Bush for President White House

Photograph of Bush in front of white house with blue sky. Red background in lower has white text.

After serving as Vice President of the United States to Ronald R. Reagan from 1981 to 1989, George H. W. Bush ran as the Republican candidate for President of the United States in 1988. During the primaries, Bush had been behind in the polls until launching an attack ad against Dole. Within 30 days, Bush’s position rose to first in the polls. One of Bush’s major slogans for his campaign asserted Bush’s desire to not implement any new taxes. Like Reagan, he advocated for lower taxes to stimulate economic growth. On November 8, 1988, George Bush won both the electoral vote and popular vote against Democratic candidate Michael S. Dukakis. Unlike Reagan, after taking his position as President of the United States, Bush was unable to keep his promise to not raise taxes, which was a point that candidates in the next presidential election used against him during their campaigns.