George Bush Sr. in Decision Points, by Pres. George W. Bush

On Principles & Values: 1970: Ran for Senate unsuccessfully a second time

Soon there was another lesson. Defeat, while painful, is not always the end. Shortly after the 1970 election, Pres. Nixon made Dad ambassador to the UN. Then, i 1973, Nixon asked Dad to head the Republican National Committee. It turned out to be a valuable lesson in crisis management when Dad guided the party through the Watergate scandal.

Ford offered Dad his pick of ambassadorships in London or Paris, traditionally the most coveted diplomatic posts. Dad had told him he would rather go to China, and he & Mother spent 14 fascinating months in Beijing. They came home when Ford asked Dad to head the CIA. Not a bad run for a twice-defeated Senate candidate

On Principles & Values: 1988 cover of Newsweek: "Fighting the Wimp Factor"

Mother called me the morning the magazine hit the newsstands. "Have you seen "Newsweek"? They called your father a wimp," she growled.

I quickly tracked down a copy and was greeted by the screaming headline : "Fighting the Wimp Factor." I couldn't believe it. The magazine was insinuating that my father, a World War II bomber pilot, was a wimp. I was red-hot. I got Margaret on the phone. She politely asked what I thought of the story. I impolitely told her I thought she was part of a political ambush. She muttered something about her editors and hung up. From then on, I was suspicious of political journalists and their unseen editors.