George H. W. Bush 1992 presidential campaign

George H. W. Bush's 1992 presidential campaign was an unsuccessful campaign for his and his running mate Dan Quayle's re-election as President and Vice President of the United States.^[2] He was defeated by Democratic presidential nominee Bill Clinton and vice presidential nominee Al Gore. ^[3] Bush, a Republican and former Vice President under Ronald Reagan launched his presidential bid in early 1992, and secured nomination for his re-election on August 20, 1992. He was challenged by former White House Communications Director Pat Buchanan in the Republican primaries, but Buchanan got less than 1% of the delegates in the Convention.^[4]

George H. W. Bush for President
Campaign	U.S. presidential election, 1992
Candidate	George H. W. Bush 41st President of the United States (1989-1993) Dan Quayle 44th Vice President of the United States (1989-1993)
Affiliation	Republican Party
Status	Launched bid: February 12, 1992 Secured nomination: August 20, 1992 Lost election: November 3, 1992
Headquarters	Houston, Texas
Key people	Fred Malek (campaign manager) Robert Mosbacher (fundraiser) Robert Teeter (pollster)
Receipts	US$101,936,902.00[1]

Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts in 1924. After serving in the navy and working with his company, he ran for the U.S. House of Representatives from Texas's 7th congressional district in 1966 and won the election.^[5] He supported Richard Nixon over Ronald Reagan in the 1968 Republican presidential primaries. Bush was considered a likely running mate for Nixon in 1968, but he ultimately chose Spiro Agnew instead.^[6] He served as Ambassador to the United Nations under the Nixon administration, which was his first major experience with the Soviet Union and China.^[7] He was also the Chairman of the Republican National Committee in 1972.^[8] In 1980, he contested the Republican primaries for President, ending up second behind Reagan, who chose him as his running mate^[9] The Reagan-Bush ticket won the 1980 and 1984 presidential election.^[10][11] As vice president, Bush generally maintained a low profile by avoiding decision-making and publicly not criticizing Reagan.^[12]

In 1987, Bush announced his Presidential bid, winning the presidential primaries and being the nominee.^[13] He ultimately won the election with Dan Quayle as Vice President. Bush announced his re-election bid in early 1992; with a coalition victory in the Persian Gulf War and high approval ratings^[14], Bush's re-election initially looked likely, however, he was hated by many conservatives for breaking his pledge of never raising taxes. Meanwhile, Democrats nominated Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton as their presidential nominee^[15], with Tennessee senator Al Gore as his running mate.^[16] Texas Billionaire Ross Perot decided to run as an independent third-party candidate, at one point Perot was leading the major party candidates in the polls.^[17] During his campaign, he campaigned in whistle stop train tour from a train named "Spirit of America".^[18] Clinton won the election, taking 43 percent of the popular vote and 370 electoral votes, while Bush won 37.5 percent of the popular vote and 168 electoral votes. Perot won 19% of the popular vote, one of the highest totals for a third-party candidate in U.S. history, but no electoral votes.^[19]

Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts in 1924.^[5] He served in the navy in World War II, and after graduating from Yale, he continued with his business career. In 1964, he ran for U.S. Senate and won the Republican nomination^[20], but lost the election by 56 percent to 44 percent, though he did run well ahead of Goldwater, the Republican presidential nominee.^[21] He later ran for U.S. House of Representatives from Texas's 7th congressional district in 1966, and won the election. Bush won re-election to the House unopposed, while Nixon defeated Hubert Humphrey in the presidential election.^[22] In 1970, with President Nixon's support, Bush gave up his seat in the House to run for the Senate against Ralph Yarborough but lost the election to Lloyd Bentsen.^[23]

