“Electoral Brawlage” examines the first election and inaugural address of each U.S. president from Washington to Trump. This project will conclude in December 2026.
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As the Reagan presidency came to a close, there was basically no question among Republicans as to who would succeed him: continuity was king, and George H.W. Bush had been in office for the entire ride. He faced a modest challenge from Bob Dole (Senator, Kansas), who ran in the ‘76 primary and would run yet again in the 90s. Dole won Iowa, Bush won New Hampshire, and then the rest of it was downhill. It makes perfect sense for a nationwide primary to always be decided by two states. Just as the Founders drew it up, yes yes. For his V.P., Bush picked Dan Quayle, a Senator from Indiana.
On the Democrat side they had a real problem, running against a popular incumbent party coming off two huge presidential victories. Some familiar faces threw their hats into the ring, including Dick Gephardt (Representative, Missouri) and Al Gore (Senator, Tennessee.) The winner in the end was Michael Dukakis, governor of Massachusetts, and he selected Texas senator Lloyd Bentsen as his running mate.
The Campaign
Between the party conventions and the debates, the campaign generated some quotable lines that circulated throughout subsequent cycles and even became memes unto themselves. At the RNC, Bush read a line put to him by speechwriter Peggy Noonan:
“My opponent won’t rule out raising taxes. But I will. And the Congress will push me to raise taxes and I’ll say no. And they’ll push, and I’ll say no, and they’ll push again, and I’ll say, to them, ‘Read my lips: no new taxes.’”
Remember that one for next week. It’ll come back to bite him in 1992.
The vice presidential debate between Quayle and Bentsen also gave us a classic zinger, when Quayle invoked the name of John F. Kennedy, who had been a colleague of Bentsen’s back in the 50s. Since a Vice President had a good chance of eventually becoming president, voters were hesitant about Quayle’s lack of experience, and he replied that he had as much experience as JFK had when he ran in 1960.
Senator, I served with Jack Kennedy. I knew Jack Kennedy. Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy.
So if you’ve heard either of those lines, or a variation thereon, they came from this election. It also gave us this picture, which was meant to make Dukakis look cool, but just highlighted his lack of size (and thus aura.)
The General
The election wasn’t close, but it wasn’t a Reaganesque bloodbath either. Dukakis performed far better than Mondale, Carter, or McGovern. Still, he couldn’t close the gap on Bush.
That one rando in West Virginia transposed Dukakis and Bentsen on the ballot, so Bentsen got a single Electoral vote for president. Why did this happen? Because she was a woman, and she opposed the Electoral College. “The Electors don’t have to vote for the popular vote winner! Don’t you see what a problem that is? It’s dangerous! Anyone could vote for someone else! Let’s prove it by doing it!” She tried to persuade the other Electors to do it and they refused to participate in a “faithless vote.” They were probably men but I couldn’t confirm this.
What a stupid protest. It’s a system that works when people follow the rules. “Oh look this gun can hurt anyone if I just point it at them and pull the trigger!” Right, so don’t do that, you doofus. If you’re not worthy of the responsibility then you should never be trusted with handling it. There’s an entire universe of Spider-Man movies about this and I know you’ve seen them. Quit goofing off with the levers of power.
(This is the exact thing that protesters would try to use to force Hillary Clinton in over the actual 2016 election winner, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves.)
Anyways: Bush got 40 states, 426 EVs, and 53.4% of the popular vote (pointless.) Dukakis got made fun of because ha ha smol.
The Speech
Bush was inaugurated on January 20th, 1989. Here’s his speech. It was almost exactly 200 years since George Washington first took that Oath of Office (he did so in March, that date was changed with the 20th Amendment.)
Bush acknowledged this fact, then opened with a prayer, which is awesome and every president should 1) be a faithful Christian and 2) do this. Don’t get mad, get saved.
He cited America’s peace and prosperity and wanted to look at ways to build on and improve it. The Cold War was over and a “new breeze” was in the air. The 90s as a decade would be full of promise and America had a duty, much like a West Virginia elector, not to squander that duty.
He warns against materialism and instead encourages the nation to focus on their spiritual well-being, and taking care of their neighbor. The elders had wisdom, the youth had energy, and the Boomers had come of age. Together they could harness that and focus it into something good.
He also wanted unity in purpose between the Article 1 and 2 branches of the Constitution; the presidency was solidly red, but Congress was solidly blue. That would come back to bite him on that “read my lips” pledge in a few years.
Overall it was a good and inspiring speech, with an especial focus on responsibility as citizens. Things are good, they’ll stay good if we’re good. Check out the speech.
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