to tell him that he has chosen Nelson Rockefeller as vice president. Many Republican leaders had pushed for Ford to select Bush. Ford offers Bush any ambassadorship.
SEPT. 26, 1974: Bush chooses China and becomes chief of the U.S. liaison office to the People’s Republic of China.
OCTOBER 1974: Before the U.S. and China develop diplomatic ties, Bush travels to Peking to direct the forerunner of the first U.S. embassy in China.
16of39JAN. 30, 1976: Becomes the 11th director of Central Intelligence. To win Bush’s confirmation in the Democratic-dominated Senate, Ford had promised that he would not choose Bush as his running mate in 1976.
JAN. 20, 1977: Last day as CIA director.
MAY 1, 1979: Bush announces his candidacy for president at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.
JAN. 21, 1980: Bush upsets frontrunner Reagan in the Iowa caucus.
FEB. 23, 1980: At a debate in Nashua, N.H., Reagan attempts to change the rules to allow second-tier candidates to join him and Bush. Reagan says, “I am paying for this microphone, Mr. Green,” a line borrowed from Hollywood. Bush’s campaign never recovers.
MAY 26, 1980: Bush officially pulls out of the race.
18of39JULY 16, 1980: At the Republican National Convention in Detroit, Bush receives a phone call in his hotel room from Reagan, asking him to be the vice presidential nominee. Bush accepts.
NOV. 4, 1980: Reagan and Bush defeat Jimmy Carter and Walter Mondale in a landslide.
19of39JAN. 20, 1981: Bush is sworn in for the first of two terms as vice president.
MARCH 30, 1981: Reagan is shot. Bush hurries back to D.C. from Austin, where he had been scheduled to address the Texas Legislature.
20of39NOV. 6, 1984: Reagan/Bush re-elected with the largest Electoral College margin in American history.
JULY 13, 1985: Bush becomes acting president of the United States – the first so designated - when Ronald Reagan undergoes surgery.
21of39OCT. 13, 1987: Announces candidacy for the Republican nomination for president.
JAN. 25, 1988: Bush lashes out at CBS anchorman Dan Rather during a televised interview about the Iran-Contra affair.
FEB. 8, 1988: Places third in the Iowa caucus behind Sen. Bob Dole and televangelist Pat Robertson.
FEB. 16, 1988: Comeback win in the New Hampshire primary sets Bush on course to the Republican nomination.
22of39AUG. 16, 1988: Bush picks Dan Quayle as running mate. Controversy erupts over Quayle’s National Guard service during the Vietnam War. News reports note that Bush’s son George also served in the National Guard.
NOV. 8, 1988: Bush and Quayle carry 40 states in a comfortable victory over Michael Dukakis and Lloyd Bentsen, the man who defeated Bush 18 years earlier.
23of39JAN. 20, 1989: Inaugurated as 41st president of the United States.
FEB. 9, 1989: Addresses a joint session of Congress and reveals a plan to reduce the nation’s record deficit without a tax increase.
MAY 12, 1989: Delivers commencement address at Texas A&M University.
JUNE 3, 1989: Chinese government brutally reacts to Tiananmen Square. Bush is criticized for not being tough enough.
Pictured: President and Mrs. Bush walk along Pennsylvania Avenue after the President's Inauguration on January 20, 1989.
24of39NOV. 9, 1989: As the Berlin Wall falls, Bush declines to join the celebrations.
JULY 21, 1989: Signs the Clean Air Act in the Rose Garden at the White House.
DEC. 3, 1989: Attends summit with Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev in Malta.
DEC. 20, 1989: After two U.S. seamen are killed and two Americans beaten by members of Panamanian Defense Force, the U.S. invades Panama and captures Manuel Noriega.
25of39FEB. 20, 1990: Nominates David Souter, an obscure New Hampshire judge, to the U.S. Supreme Court.
JUNE 1, 1990: Bush and Gorbachev meet in Washington, D.C.
JUNE 26, 1990: Bush breaks his “no new taxes” pledge during budget negotiations with congressional Democrats.
JULY 26, 1990: Bush signs the Americans With Disabilities Act.
26of39AUG. 2, 1990: Saddam Hussein invades Kuwait.
AUG. 7, 1990: Bush announces Operation Desert Shield, moves U.S. troops into Saudi Arabia and begins to build a multinational coalition.
SEPT. 11, 1990:Addresses a joint session of Congress on the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.
SEPT. 30, 1990 :Bush and congressional leaders announce a bipartisan budget agreement. House Minority Whip Newt Gingrich launches an unsuccessful revolt of House conservatives to kill the plan.
