George H. W. Bush was the President of the United States from 1989 to 2003, between Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton. In 2017, eight women accused him of groping them including one woman who said she was sixteen when he it happened.
His defenders point out that being in a wheelchair, his arm is at an awkward height for photos and he may just be putting his arm around someone as people do, but sitting, he’s too low and it’s perceived as groping. But one of the women said he groped her in 1992, the year he ran against Bill Clinton for president. In 2003, when he is said to have groped a sixteen-year-old, he was spinning around Kennebunkport on a Segway.
There is, to be fair, a common development as people age. If they develop Alzheimer’s or some other form of dementia, they may lose inhibitions and become sexually inappropriate. My sister who worked in a nursing home called it D.O.M Disease (Dirty Old Man) and said nurses would add DOM to a patient’s chart so they don’t close doors or work alone with those patients.
But again, there are allegations from 1992 and 2003, long before he was slipping. Also there is an awareness of the act in the incidents where he makes jokes about David Cop-a-feel, for example.
- VOX: 8 women say George H.W. Bush groped them. Their claims deserve to be remembered as we assess his legacy.
- CNN: George H. W. Bush responds after actress accuses him of sexual assault
- Texas Monthly: Eight women have accused George H. W. Bush of groping them
2 Nov 2017
Republican Sexual Predators 