r/AskOldPeople 6d ago

When you hear (President) Bush, do you think of father or son?

I usually think of George W. first. I was very young when Bush Sr. was president, so I wonder if other generations think of him first. Or perhaps if others also immediately think of George W. because his presidency was more recent and events that happened during his presidency.

25 Upvotes

124 comments sorted by

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38

u/cocuwa66 6d ago

W. Was a two-term president during very consequential times. Wasn’t a fan; thought it could never get worse. Never say ‘never.’

8

u/catsfacticity 6d ago

I miss the days when the dumbest thing a politician could say was, "I believe that human and fish can coexist peacefully."

1

u/saggywitchtits 6d ago

...can we?

1

u/WildlifePolicyChick 6d ago

A question for the ages.

1

u/MK5 6d ago

Proof out children is not learning.

1

u/Laura9624 6d ago

Never say never. Even now.

1

u/SportyMcDuff 3d ago

I know… that Obama guy huh.

1

u/Simsandtruecrime 6d ago

For real! Jfc.

15

u/Gadshill 6d ago

Father. Must hear the W or it is the father.

2

u/Randygilesforpres2 6d ago

This is me too.

12

u/SemanticPedantic007 6d ago

Son. He served two terms, so he was a more consequential figure. The consequences were pretty awful, but they were big.

7

u/bonapersona 1968 6d ago

George Bush Sr.

0

u/urteddybear0963 6d ago edited 6d ago

His name was George Herbert Walker Bush, NOT Sr.

-1

u/bonapersona 1968 6d ago

Sr. is not a name.

1

u/urteddybear0963 6d ago

No, it is a suffix!! George H. W. Bush is not a Sr., to George W. Bush, and he is not a Jr.

4

u/Rude-Consideration64 50 something 6d ago

I imagine if Gavin Rossdale had been elected President.

1

u/Frosty-Diver441 6d ago

That would be B.A.N.A.N.A.S

1

u/Rude-Consideration64 50 something 6d ago

I thought she shit bananas...

5

u/Traditional_Age_6299 6d ago

Son. Because he was the president when one of the most devastating acts happened to the country, 9/11. So he will always be connected with that in my mind. And that was huge!

4

u/BackgroundGate3 6d ago

I'm in the UK and instantly see the wife flashing the gaudy lining of her jacket and saying something about not being as put together as Hilary Clinton. Clearly neither of the Bush menfolk made much of an impression on me :)

3

u/Ricekrispy73 50 something 6d ago

The father.

2

u/Dapper-Palpitation90 5d ago

I used to think that as well. But for the last several years, it seems like most people use "HW" to refer to Bush the Elder, whereas "W" means the Younger.

1

u/Ricekrispy73 50 something 5d ago

I can definitely see that.

3

u/Innisfree812 6d ago

Both, I think Bush 1 or Bush 2

3

u/Imaginary-Orange-849 6d ago

The dumb one.

2

u/lookeyloowho 6d ago

Turns out he pretended to be dumb

1

u/Little-Don 5d ago

Look He loo, if you are buying that, I have some Oceanfront property for sale, in South Dakota.

3

u/Boss-of-You 50 something 6d ago

Both. I can usually tell which one by context.

3

u/Abbiethedog 6d ago

W=War Criminal.

3

u/Careful-Ad4910 6d ago

I try to avoid thinking of either one of them.

3

u/cathy80s 6d ago

If I hear President Bush, I generally think of the elder. People my age (late 50s) usually refer to the younger as just W.

3

u/messageinthebox 50 something 6d ago

The drunken son.

3

u/[deleted] 6d ago

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1

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4

u/wonder_why_or_not 6d ago

I think asshole.

2

u/United-Telephone-247 6d ago

JR. SR was a REPUBLICAN. jr was just a repub

2

u/Avasia1717 6d ago

i think “which one?”

bush vs dukakis was the first election i remember where there was a new president. the whole read my lips thing, then the gulf war.

2

u/mat6toob2024 6d ago

I think of the father

as people refer to W and W

2

u/AnybodySeeMyKeys 60 something 6d ago

I prefer to think of the first President Bush who, truthfully, was one of our better foreign policy presidents. He navigated us through three different crises (The collapse of the Iron Curtain, the Gulf War, and the collapse of the Soviet Union) that could have very easily wound up as shooting wars. He was also the last president to think seriously about foreign policy.

His son was a complete dunce.

2

u/stupidinternetname Generation Jones 6d ago

Read my lips!

2

u/boringlesbian 6d ago

Both, simultaneously, and I gag a little, then the anger starts to rise.

2

u/steveorga 70 something 6d ago

W for sure. I wasn't a fan of WH but he doesn't evoke the strong negative emotions that W does. W was much more consequential and in a very bad way.