27of39NOV. 15, 1990: Signs the Clean Air Act amendments of 1990.
NOV. 22, 1990: On Thanksgiving Day, Bush and commanding Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf visit U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia.
JAN. 12, 1991: After a long and contentious debate, the Senate passes a resolution authorizing Bush to wage war to liberate Kuwait.
Pictured: President Bush rides in a HUMVEE with General H. Norman Schwarzkopf during his visit with troops in Saudi Arabia on Thanksgiving Day on November 22, 1990.
28of39JAN. 16, 1991: The first Iraq war begins with the bombing of Baghdad. Bush addresses the nation to declare that “Operation Desert Storm” has begun.
FEB. 28, 1991: Ceasefire declared. Bush decides not to send U.S. forces to Baghdad.
MARCH 29, 1991: Lee Atwater, Bush’s 1988 campaign manager and political advisor, dies of brain cancer.
JULY 1, 1991: Nominates Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court to fill the seat vacated by Thurgood Marshall.
29of39AUG. 1, 1991: Signs the START arms reduction treaty in Moscow.
DEC. 2, 1991: John Sununu is forced to resign as Bush’s chief of staff amid accusations that he misused federal funds.
30of39FEB. 13, 1992: Bush formally announces his candidacy for re-election.
FEB. 20, 1992: Dallas billionaire Ross Perot announces run for presidency on CNN’s Larry King Live TV show.
APRIL 29, 1992: Los Angeles erupts in rioting after motorist Rodney King is savagely beaten by police. Bush is criticized for reacting slowly.
MAY 23, 1992: Orders the Coast Guard to intercept boats with Haitian refugees.
JUNE 28, 1992: Bush’s daughter marries Democratic lobbyist Bobby Koch.
Pictured: H. Ross Perot holds up a 'Perot in '96' bumper sticker on election night in Dallas, in Nov.1992.
31of39JULY 23, 1992: Perot withdraws from race, declaring that the Democratic Party has been revived.
AUG. 20, 1992: Accepts nomination at the Republican National Convention in Houston.
OCT. 1, 1992: Perot drops back into the race.
32of39NOV. 4, 1992: Bill Clinton defeats Bush in presidential election. Many Republicans blame Perot’s candidacy for siphoning votes from the incumbent.
NOV. 19, 1992: Bush’s mother dies.
JAN. 20, 1993: Final day as 41st president. Returns to Houston.
33of39NOV. 6, 1997: George Bush Presidential Library and Museum is dedicated at Texas A&M University.
JUNE 9, 1999: Parachutes days before his 75th birthday.
JAN. 20, 2001: Attends the inauguration of his son George W. Bush as the 43rd president.
JUNE 11, 2004: In a witty, heart-felt oration, Bush eulogizes Reagan at the 40th president’s funeral.
34of39JUNE 12, 2004: Celebrates his 80th birthday by parachuting twice onto the grounds of his presidential library.
NOV. 22, 2004: New York Gov. George Pataki names Bush an honorary member of the board rebuilding the World Trade Center.
JAN. 3, 2005: Bush and Bill Clinton are named by the current President Bush to lead a nationwide campaign to help the victims of the Indian Ocean tsunami.
AUG. 31, 2005: Again teams with Clinton to coordinate private relief donations for Hurricane Katrina victims.
35of39DEC. 5, 2006: Breaks down in tears while addressing Florida legislators as he mentions his son Jeb’s leadership qualities.
DEC. 26, 2006: With Gerald Ford’s death, Bush becomes the oldest surviving ex-president.
JAN. 10, 2009: Attends the commissioning of the last Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, USS George H.W. Bush, in Newport News, Va.
36of39JAN. 20, 2009Bids an emotional farewell to the White House on his son’s last day in office. As he leaves the White House grounds, he salutes the building.
JUNE 12, 2009Goes skydiving to celebrate his 85th birthday.
37of39FEB. 15, 2011: Awarded the Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama.
EARLY 2012: Tells Parade magazine he suffers from Vascular Parkinsonism, requiring Bush to use a wheelchair. The condition is most likely caused by a series of small strokes.
JANUARY 2013: Spends seven weeks in a Houston hospital with bronchitis.
38of39APRIL 2014: The Republican National Committee says it has raised $1 million selling colorful socks like those Bush has taken to wearing. JUNE 12, 2014: Goes skydiving again, to celebrate his 90th birthday, but this time from a helicopter.
39of39DEC. 24, 2014: Hospitalized for a week after experiencing shortness of breath.