S01E12: The Wall and the Desert, Part 2 (of 2) The Man in the Shadow: Bush, Berlin, and the Gulf War

History Chats with Dr. S. · Jul 25, 2026 · 29m

Episode Title:

The Wall and the Desert, Part II — The Man in the Shadow: Bush, Berlin, and the Gulf War

Episode Description:

For eight years, George H. W. Bush stood in Ronald Reagan’s shadow. He lacked Reagan’s theatrical warmth and commanding rhetoric, but he possessed one of the most extensive résumés of any modern presidential candidate: congressman, ambassador to the United Nations, envoy to China, director of the CIA, and vice president of the United States.

Part II begins with Bush’s campaign for the presidency in 1988, including his promise of a “kinder, gentler nation” and the…