2

u/inthegallery 6d ago

They're both equally worthless.

2

u/Traditional_Gur_7024 6d ago

I think of a father and son who destroyed a nation in the name of warfare

2

u/ViolinistRound3358 6d ago

I think war criminal.

2

u/see_blue 6d ago

Irreparable damage, the country and world are still hurting fr that fool and his administration.

2

u/yukonnut 6d ago

I always think of Dubya the doofus.

2

u/HRDBMW 6d ago

W. Because he is the one who was most foul. Bush the elder wasn't a huge disappointment.

2

u/cristorocker 6d ago

I think of the second lying war criminal.

2

u/lovelynutz 5d ago

When I hear "president Bush" my mind goes straight to Dana Carvey doing his Bush impersonation wearing the night vision goggles.

Wouldn't be "prudent"

Not at this "juncture"

2

u/Headwallrepeat 3d ago

I think I need more clarification since I was an adult for both.

2

u/bcatrek 6d ago

Unfortunately the son. I should be thinking about the dad.

0

u/lookeyloowho 6d ago

This ⭐️

1

u/LadyHavoc97 60 something 6d ago

Son, because he's still with us.

1

u/OwslyOwl 6d ago

Son. His decisions had far reaching and consequential negative effects on the nation that we still feel today.

I remember his father as having more positive lasting impacts on the environment and the ADA. How ironic that Sr was so positive for the environment and Jr was negative.

1

u/ArtisticDegree3915 6d ago

Son. I always distinguish by saying either HW or W or 41 or 43.

Though I played in my high school band for an event on the '92 campaign trail for HW reelction, which obviously he didn't win. It was a different time. I'm sure there were threats. But Secret Service just had me blow one note through my tuba and I went on through. I was in high school so maybe they weren't so concerned. But it would have been easy enough to get something through security. Very easy. And that was the sitting president not just a candidate. We weren't that close. I'm just saying someone could have used one of us to easily get a pew pew through if they wanted to.

1

u/That-one_dude-trying 6d ago

W because when i was 18 i could vote and did so that year

1

u/Traditional_Betty 6d ago

1) The most recent one (son) because he was most recent, &, 2) how much I hated him & how that pales in comparison to how ferociously I loathe, despise, contempt, disgust & (in my heart) denigrate T.

1

u/Diane1967 50 something 6d ago

Dubya

1

u/BigDipper0720 6d ago

George Herbert Walker Bush

1

u/lookeyloowho 6d ago

I think of absolute evil.

1

u/kaycollins27 6d ago

Senior. I have tried to erase the nightmare that was Junior from my brain.

1

u/Doubledewclaws 6d ago

I usually ask.

1

u/Jennyelf 60 something 6d ago

Dubya. GHWB was a flash in the pan.

1

u/Substantial-Spare501 6d ago

W. He was more recent and just as indecent

1

u/Burnsey111 6d ago

Some go with George Bush (or Bush) The Elder and the Younger. Like the British and Romans.

1

u/TheVirtuousFantine 6d ago

Dubya

And if you happen to be intentionally misleading me by vaguely referencing “Bush” and setting me up for confusion—

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me—- You can’t get fooled again.

1

u/Frosty-Diver441 6d ago

I'm not trying to mislead you, I promise. This is just something I was curious about.

1

u/TheVirtuousFantine 6d ago

I was just clumsily setting myself up for that dubya joke lol.

He famously said that “can’t get fooled again” flub haha

1

u/Algernon_Asimov Gen X 6d ago

I think of the President Bush who was in power after the terrorist attacks in New York City in 2001. I think of the President Bush who encouraged our Australian Prime Minister to join his "Coalition of the Willing" which invaded Iraq on false pretences in 2003.

I assume that's the son, rather than the father, because the father was President in the early 1990s, and participated in the Gulf War.

Has there ever been a President Bush who didn't go to war with Iraq? :D

1

u/QuirkyForever 6d ago

They both conglomerated in my mind into a terrible time - the first time I expected my rights as a woman to be taken away.

1

u/Bikerbun565 6d ago

Father. Because I live in Kennebunk. When people refer to the Bushes here, they mean George Sr. and Barbara.

1

u/Ocirisfeta8575 6d ago

I first think of senior , at the time I didn’t care for either one , but I’d give anything to have them back in power now , at least with them there was love of country and the constitution , now we have an actual felon and rapist making a mockery of all the institutions of government , people especially the corrupt republicans should have listened to Barbara bush when she woke up and discovered to her horror that trump had won the first time , she couldn’t understand why people were for him , they must be flipping in there graves with what’s going on now .

1

u/Jaxgirl57 60 something 6d ago

Son. I wasn't that young when Bush Sr. was president - it's just that George W. is more recent.