He served as Ambassador to the United Nations under the Nixon administration, which was his first major experience with the Soviet Union and China.^[24] He ran his presidential campaign in 1980 against Ronald Reagan, Bob Dole, and many other Republican candidates. He focused heavily on winning the January 21 Iowa caucuses, making 31 visits to the state. He won a close victory in Iowa with 31.5% to Reagan's 29.4%.^[25] After the win, Bush stated that his campaign was full of momentum, or "the Big Mo". He agreed to debate Reagan before New Hampshire Primaries but refused to speak in the presence of the other candidates.^[26] Ultimately, the other four candidates left the stage and the debate continued, but Bush's refusal to debate anyone other than Reagan damaged his campaign in New Hampshire and ended up losing many contests to Reagan. After Reagan got a majority of delegates in May, Bush dropped out of the race.^[27] For his running mate, Reagan chose Bush, who eagerly accepted the position and threw himself into campaigning for the Reagan-Bush ticket.^[28] They won the 1980 presidential election in a landslide victory against incumbent President Jimmy Carter. As vice president, Bush generally maintained a low profile by avoiding-decision making and publicly not criticizing the President.^[12] Reagan won his re-election in 1984 in a landslide victory against Walter Mondale, winning 49 of 50 states, and Bush was re-elected Vice President.^[29][30]

In 1987, Bush announced his presidential bid, put together a campaign led by Reagan staffer Lee Atwater.^[31] He was challenged by Senator Bob Dole, Congressman Jack Kemp, and televangelist Pat Robertson.^[32] Initially, Bush was considered the front-runner in the race, but he came third in the Iowa caucus behind Dole and Robertson.^[33] Bush overcame his initial polling deficit and won the New Hampshire primary. After winning South Carolina, and 16 of 17 states on Super Tuesday, his competitors dropped out of the race.^[34] Bush also pledged that he would not raise taxes, stating: "read my lips: no new taxes."^[35] Bush selected Senator Dan Quayle of Indiana as his running mate.^[36] Though Quayle had compiled an unremarkable record in Congress, he was popular among many conservatives.^[37] He won the 1988 presidential election against Democratic nominee Michael Dukakis, and became the first incumbent Vice president to be elected president since Martin Van Buren in 1836.^[38]

The economy had been stable and performing well since 1982, but had gone into a mild recession in 1990.^[39] The unemployment rate rose from 5.9 percent in 1989 to a high of 7.8 percent in mid-1991.^[40] As the public became increasingly concerned about the economy and other domestic affairs, Bush's well-received handling of foreign affairs became less of an issue for most voters. In September 1990, Bush and Congressional Democrats announced a compromise to cut funding for mandatory and discretionary programs while also raising revenue, partly through a higher gas tax.^[41] The compromise additionally included a "pay as you go" provision that required that new programs be paid for at the time of implementation.^[42] Conservatives opposed the bill, strongly opposing any form of tax increase. Bush's decision to sign the bill damaged his standing with conservatives and the general public, even breaking his pledge of never raising taxes.^[43]

Preparing for a run

With the ending of the Persian Gulf War in March 1991, President Bush had very high approval ratings, some even approaching 90 percent.^[44] But by 1992, many conservative Republicans had narrowed their support of Bush for a variety of reasons, including raising taxes and cutting defense spending.^[45] Americans were less concerned with his foreign policy successes than the changing economic situation of the nation. He announced his re-election bid on February 12, 1992, while addressing a rally in Texas. He said:

Let me tell you why I'm running. I came here to do important work, and I finish what I start. In 1980 I came to Washington as a part of a team. We started a revolution to free America from, you remember, the politics of malaise and to set sail toward America's destiny. Then in 1988, Dan Quayle and I began our own partnership built on the same principles. My message then and my message now is simple: I believe Government is too big, and it costs too much. I believe in a strong defense for this country and good schools, safe streets, a Government really worthy of the people. I believe that parents, not Government, should make the important decisions about health, child care, and education. I believe in personal responsibility. I believe in opportunity for all. We should throw open wide the doors of possibility to anyone who has been locked out. And I believe in a piece of wisdom passed on by my favorite political philosopher, Barbara Bush: What happens in your house is more important than what happens in the White House.^[46]

