| “His Biggest Asset: George Bush's Pre-Vice Presidential Career, 1970–1977,” is an in-depth examination of the 41 st President's record of public service during the Nixon and Ford Administrations. This study is informed by Bush's later role in the transformation of international relations during his single presidential term, and contends that he entered the Oval Office in 1989 well prepared to deal with foreign policy because of his resume. Moreover, this work asserts that Bush's approach to diplomacy can be explained by his service in the Nixon and Ford Administrations.; Bush worked as Nixon's UN ambassador from 1971 to 1972. During this time, he dealt with many issues, including Communist China's entry into the UN, the India-Pakistan War of 1971, and the UN's growing fiscal insolvency. From 1973 to 1974, during the height of Watergate, he was Chair of the Republican National Committee, a position which transformed Bush into a national figure. In Ford's Administration, after first being passed over for Vice-President, Bush acted as the Chief U.S. Liaison to the People's Republic of China from 1974 to 1975. Next, he was appointed Director of the Central Intelligence Agency in 1976, and was the first Agency head to implement reform within America's intelligence community. In terms of importance, this dissertation states that Bush's service at the UN and CIA was most critical to the later development and handling of his foreign policy.; Archival evidence from the Nixon Presidential Materials Staff, the Gerald R. Ford Library, and the new George Bush Presidential Library has been combined for the first time to provide source material for this study. While the highpoints of Bush's pre-vice presidential career are already known, the portrait of Bush that emerges from this new synthesis of material is familiar and yet more complex, especially in terms of Bush's reaction to Watergate and his service in Beijing. It soundly demonstrates that he was well-equipped to handle the foreign policy problems which crossed his desk from 1989 to 1992. |
