His wife is Barbara Bush . Because he has the same first and last names as his son , he is often called George H. W. Bush or George Bush Sr. ( George Bush senior ) . Until the election of his son George W. Bush to the presidency in 2000 , Bush was commonly referred to simply as `` George Bush '' ; since that time , the forms `` George H. W. Bush '' , `` Bush 41 '' , `` Bush the Elder '' , and `` George Bush , senior '' have come into common use as a way to distinguish the father from the son .