Initially, his re-election was considered very likely due to his popularity, as a result, several high-profile Democratic party candidates, such as Mario Cuomo and Jesse Jackson, refused to seek the Democratic nomination.^[47] The media gave the Democratic Party little chance of winning the presidency. Most Republicans continued to endorse Bush as their nominee. Ron Paul, the Libertarian Party's presidential nominee in 1988, had planned to run against the President, but dropped out shortly after former While house communication director Pat Buchanan's entry in Republican primaries.^[48] In 1990, Pat Buchanan published a newsletter called Patrick J. Buchanan: From the Right; it sent subscribers a bumper sticker reading: "Read Our Lips! No new taxes".^[49]

Republican presidential primaries

Primaries were held for all 50 states and the District of Columbia from February 18 to June 9, 1992. Pat Buchanan's candidacy relied heavily on a strong showing in the New Hampshire primary, as a result, Bush made New Hampshire a focal point in his reelection bid. However, New Hampshire remained a pivotal base for Buchanan's primary campaign.^[50] He explained the reason for running against incumbent President Bush as:

If the country wants to go in a liberal direction, if the country wants to go in the direction of [Democrats] George Mitchell and Tom Foley, it doesn't bother me as long as I've made the best case I can. What I can't stand are the back-room deals. They're all in on it, the insider game, the establishment game—this is what we're running against.^[51]

During the early counting of the votes at the New Hampshire primary, it appeared that the President might lose to Pat Buchanan^[52] but after completion of the count, Bush carried New Hampshire with 53% of the votes while Buchanan finished second with 38% of the votes.^[53] It was a strong showing by Buchanan, and Bush got fewer votes than expected. Buchanan ran on a platform of immigration reduction and social conservatism, including opposition to multiculturalism, abortion, and gay rights.^[54] His campaign raised $14,933,082.00 from donations. He managed to get 35% or above votes in primaries till March 10, after which, his ratings dropped and Bush went on to win all 51 contests. Later, Buchanan endorsed Bush as the Republican nominee and was asked by the Bush campaign to deliver a keynote address at RNC, in which his culture war speech alienated many moderates.^[55]

Bush won 72.84% of the popular vote while Buchanan won 22.96% of the votes. The fact that Buchanan got almost 2.9 million votes threatened Bush's campaign for his Presidential run.

Republican National Convention

The 1992 Republican National Convention convened at The Astrodome in Houston, Texas from August 17–20, 1992.^[56] To accommodate the convention and its set-up, the Houston Astros, the Major League Baseball team which played at the Astrodome, played 26 consecutive away games over 28 days. Additionally, the National Football League's Houston Oilers would also be forced to play all their preseason games on the road.^[56] With all contests in the states settled in Bush's favor, the roll of delegates drawn up by the RNC heavily favored Bush as the unanimous choice, though Buchanan and Alan Keyes also won delegates. By this time, independent candidate Ross Perot had dropped out of the race and Bill Clinton had officially secured the Democratic nomination.

Notably, 1992 convention was the last major address in the long political career of former President Ronald Reagan.^[57] Before the convention, Clinton's poll numbers were rising, which was greatly affected by the fact that Clinton delivered his acceptance speech on the same night when Perot dropped out of the race.^[58] Reagan said:

"This fellow [Clinton], they [Democrats] have nominated claims to be the new Thomas Jefferson, Let me tell you something, I knew Thomas Jefferson, he was a friend of mine, and Governor, you are no Thomas Jefferson."^[59]

The convention energized the Republican base, giving the Bush-Quayle ticket a bounce in the polls. As the bounce faded, the race returned to a lopsided double-digit Clinton–Gore lead. During his acceptance speech, President Bush thanked former President Richard Nixon for his advice and contributions to the administration's foreign policy.^[60] This would be Nixon's last RNC, as he died in 1994. President Bush said:

My opponents say I spend too much time on foreign policy, as if it didn't matter that schoolchildren once hid under their desks in drills to prepare for nuclear war. I saw the chance to rid our children's dreams of the nuclear nightmare, and I did. Over the past 4 years, more people have breathed the fresh air of freedom than in all of human history. I saw a chance to help, and I did. These were the two defining opportunities not of a year, not of a decade, but of an entire span of human history. I seized those opportunities for our kids and our grandkids, and I make no apologies for that.^[61]

George H. W. Bush received 2166 delegates and Pat Buchanan received 18 delegates. Dan Quayle was nominated as the Vice Presidential candidate by voice vote.