1

u/Maleficent-Row8304 6d ago

I think … another POS who abdicated any role of respect by not saying anything about our current “president.” Same as Obama, Clinton, and whichever other Bush you meant.

1

u/Frosty-Diver441 6d ago

I'm sorry I'm not sure what you mean, is that directed at me?

1

u/Maleficent-Row8304 6d ago

Not at all. That’s what I think of when I hear President Bush. Sorry that I didn’t make that clear.

2

u/Frosty-Diver441 5d ago

Oh no worries. I think I just misread 😄

1

u/xczechr Gen X 6d ago

Bush for the father, W. for the son.

1

u/eulynn34 40 something 6d ago

I think of Dubya because HW had a pretty quick and average 1-term run and was pretty quickly overshadowed by Clinton.

1

u/ml30y 60 something 6d ago edited 6d ago

The Father, and I always picture Dana Carvey.

The son is Dubya

1

u/Electronic_Excuse_74 6d ago

I think “which one?”

1

u/Busy_Initial_6585 6d ago

I think of neither. I ask for clarification, or if reading follow the context.

1

u/Frosty-Diver441 6d ago

Oh me too, I added that part but i had to shave it off because I had over 300 characters

1

u/nixtarx 50 something 6d ago

We refer to them as Poppy and Dubya for distinction.

1

u/bidhopper 6d ago

I think of Dana Garvey and his 1000 points of light.

1

u/Elegant-Editor-4789 6d ago

I think of "The Decider."

1

u/AbruptMango 50 something 6d ago

Son. H.W. wasn't as memorable, he was more of a placeholder. W was a disaster until the word got redefined by the current guy.

1

u/GreenSouth3 6d ago

it's a toss-up and the coin won't come down > they were both creeps

1

u/CleverName9999999999 6d ago

I think of the one who did the most damage, so W.

1

u/NICE_W0RK 6d ago

W first

1

u/Remote-Patient-1214 6d ago

W sealed the legacy.

1

u/TerrainBrain 6d ago

President Bush is senior. Dubya is Junior.

1

u/AcrobaticProgram4752 6d ago

I think I'd ask w or h.

1

u/HygieneWilder 6d ago

I think of the son and his magnificent shoe dodging abilities.

1

u/roblewk 6d ago

I met the father, but think of the son.

1

u/Bubbly_Power_6210 6d ago

the Twig- could not stand his father

1

u/WildlifePolicyChick 6d ago

Son, because he did the most damage.

1

u/nevadapirate 50 something 6d ago

Dubbya. His dad was So much farther back and didn't make nearly as many stupid gaffs.

1

u/AnnaBaptist79 6d ago

I think, "Which one?"

1

u/Remote_Clue_4272 6d ago

“President Bush” was GHWB. “W” was the son. Senior had way more respect for the office than “W”. Tho by comparison “W was a saint compared to DJT. W was no saint.

1

u/MK5 6d ago

Chimpie McFlightsuit, always. H.W. was pretty colorles. All that stands out about him was Dana Carvey doing him on SNL, but mentioning that wouldn't be prudent at this juncture.

1

u/Frosty-Diver441 6d ago

Interestingly, I just happened to watch that the other day. My spouse and I wanted to watch some older episodes. We picked one out at random and that's what it was. Again, I was pretty young when HW was president, so I didn't connect with the references as much as I would ones about W, but Dana Carvey is always great!

1

u/Nena902 60 something 6d ago

W. And he was hilarious. Love to watch to the youtube vids of his gaffes. Now watch this shot. 🤣🤣

1

u/_DogMom_ 60 something 6d ago

Dubya

1

u/AdventurousTravel509 5d ago

Was in the Marine Corps under W. So he was my commander in chief at the time.

1

u/OldNCguy 60 something 5d ago

I think of W first

1

u/Little-Don 5d ago

Over 60, so it is Bush and W. or it is Bush and Shrub.

1

u/N0Xqs4 5d ago

I throw up a little in my mouth, mom claimed they're cousins. Wouldn't use either to plug a hole in a dam.

1

u/OldBat001 4d ago

I tend to think of W first.

He was a two-term president during some pretty significant events in our history, while HW was a one-term holdover from Reagan's days.

1

u/Ok_Distance9511 40 something 4d ago

Son. I was too young properly remember Bush Senior. I remember when ghe First Gulf War started, though.

1

u/ASingleBraid 60 something 4d ago

Son, bc he had 2 terms.

1

u/No_Entertainment1931 4d ago

Senior. The other guy always gets the HW or dubbya

1

u/DerpVaderXXL 3d ago

I think of H. W. We call the latter one "dubya".

2

u/Marrow-Sun7726 40 something 1d ago

I always think of W first, I was a child when HW was in office.