51 TIME Magazine Covers Featuring a Bush

2 minute read

Correction appended, March 12, 2015

Stick around American politics long enough, and your story becomes the country’s. That’s one lesson from the longevity of the Bush family.

Though not every Bush who ventured into politics made the cover of TIME — sorry, Prescott Bush — the clan, including George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush and some Barbara Bush along the way, has garnered dozens of covers over the years. (For the record, a complete gallery of the Clinton clan’s covers would be 54 slides long.) Flip through the images and you’ll notice a lot more than the years passing. The Bush story traces the fall of Nixon, the end of the Cold War, the contested 2000 election, the tragedy of Sept. 11, the war in Iraq. It is, essentially, a record of a few decades of American history.

George H. W. Bush, Jeb and George W. from 1970.George Bush Presidential Library and Museum/Corbis

Now Jeb Bush, who had so far only made one cover cameo (Aug. 7, 2000), may be on the verge of adding another chapter to political history. No matter what happens in 2016, he’s got a good start: this week, he’s on the cover of TIME.

Correction: The original version of this story misstated the number of times a Clinton had been featured on the cover of TIME. It was 54, as of March 5, 2015.

Oct. 26, 1970, cover of TIME
George H.W. Bush, pictured during his run for a Texas Senate seat, on the Oct. 26, 1970, cover of TIMECover Credit: MORT DRUCKER
Nov. 17, 1975, cover of TIME
George H.W. Bush, pictured as part of Gerald Ford's team, on the Nov. 17, 1975, cover of TIME
Jul. 28, 1980, cover of TIME
Ronald Reagan & George H.W. Bush on the Jul. 28, 1980, cover of TIMECover Credit: NEIL LEIFER
Aug. 27, 1984, cover of TIME
Ronald Reagan & George H.W. Bush on the Aug. 27, 1984, cover of TIMECover Credit: DIRCK HALSTEAD
Oct. 22, 1984, cover of TIME
George H.W. Bush, top left, with Geraldine Ferraro, Walter Mondale and Ronald Reagan, on the Oct. 22, 1984, cover of TIMETIME
Feb. 29, 1988, cover of TIME
George H.W. Bush, pictured among other presidential contenders, on the Feb. 29, 1988, cover of TIMETIME
Mar. 21, 1988, cover of TIME
George H.W. Bush on the Mar. 21, 1988, cover of TIMECover Credit: DANIEL SCHWARTZ
Aug. 22, 1988, cover of TIME
George H.W. Bush on the Aug. 22, 1988, cover of TIMECover Credit: WILLIAM COUPON
Aug. 29, 1988, cover of TIME
George H.W. Bush & Dan Quayle on the Aug. 29, 1988, cover of TIMECover Credit: DENNIS BRACK
Nov. 21, 1988, cover of TIME
George H.W. Bush on the Nov. 21, 1988, cover of TIMECover Credit: CYNTHIA JOHNSON
Dec. 19, 1988, cover of TIME
George H.W. Bush, with Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev, on the Dec. 19, 1988, cover of TIMECover Credit: DIRCK HALSTEAD
Jan. 23, 1989, cover of TIME
Barbara Bush on the Jan. 23, 1989, cover of TIMECover Credit: GREGORY HEISLER
Jan. 30, 1989, cover of TIME
George H.W. Bush on the Jan. 30, 1989, cover of TIMECover Credit: DIRCK HALSTEAD
Aug. 21, 1989, cover of TIME
George H.W. Bush on the Aug. 21, 1989, cover of TIMETIME
Dec. 11, 1989, cover of TIME
George H.W. Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev on the Dec. 11, 1989, cover of TIMECover Credit: DIANA WALKER
Aug. 20, 1990, cover of TIME
Saddam Hussein and George H.W. Bush on the Aug. 20, 1990, cover of TIMECover Credit: DIRCK HALSTEAD (BUSH); THOMAS HARTWELL (SADDAM)
Jan. 7, 1991, cover of TIME
George H.W. Bush, Men of the Year, on the Jan. 7, 1991, cover of TIMECover Credit: GREGORY HEISLER
May 20, 1991, cover of TIME
George H.W. Bush, with possible vice-presidential candidates, on the May 20, 1991, cover of TIMECover Credit: COMPUTER-ALTERED STATE OF THE UNION PHOTO BY DIANA WALKER
Aug. 24, 1992, cover of TIME
George H.W. Bush on the Aug. 24, 1992, cover of TIMECover Credit: WILLIAM COUPON