Getting an opponent

Democratic nomination

With President Bush's approval ratings skyrocketing after Operation Desert Storm, high-profile democratic party candidates, such as Mario Cuomo and Jesse Jackson, refused to seek the Democratic nomination.^[47] The major candidates were Governor Bill Clinton, Former Governor Jerry Brown, and Former Senator Paul Tsongas.^[62] In the lead-in to the 1992 New Hampshire Democratic primary, the Clinton campaign was rocked by scandal when Gennifer Flowers accused Clinton of having a 12-year sexual affair.^[63] At the same time, Clinton was accused of misleading the U.S. Army Reserve to avoid service in the Vietnam War.^[64] Bill and Hillary Clinton denied the sexual misconduct allegations in an interview by Steve Kroft on an episode of 60 Minutes aired after the Super Bowl XXVI.^[63]

Though Jerry Brown was leading in polls in September 1991, Clinton's lead eventually increased and became the front runner. He lost the Iowa caucus to Tom Harkin, getting only 2.8% of the votes and the New Hampshire primary to Paul Tsongas.^[65] After coming second in place in New Hampshire, he a delivered speech labeling himself "The Comeback Kid", which re-energized his campaign.^[66] After Harkin dropped out of the race, he went on to win 8 of 11 contests on Super Tuesday and won most of the contests after that. After the North Dakota primary, Paul Tsongas also dropped out, leaving only Clinton and Brown in the race.^[67] Although Brown continued to campaign in several states, he won no further primaries. Despite this, he still had a sizable number of delegates, and a big win in his home state of California would have deprived Clinton of sufficient support to win the nomination.^[68]

Clinton, after getting a sufficient number of delegates to win the convention, shortlisted six possible vice presidential candidates, which included Senator Al Gore, Bob Graham, Jay Rockefeller, Harris Wofford, Bob Kerry, and Representative Lee H. Hamilton, but ultimately chose Gore, Senator from Tennessee, who had previously soughed the Democratic Presidential nomination in 1988.^[69] Former Deputy Secretary of State Warren Christopher led Clinton's vice-presidential selection team.^[70] In making the selection, Clinton emphasized Gore's experience with foreign policy and environmental issues. He also appeared on The Arsenio Hall Show on Wednesday, June 3, 1992, the day after he secured the Democratic Party nomination, in which, he played "Heartbreak Hotel" on the saxophone which was considered an important moment in the campaign, as it helped him portray himself build his popularity among young voters.^[71] Clinton received a significant poll bounce from the convention, due to both the perceived success of the convention, as well as Ross Perot announcing he was withdrawing from the campaign just as the convention was ending. He received 3372 delegates, Jerry Brown received 596 delegates, Paul Tsongas received 289 delegates, and other candidates received 19 delegates. Al Gore was nominated vice-presidential candidate by acclamation on a voice vote.^[72]

Ross Perot's candidacy

Ross Perot appeared on Larry King Live on February 20, 1992, and on being asked by King about any scenario in which [he] would run for president, stated that he did not want to run, but spontaneously affirmed that he would begin a campaign if "ordinary people" signed petitions and helped him achieve ballot access in all 50 states.^[73] Following this, Tom Luce, a friend of Perot organized "Draft Perot", which were opened throughout the nation, and petition drives were coordinated.^[74] At one point, 30,000 telephone calls were received in one hour.^[75]

Since 15 states require the candidate's running mate's name to appear on the ballot, he chose retired Vice Admiral James Stockdale as his "interim" running mate.^[76] Throughout April, the draft efforts continued, and Perot appeared on talk shows, discussing his plans and positions on political issues. He was willing to spend $100 million of his own money to finance the campaign. In June 1992, he was leading nationally over both Bush and Clinton with 39% of the votes.^[14] Speculation arose in the media that Perot would split the electoral college and force the United States House of Representatives to decide the presidency.^[77] On July 16, Perot announced on Larry King Live that he would not seek the presidency. He explained that he did not want the House of Representatives to decide the election if the result caused the electoral college to be split.

