Office
George Bush’s Zapata oil company had its offices on the top floor of the Bank of the Southwest Building (I think that was the building’s name). My dad started his company in the attic of that building. They would ride the elevator together sometimes. This was during the late 1950s or early 1960s.
House of Representatives Election
When a new Congressional district was formed in Houston, George Bush was the first person to be elected to that seat. My parents co-hosted a fundraising dinner for Bush during that election period.
Bush vs. Reagan 1980
A politically active high school friend of mine somehow managed to meet Ronald Reagan at the airport and carried his bags on the way to the Reagan-Bush debate in Houston. He was proud to say to Reagan that it is nice to meet the next President of the United States. Most of us knew little of Reagan; Bush was much more familiar to folks in Houston. A group of us went to the debate.
Ford & Bush at Reagan Rally in 1980
Reagan selected George Bush as his VP running mate. Bush and former president Ford held a campaign rally on the steps at the base of the Tower at The University of Texas. I attended.
Bush’s Houston Residence
The couple that bought my parents house later sold it and bought the Bush’s house when they sold it to move to Washington, DC when he became VP.
Private Jet
A friend of mine flew George and Barbara Bush to a speaking engagement. When the gear lever was put down, both the left and the right main gear locked down, but not the nose gear. They performed a go- around to trouble-shoot the problem. Given the potential critical nature of the situation, Bush surprisingly expressed his desire to get to his speech on-time. (Remember that Bush was himself a pilot in WWII.)
My friend was surprised by the control tower’s blasé reaction when he requested a fly-by to check on the status of the gear. Normally, the tower is very accommodating to a pilot with a problem. It was doubling surprising that they weren’t more helpful considering that an ex-president was on-board.
Two Secret Service officers were travelling with the Bushes. They called their colleagues who were in the tower. The tower controller changed his tune and became very interested in helping.
The nose gear never showed green, indicating down and locked. My friend explained to the passengers that it probably was just an indication problem, but, if the gear was not locked, the Westwind jet would tip only a few inches and the nose would slide on the runway. While it would be noisy, they would be safe.
The gear was in-fact, down and locked, so the landing was normal.
Reelection Campaign Stop at FedEx Headquarters in Memphis
During his reelection campaign, Bush made a stop at the FedEx Super Hub. Hundreds of employees and guests watched as Air Force One pulled right up front. He got out and made a speech in one of the maintenance hangars. He was on the ground for less than one hour. This was one of five similar stops that day.
That was the day that I decided to vote against George Bush. His entourage reminded me what it must have been in ancient Rome when the emperor traveled with his praetorian guard. The Secret Service preparation team was stationed in my building overlooking the airport ramp the week before. I estimated that they spent 100s of man-hours for this layover. A military C-141 transport arrived early and brought a Presidential limousine as well as a UH-60 (or similar) helicopter that circled the airport.
I decided that my kind of leader would end that ceremonial pomp and circumstance funded by the taxpayers, especially a Republican calling for less government spending.