Bush who is on first

Bush won the Presidency. She is also the mother of the 43rd President, George W. Bush, and of Florida's 43rd Governor, Jeb Bush. Rarely has a First Lady been greeted by the American people and the press with the approbation and warmth accorded to Barbara Pierce Bush. Perhaps this is prompted by the image she calls "everybody's grandmother. With characteristic directness, she says people like her because they know "I'm fair and I like children and I adore my husband.

In the suburban town of Rye, New York, she had a happy childhood. She went to boarding school at Ashley Hall in South Carolina, and it was at a dance during Christmas vacation when she was only 16 that she met George Bush, a senior at Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts.

They became engaged a year and a half later, just before he went off to war as a Navy torpedo bomber pilot. By the time George returned on leave, Barbara had dropped out of Smith College.

Two weeks later, on January 6, , they were married. After the war, George graduated from Yale, and they set out for Texas to start their lives together.

He was reelected in In Congress, Bush gained a seat on the coveted Ways and Means Committee, which was rare for a freshman congressman. He supported the Vietnam War and voted for parts of President Johnson's Great Society program, including the Civil Rights Bill of to outlaw discrimination in housing, a courageous vote for a congressman from Texas. After serving two terms in the House, Bush eyed another run for the Senate in Ralph Yarborough, who had defeated Bush in , was a liberal Democrat from Texas at a time when the state was becoming increasingly conservative.

Bush believed that he could defeat Yarborough in the election. But Yarborough did not win the Democratic primary. Instead, Bush ran against Lloyd Bentsen, a conservative Democrat. Since the Democratic Party was still very strong in Texas and Bush and Bentsen did not differ greatly on the issues, Bush again lost the election.

Critics opposed the nomination because Bush lacked foreign policy experience but the Senate confirmed him. Bush was not part of the Nixon administration's inner circle, which undercut his effectiveness at the United Nations. Nonetheless, he used his tenure to continue to make influential friends within the U. The ambassador relished his person-to-person contacts with foreign envoys and began assembling his legendary rolodex that would serve him well in the years to come.

The administration turned to Bush to head the RNC because of his reputation for respectability and integrity. During the Watergate scandal, Bush was a tireless supporter of President Nixon until the release of the White House tapes.

Bush then informed the President that he had lost the support of the Republican Party. After listening to key Republican congressional leaders who told him that he would be impeached by the House and convicted by the Senate, Nixon resigned the presidency in August The new President appointed Bush as the U. Because the United States did not yet have full diplomatic relations with China, Bush served as chief of the U. Liaison's Office instead of as ambassador.

China offered the Bushes a respite from Washington, but they stayed only two years. The CIA was emerging from a controversial period in its history and needed a strong, effective leader to improve morale and reform the agency. By most accounts, Bush was a popular director and able administrator. The Bushes left Washington, D. Bush rejoined the corporate world back in Houston and started planning for the presidential campaign soon after he returned.

He began with reestablishing his Texas contacts and fundraising. On May 1, , Bush announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination for President. During the Republican primaries in the campaign, the conservative wing of the party was drawn to Ronald Reagan, the former actor and governor of California. Bush was considered more moderate and less dogmatic than Reagan, who was anointed as the frontrunner early on. Bush surprised most observers when he won the Iowa caucus. He campaigned throughout the state with great determination and energy, and raised concerns about Reagan's economic plan to lower taxes and increase military spending while balancing the federal budget.

Bush derisively labeled Reagan's plan "voodoo economics". Once the campaign turned to New Hampshire, Bush became embroiled in an incident that has become part of the lore of American political history. The Telegraph newspaper in Nashua proposed a debate between just Reagan and Bush. When Senator Dole complained about his exclusion, Reagan's campaign agreed to fund the debate and invited the other candidates, unbeknownst to Bush.

Bush was caught by surprise when he arrived at the debate and saw the other candidates on the stage with Reagan. As the candidates argued about the debate's format, the moderator of the debate ordered Reagan's microphone turned off, and Reagan responded, "I paid for this microphone!

Reagan clinched the nomination and moved to consolidate the Republican Party behind a popular ticket. Reagan initially considered selecting former President Gerald Ford as his running mate in a "co-presidency" arrangement, but that unusual proposal went nowhere. Ultimately, Bush emerged as the consensus choice for the second spot, in part due to his appeal to the more moderate wing of the party.

After accepting Reagan's offer, Bush was criticized by some for changing his previous positions on issues such as abortion and the economy to become more consistent with Reagan's conservative views. But 20 years has gone by really fast. It was just a huge moment in time of healing to let the whole world know that we are moving forward, and you are not going to intimidate us.

Greene was thrust into the moment. Initially, starting catcher Jorge Posada was going to catch the first pitch, but he was busy with a bullpen session with Game 3 starter Roger Clemens.

Greene knew Posada was in the Yankees' bullpen in left-center field, so Greene took it upon himself to catch the first pitch.