He asked his supporters to look for other candidates to nominate for the race, and formed United We Stand to "influence the debate.^[78] In August, he promised to endorse any candidate who accepted his economic plan, meanwhile, petitions for ballot access were approved in all 50 states. On October 1, Perot re-entered the presidential race, with a desire to further explain his economic plans.^[79] He employed a massive marketing strategy spending huge amounts to buy half-hour and hour-long segments on major television networks. His first infomercial was aired on October 6, and viewed by 16.5 million people.^[80]

Campaigns and rallies

President Bush campaigned extensively for the election. Just a week after the convention, he addressed a rally in Cincinnati, Ohio where he criticized Clinton's health care plan and said that it would lead to a new health care tax on those who can afford it the least.^[81] He argued that even after Bill Clinton being Governor of Arkansas for 12 years, one in every four doesn't even have health insurance.^[82] He said that the real price of the Clinton program is arguably at least 3 times higher than he has admitted^[83] and referred to his plan as an "economic fantasy".^[84] During speeches, he focused on his idea of letting parents, not Government choose their children's schools, whether public, private or religious school.^[85] He raised issues about equivocation in statements made by Governor Clinton.^[86] During rallies, he announced the immediate deferral of the Department of Energy's billion-dollar program to build a new production reactor for tritium.^[87] He also addressed United Nations General Assembly in New York City in late September.^[88] During a rally in Springfield Missouri, he said:

I hear candidate Clinton is up in Michigan today talking about debates. Well, I propose a debate for him today: candidate Clinton versus Governor Clinton. You see, we've all heard what candidate Clinton says he can do for America. But that's very different from what Governor Clinton has done to Arkansas, to the good people of Arkansas. And I want to stress this: My argument is not with the people of Arkansas, it is not. They are good, decent, hard-working people. Frankly, they deserve treatment better than they've received from Governor Clinton. So here we go.^[89]

By end of September 1992, he had addressed many rallies along with Vice president Quayle criticizing Clinton's campaign either for their economic plan or for their views for foreign affairs or national security.^[90] On September 26, President Bush campaigned from a whistle-stop train tour, from a train named "The Spirit of America" starting from Columbus, Ohio and covering various major cities on its route, including Marysville, Arlington, Bowling Green, and Plymouth.^[91] The next day, he continued his campaign by train, visiting Wixom and Grand Blanc in Michigan.^[18][92]

Bush campaign used advertisements extensively for the 1992 election. His campaign spent $38.5 million on paid advertisements on televisions and radio.^[93] Several of the Bush campaign's commercials were based on a single theme that Clinton would impose taxes on energy, a "carbon tax" that would eventually drive up utility bills and cost jobs.^[94] The ads attacked Clinton over his tax increase as Governor of Arkansas, criticized his health care plan, and his notion on both sides of major issues.^[95] Bush's campaign focused that America must be a "military superpower, an economic superpower, and an export superpower."^[96] Unlike Michael Dukakis's 1988 campaign, the Clinton campaign made a point of responding to Bush’s attacks usually on the same day.^[97]

Presidential debates

He participated in series of three Presidential debates between him, Governor Clinton, and Ross Perot, who had by that time re-entered the race. Vice president Quayle participated in the vice-presidential debate between him, Senator Gore, and James Stockdale. He was criticized for his performance in debates, as in the polls conducted by CNN/USA TODAY after each debate, on average, 20% of people said that he won the debates, while 39% went with Clinton, 30% went with Perot and 11% were undecided.^[98] during a debate, he said that he strongly support term limits for members of the US Congress, limiting their term to 24 years, which was opposed by Clinton.^[99]

Bush was seen on national camera checking his watch while being asked about the effect of the national debt on him personally.^[100] In a 1999 Interview by Jim Lehrer, on being asked what he was thinking as he checked his wristwatch, he replied:

