• Contact Us
  • Events calendar
Entering Swellesley
Pinnacle, Wellesley

The Swellesley Report

More than you really want to know about Wellesley, Mass.

  • Advertise
  • Contribute
  • Eat
  • Wellesley Square
  • School
  • Top 10 things to do
  • Embracing diversity
  • Charities/Community
  • Arts
  • Camp
  • Kids
  • Events
  • About us
  • Subscribe
  • Natick Report
  • COVID-19
  • Letters to the Editor
Needham Bank, Wellesley
Boston Sports Institute, Wellesley

George H.W. Bush visited Wellesley in 1980 as a Presidential candidate

December 2, 2018 by Bob Brown Leave a Comment

flag half-staff president bush
Flag flies at half-staff in Wellesley Square for the late George H.W. Bush

Upon the death of former President George H.W. Bush, you might be interested to know he took part in a Republican presidential candidate event in Wellesley back in 1980 at Dana Hall School’s Bardwell Auditorium just days before the Massachusetts Republican Presidential Primary.

Bush, then known more as the ex-CIA chief, was among those participating in what the Wellesley Townsman at the time referred to as “an open house extravaganza as big as the G.O.P. elephant itself.” Other candidates at the event included Ronald Reagan, John Anderson, Harold Stassen, and Phillip Crane. A couple days later, in the March 4 primary, Wellesley voters showed Bush some love — he garnered 41% of the vote, with eventual Republican nominee and President Reagan getting just 19%.

Subscribe to get Swellesley’s daily email newsletter

The Townsman wrote that 1,200 people jammed into the auditorium for the Wellesley Republican Town Committee-sponsored event, and that 600 or so were turned away. During his talk at the event, Bush said he wasn’t in favor a gasoline tax, was in favor of safe nuclear energy, and touched on foreign policy.

Wellesley’s Beth Hinchliffe, a former speechwriter for President Bush, said of his death:  “It’s a sad day, I have many fond memories.  He was such a good man, and reminded me so much of my dad [Robert Hinchliffe].  The two of them were so similar — kind gentlemen with truly good hearts and their own unshakable moral north stars.  Both WWII heroes, born a year apart, and they both died this year, less than five months apart.

hinchliffebush
Robert Hinchliffe and George H.W. Bush at Kennebunkport (photo courtesy of Beth Hinchliffe)

 

First Lady Barbara Bush also visited Wellesley. Mrs. Bush made a celebrated speech at Wellesley College in 1990 that has been turned into a book.

MORE: A brief history of Wellesley and the US Presidency
print
Share

Filed Under: Dana Hall School, Politics

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Linden Square, Wellesley
Write Ahead

Tip us off…

Please send tips, photos, ideas to [email protected]
Wellesley Square ad
Wellesley, Jesamondo
Sexton test prep
Feldman Law
Fay School, Southborough
Wellesley Theatre Project
Admit Fit, Wellesley
image of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
Never miss a post with our free daily Swellesley Report email
Name: 
Your email address:*
Please wait...
Please enter all required fields Click to hide
Correct invalid entries Click to hide

You can subscribe for free, though we appreciate any contribution that supports our independent journalism.

Click here to read our Natick Report

Natick Report

Events Calendar

« January 2021 » loading...
S M T W T F S
27
28
29
30
31
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
1
2
3
4
5
6
Thu 21

Zero Carbon Home webinar

January 21 @ 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Tue 26

Rum tasting and history talk

January 26 @ 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Wed 27

Online history lecture: Petticoat Whalers

January 27 @ 7:30 pm - 8:30 pm
Thu 28

January 28 @ 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm

Most Read Posts

  • Bench at baseball field honors Wellesley's Harry Clark
  • "I Care a Lot" movie that filmed in Wellesley making Netflix debut
  • Pinnacle Residential Properties: the concept of home & roots
  • Wellesley Police log: Rocky relationship between neighbors; laptop goes missing from home; money gone from locker
  • Natick’s boil water order lifted, affected Wellesley residents can drink up

Pages

  • Wellesley coronavirus (COVID-19) updates
  • Wellesley’s 7 official scenic roads
  • Wellesley, Mass., fishing spots
  • Please support our advertisers—they support us
  • Embracing diversity in Wellesley
  • Wellesley, MA Police logs
  • Wellesley Choral Society
  • Wellesley College Notable Alumnae
  • Wellesley College, Wellesley, Mass.
  • Wellesley outdoor art gallery
  • Wellesley restaurants offering take-out and delivery
  • Wellesley, Massachusetts restaurant — Amarin of Thailand

Recent Comments

  • devin on Wellesley Police log: Rocky relationship between neighbors; laptop goes missing from home; money gone from locker
  • Bob Brown on “I Care a Lot” movie that filmed in Wellesley making Netflix debut
  • Juli on “I Care a Lot” movie that filmed in Wellesley making Netflix debut
  • Bob Brown on “I Care a Lot” movie that filmed in Wellesley making Netflix debut
  • Russ Barbour on “I Care a Lot” movie that filmed in Wellesley making Netflix debut

Links we like

  • Great Runs
  • Jack Sanford: Wellesley's Major League Baseball Star
  • Taquitos.net
  • Tech-Tamer
  • The Wellesley Wine Press
  • Universal Hub
  • Wellesley Sports Discussion Facebook Group

Categories

  • 2021 Town Election (4)
  • Animals (377)
  • Antiques (48)
  • Art (534)
  • Beyond Wellesley (28)
  • Books (343)
  • Business (1,357)
  • Camp (1)
  • Careers/jobs (44)
  • Churches (72)
  • Clubs (207)
  • Construction (280)
  • Dump (113)
  • Education (2,880)
    • Babson College (239)
    • Bates Elementary School (14)
    • Dana Hall School (29)
    • Fiske Elementary School (6)
    • Hardy Elementary School (33)
    • Hunnewell Elementary School (34)
    • MassBay (47)
    • Schofield Elementary School (20)
    • Sprague Elementary School (19)
    • St. John School (1)
    • Tenacre Country Day School (9)
    • Upham Elementary School (30)
    • Wellesley College (598)
    • Wellesley High School (884)
    • Wellesley Middle School (195)
  • Embracing diversity (38)
  • Entertainment (722)
  • Environment (666)
  • Fashion (133)
  • Finance (13)
  • Fire (141)
  • Food (327)
  • Fundraising (559)
  • Gardens (136)
  • Government (386)
    • 2020 Town Election (47)
  • Health (737)
    • COVID-19 (134)
  • History (358)
  • Holidays (365)
  • Houses (118)
  • Humor (45)
  • Kids (814)
  • Law (3)
  • Letters to the Editor (5)
  • Media (63)
  • METCO (5)
  • Military (3)
  • Morses Pond (96)
  • Music (543)
  • Natick Report (27)
  • Neighbors (243)
  • Obituaries (58)
  • Outdoors (582)
  • Parenting (60)
  • Police (688)
    • Crime (345)
  • Politics (534)
  • Real estate (286)
  • Religion (127)
  • Restaurants (302)
  • Safety (142)
  • Scouts (1)
  • Senior citizens (107)
  • Shopping (121)
  • Sports (897)
  • STEM (104)
  • Technology (154)
  • Theatre (383)
  • Town Meeting (22)
  • Transportation (209)
  • Travel (11)
  • Uncategorized (1,205)
  • Volunteering (317)
  • Weather (161)
  • Wellesley Election 2019 (21)
  • Wellesley Free Library (258)
  • Wellesley's Wonderful Weekend (5)
RSS Feed Icon Subscribe to RSS Feed

© 2021 The Swellesley Report
Site by Tech-Tamer · Login