Oct. 12, 1992, cover of TIME
George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and H. Ross Perot on the Oct. 12, 1992, cover of TIMECover Credit: DIANA WALKER, STEVE LISS, & SHELLY KATZ-BLACK STAR
Oct. 19, 1992, cover of TIME
Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush on the Oct. 19, 1992, cover of TIMECover Credit: CYNTHIA JOHNSON
June 21, 1999, cover of TIME
George W. Bush on the June 21, 1999, cover of TIMETIME
Jan. 31, 2000, cover of TIME
Bush, Gore, McCain & Bradley on the Jan. 31, 2000, cover of TIMETIME
Feb. 28, 2000, cover of TIME
George W. Bush on the Feb. 28, 2000, cover of TIMETIME
Aug. 7, 2000, cover of TIME
The 'Bush Dynasty' on the Aug. 7, 2000, cover of TIMETIME
Nov. 6, 2000, cover of TIME
George W. Bush & Al Gore on the Nov. 6, 2000, cover of TIMECover Credit: BROOKS KRAFT (BUSH) / CORBIS SYGMA; DIANA WALKER (GORE)
Nov. 20, 2000, cover of TIME
George W. Bush & Al Gore on the Nov. 20, 2000, cover of TIMETIME
Nov. 27, 2000, cover of TIME
George W. Bush & Al Gore on the Nov. 27, 2000, cover of TIMETIME
Dec. 4, 2000, cover of TIME
George W. Bush & Al Gore on the Dec. 4, 2000, cover of TIMETIME
Dec. 25, 2000, cover of TIME
George W. Bush, Person of the Year, on the Dec. 25, 2000, cover of TIMETIME
June 4, 2001, cover of TIME
George W. Bush on the June 4, 2001, cover of TIMETIME
Sept. 24, 2001, cover of TIME
George W. Bush on the Sept. 24, 2001, cover of TIMECover Credit: DOUG MILLS
Nov. 5, 2001, cover of TIME
George W. Bush on the Nov. 5, 2001, cover of TIMECover Credit: BROOKS KRAFT - GAMMA
June 17, 2002, cover of TIME
George W. Bush on the June 17, 2002, cover of TIMETIME
Nov. 18, 2002, cover of TIME
George W. Bush & Karl Rove on the Nov. 18, 2002, cover of TIMECover Credit: BROOKS KRAFT
Mar. 3, 2003, cover of TIME
George W. Bush on the Mar. 3, 2003, cover of TIMETIME
Jul. 21, 2003, cover of TIME
George W. Bush on the Jul. 21, 2003, cover of TIMECover Credit: BROOKS KRAFT
Oct. 6, 2003, cover of TIME
George W. Bush on the Oct. 6, 2003, cover of TIMECover Credit: BROOKS KRAFT
Dec. 1, 2003, cover of TIME
George W. Bush on the Dec. 1, 2003, cover of TIMECover Credit: BROOKS KRAFT
Feb. 16, 2004, cover of TIME
George W. Bush on the Feb. 16, 2004, cover of TIMECover Credit: ALEX WONG
May 24, 2004, cover of TIME
George W. Bush on the May 24, 2004, cover of TIMECover Credit: ARTHUR HOCHSTEIN
Sept. 6, 2004, cover of TIME
George W. Bush (and Laura Bush, top right) on the Sept. 6, 2004, cover of TIMETIME
Oct. 18, 2004, cover of TIME
George W. Bush and John Kerry on the Oct. 18, 2004, cover of TIMETIME
Nov. 1, 2004, cover of TIME
John Kerry and George W. Bush on the Nov. 1, 2004, cover of TIMETIME
Nov. 15, 2004, cover of TIME
George W. Bush on the Nov. 15, 2004, cover of TIMETIME
Dec. 27, 2004, cover of TIME
President George W. Bush, Person Of The Year, on the Dec. 27, 2004, cover of TIMECover Credit: DANIEL ADEL
Feb. 27, 2006, cover of TIME
Dick Cheney and George W. Bush on the Feb. 27, 2006, cover of TIMECover Credit: BROOKS KRAFT / CORBIS FOR TIME
Nov. 6, 2006, cover of TIME
George W. Bush on the Nov. 6, 2006, cover of TIMECover Credit: PHOTOGRAPH BY RON EDMONDS-AP
Aug. 3, 2009, cover of TIME
Dick Cheney and George W. Bush on the Aug. 3, 2009, cover of TIMECover Credit: PHOTOGRAPH BY LUKE FRAZZA/AFP/GETTY. INSETS, FROM LEFT: CBS/LANDOV; TOM GRILL/GETTY.
Apr. 23, 2012, cover of TIME
George W. Bush, far left, with Barack Obama and Bill Clinton on the Apr. 23, 2012, cover of TIMECover Credit: PHOTOGRAPH BY BROOKS KRAFT / CORBIS FOR TIME
20150316-Bush-Gallery
George H.W. Bush, Jeb Bush and George W. Bush on the Mar. 16, 2015, cover of TIMECover Credit: George Bush Presidential Library and Museum/Corbis

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Write to Lily Rothman at lily.rothman@time.com