I took a huge hit. That's another thing I don't like debates, you look at your watch and they say that he hasn’t any business running for president. He's bored and he's out of this thing, he's not with it and we need change. They took a little incident like that to show that I was, you know, out of it. They made a huge thing out of that. Now, was I glad when the damn thing was over? Yeah, and maybe that's why I was looking at it, only 10 more minutes of this crap, I mean [Jim laughs] Go ahead and use it. I'm a free spirit now. ^[101]

The vice-presidential debates took place in Atlanta, Georgia. It is remembered as Stockdale memorably opened the debate by unexpectedly asking the philosophical question, "Who am I? Why am I here?"^[102] He was unprepared to deal with some of the substantive issues raised,^[103][104] while Quayle and Gore continued to debate. Gore took a humorous shot at Dan Quayle over the Jack Kennedy comparison. He said "I'll make you a deal this evening. If you don't try to compare George Bush to Harry Truman, I won't compare you to Jack Kennedy."^[105]

On November 3, 1992, George Bush lost the election to Bill Clinton, coming second behind him. he got 168 electoral voted and 37.55 of the Popular vote. Bill Clinton won 370 electoral voted and 43% of the popular vote, while Ross Perot finished the third behind both Clinton and Bush, winning no electoral votes but receiving 18.9% of the popular vote. President Bush's 37.5% was the lowest percentage total for a sitting president seeking re-election since William Howard Taft, in 1912 (23.2%), as the 1912 election was, a three-way race (that time between Taft, Wilson, and Theodore Roosevelt). It was also the lowest percentage for a major party candidate since Alf Landon received 36.5% of the vote in 1936. Bush had a lower percentage of the popular vote than even Herbert Hoover, who was defeated in 1932 (39.7%). Perot's almost 19% of the popular vote made him the most successful third-party presidential candidate in terms of the popular vote since Theodore Roosevelt in the 1912 election. The outcome of the 1992 U.S. presidential election has been explained largely as a function of perceptions of George Bush's economic performance.^[106][107] The economy submerged questions about Bill Clinton's character, awarding the advantage to the Democrat.^[108] Bush didn't get a majority of the votes in any state, his strongest performance being in Nebraska-3rd Congressional district, getting 49.7% of votes. The same night, he conceded to Bill Clinton and said:

“The people have spoken, and we respect the majesty of the democratic system, I just called Governor Clinton over in Little Rock and offered my congratulations. He did run a strong campaign. I wish him well in the White House, and I want the country to know that our entire administration will work closely with his team to ensure the smooth transition of power.”^[109]

Aftermath

On October 6, 1992, a month before election day, President Bush signed an appropriation that would provide $5 million to a prospective transition. If Clinton were to win, the appropriation would give his transition team $3.5 million, and give $1.5 million to Bush's administration to aid them in the transition. After his defeat in the election, President Bush publicly proclaimed his desire for a smooth transition between his and the incoming administration.^[110] Clinton's transition team largely consisted of individuals that had worked on his presidential campaign.^[111] He named Warren Christopher as head of his transition team. On November 18, President Bush hosted President-elect Clinton at the White House.^[112][113] His transition took longer than his predecessor to designate appointees to top positions.^[114][115] The transition began publicly announcing the first his designee to be appointed to major executive branch offices six weeks after winning the election. Bush is often praised for his efforts and co-operations in the transition.^[116] He left office with 56% approval ratings and 37% disapproval.^[117] Bill Clinton was inaugurated on 20th January, 1993 as 42nd President of the United States, with Bush attending the inauguration. His letter to Clinton upon leaving office was highly appreciated by Clinton. Clinton said "No words of mine or others can better reveal the heart of who he was than those he wrote himself."^[118]

• Bill Clinton 1992 presidential campaign
• Ross Perot 1992 presidential campaign
• 1992 United States presidential election
• 1992 Republican party presidential primaries
• 1992 Democratic party presidential primaries
• 1992 Democratic party vice presidential candidate selection