With Bush in Wisconsin
The long awaited call came in the middle of November 1979 while I was a Senior at the University of Arkansas trying to finish up my undergraduate degree. The voice on the other line was George HW Bush—candidate for President of the United States. He was calling to ask me to be in Milwaukee the next day in order to join the campaign as a field representative.
I had first met Mr. Bush the year before while sitting in Chicago O’Hara Airport waiting for a flight to Oshkosh, Wisconsin on Republic Airlines. My uncle, the late Congressman William A. Steiger, had died suddenly of a heart attack at the age of 40 due to complications with diabetes. As I was sitting at the gate, I looked down at a large brief case next to my seat and noticed the name “George HW Bush” inscribed in gold letters. I introduced myself and learned that he was one of the pall bearers at my uncle’s funeral. Both had gone to Congress in 1966 as part of a great freshmen class and had become best friends over the years since. He informed me that my Uncle Bill had been at Kennebunkport, Maine the previous summer and had been part of a strategy group that helped him plan his presidential bid. As we visited more, he let me know that he wanted me to be a part of the campaign later in the fall by going to Wisconsin where my uncle had been involved for many years.
Political involvement was always something that I had been a part of, so with the prospect of working on a presidential campaign, I was eager to join the Bush Team. When I told Mr. Bush that I would prefer to wait three weeks and finish my finals, he said that the campaign really needed me as soon as possible! I loaded up the car and headed to Wisconsin that night.
For the next several months, my job was to help organize the eastern half of the state by recruiting people to get involved in the campaign. A big part of that effort involved setting up speaking engagements for Mr. Bush when he came into the state. On five occasions he flew into one of the major airports where I would pick him up in my small two door, hatchback Honda Accord! That was interesting, since he was at least 6’1” and had to really bend low to get into the passenger bucket seat. But, he never complained and was always very appreciative of the events that I would organize for him—even though we usually only were able to recruit 15-20 people at each meeting.
Even though George Bush had been a Congressman, Ambassador to China, CIA Director, and the Chairman of the Republican Party by 1979, his name recognition was only 3% according to most polls! However, that all changed when he won the Iowa caucus’s in early February of 1980 after having traveled to every county in the state and built an organization of supporters who turned out in mass and boosted his standing by beating Ronald Reagan, the three time presidential front runner! With his picture on the front page of every significant newspaper and magazine, he was now a major contender for the Presidency. The next time he came into Wisconsin he flew into the state in a large commercial aircraft accompanied by about 60 reporters and a cadre of secret service agents. No longer did I have the privilege of just the two of us traveling around the state together where we developed a lifelong friendship.
Reagan ended up winning Wisconsin and Bush went onto become the Vice President later that year. I was offered a job in the White House, but chose to return to Arkansas where I ended up going to work for Sam Walton at Walmart.
The memories of those six months at a fledgling president campaign are forever some of my best of working with and for one of the greatest men of our time. Over the years, I had opportunities to cross paths with George HW Bush. He was always very gracious, kind, and a true gentleman. I was blessed to have known him and to have played a small role in helping him along his political journey.