[146] Bush also attacked Dukakis for opposing a law that would require all students to recite the Pledge of Allegiance.[140] The election is widely considered to have had a high level of negative campaigning, though political scientist John Geer has argued that the share of negative ads was in line with previous presidential elections.[147]
Bush defeated Dukakis by a margin of 426 to 111 in the Electoral College, and he took 53.4 percent of the national popular vote.[148] Bush ran well in all the major regions of the country, but especially in the South.[149] He became the fourth sitting vice president to be elected president and the first to do so since Martin Van Buren in 1836 and the first person to succeed a president from his own party via election since Herbert Hoover in 1929.[97][g] In the concurrent congressional elections, Democrats retained control of both houses of Congress.[151]

Presidency (1989–1993)
Main article: Presidency of George H. W. Bush
For a chronological guide, see Timeline of the George H. W. Bush presidency.
Chief Justice William Rehnquist administers the Presidential Oath of Office to Bush
Bush was inaugurated on January 20, 1989, succeeding Ronald Reagan. 