32. THE FIFTH MAN PART FOUR
On 20 January 1989 George Bush was sworn in as President on the
West Front of the Capitol. As one of his first measures he nominated
Brent Scowcroft as his National Security Adviser and James Baker as
Secretary of State. Scowcroft was Bush’s alter ego and was cautious and
self-effacing.^1 The New York Times wittily described him as ‘the White
House buddy system’s odd-man-in’.^2 Nearly as important to Bush was
Secretary Baker, who was the only truly prominent figure to survive
the new President’s cull of the Reagan administration. Stolid and
cautious, Baker was no keener on the limelight than Scowcroft. Bush,
Baker and Scowcroft had been friends for a long time, and throughout
the time that Bush was in office they had no serious disagreement
about how they should handle the USSR.
The new President was better qualified for the highest office than
anyone in living memory. Born in Massachusetts in 1924, he won a
place at Yale University but chose to volunteer for active military ser-
vice at the age of eighteen. He was a lanky young fellow with a liking
for sport. He trained as an aviator and fought in the Battle of the
Philippines. He was shot down in 1944 – he bailed out just in time and
was rescued from an inflated raft. His time in the armed forces left
an imprint on his sense of humour as well as his patriotism, and he
always liked to tell jokes – often of a risqué nature if women were not
present – to lighten the atmosphere. After the war he married Barbara
Pierce and started a family. They had six children. He also took up his
Yale scholarship and captained its baseball team. After graduation he
entered the oil industry, mainly in Texas, and made a substantial
fortune. He always intended to tread in the political footsteps of
his father, Senator Prescott Bush, and gained election to Congress in
- He was the first Republican to represent Houston. He quickly
came to the attention of President Nixon, who persuaded him to stand
for the Senate in 1970. Despite this support, he lost the election. Nixon