George Bush Sr. on Corporations President of the U.S., 1989-1993; Former Republican Rep. (TX)

1989: Address the festering savings-and-loan crisis

"Reagan sort of brushed it under the rug and postponed it, but President Bush pushed for action right off the bat," an aide remembered. "The economy still dipped into recession, but that was an enormously important piece of work that cleared the decks--allowing the economy to take off in 1991."

The legislative and economic work behind him, Dad--and indeed our entire family--were soon subjected to another, different kind of S&L crisis, with some Democrats paying particular attention to a single Colorado S&L, Silverado, where my brother Neil at the time served as an outside director.