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Neil Mallon Bush (born January 22, 1955 in Midland, Texas) is the son of former President George Herbert Walker Bush and Barbara Bush (Barbara Lane Pierce) and younger brother of President George Walker Bush and Governor Jeb Bush. He is a businessman based in Texas.
Early years
Neil Bush was named after a good friend of the family, Henry Neil Mallon, chairman of Dresser Industries, George Herbert Walker Bush's employer (Mallon had himself been hired by George Herbert Walker, George Bush's grandfather). As a child Bush spent some summers and holidays at his family's estate in Maine, the Bush Compound. Bush attended high school at the exclusive private St. Albans School in Washington, DC. He received his BA in Economics from Tulane University and his MBA from Tulane in 1979.
Silverado S&L
He was on the board of directors of Silverado Savings and Loan during the 1980s. His father was Vice President at the time, so Bush's role was a focal point of publicity. The savings and loan crisis cost the taxpayers billions of dollars, of which Silverado's failure accounted for roughly $1 billion. There was considerable criticism of Bush's role in the failure of the company. In the end Bush was not indicted, and no criminal charges were pressed against him. However a civil action was brought against him and the other Silverado directors by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and was eventually settled out of court. Bush was fined $50,000 as a consequence of his actions and he was restricted from undertaking future banking activity.
Marriage and Divorce
Bush and his former wife, Sharon Smith, were married for 23 years. They divorced in April 2003, amid a dispute with Maria and Robert Andrews. Robert Andrews sued Sharon in September 2003 for defamation after Sharon alleged that Neil was the father of the Andrews' two-year-old son. Bush's divorce deposition gained public attention when he admitted to having had sexual encounters with women in Thailand. . Neil and Sharon are the parents of three children; Lauren Bush (a model), Pierce, and Ashley. The divorce proceedings gained public attention. At various times Sharon Bush publicly spoke of her fear of retribution by Neil Bush and the Bush Family. At other times she praised Barbara and George Bush's understanding. One of these conversations with author Kitty Kelley was witnessed by a third party. Bush was remarried in Houston, Texas on March 6, 2004 to Maria Andrews. Andrews spent time volunteering with charitable organizations with Neil's mother, Barbara Bush.
Ignite!
In 1999 Bush cofounded an educational-software company, Ignite!, which uses multiple intelligence methods to provide varying types of content to appeal to multiple learning styles.
Ignite!'s non-traditional approach has garnered praise by many of the users to which it is targeted. A typical situation is that of Mendez Middle School in Austin, Texas. After the company's Early American History program was introduced to classrooms of economically disadvantaged students at the school, scores on the social studies portion of the Texas TAAS test rose 27 points. Although scores had remained flat the three years prior to the addition of Ignite!'s program, a formal scientific study of the school has not yet been concluded.
In 2002, Bush received a mixed response when he spoke of education while at Whitney High School (a school for gifted students in Cerritos, California). Among the points of his speech, he opined: "We create these prisonlike environments, then we take our hunter-warrior types and label them attention-deficit disordered and put them on drugs." (Bush has often advocated for less use of ritalin and other mind-altering drugs on children) He added that: "Ignite! is designed to make learning fun for "hunter-warrior" kids who don't like reading."
Other Business Engagements
Bush accepted a contract that paid $2 million dollars in stock over five years to work for Grace Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp., a firm backed by Jiang Mianheng, the son of former Chinese President Jiang Zemin.
Speaking Engagements
Bush has often been invited to speak to audiences overseas, often in the Middle East. Several times Neil Bush's pronouncements on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict have brought him controversy as well as occasional rebuke from the Bush administration.
In Asia, Neil Bush accompanied Sun Myung Moon on his world peace tour .
Scientology
In 2002, Bush and Scientologist activist Lisa Marie Presley testified together before a hearing of the United States Congress to speak out against medicating children for mental disorders, a practice which is forsworn by the Church of Scientology. Bush's Scientology connections were questioned by the media, as in this UPI report: "While it is unclear why Neil Bush would align himself with the Church of Scientology, it is very clear that their agenda has little to do with helping millions who experience an ongoing illness get the help they need." His Ignite! "education tech" has been noted by some to be aligned with Scientology, the CCHR, and L.Ron Hubbard's beliefs regarding learning.
Trivia
Neil Bush was scheduled to have dinner with Scott Hinckley on March the 31st, 1981 - the day that then President Reagan was shot by Scott's younger brother John Hinckley, Jr. (the Hinckley Family and the Bush family were both involved in the energy industry). Additionally, the Bush family and Hinckley family are related, both having descended from Thomas Hinckley (born 19 Mar 1619, Hawkhurst, Kent, England; died 25 Apr 1706, Barnstable, MA) who was Governor of Plymouth Colony from 1658-1681.
See also
External links
- Excerpt from "George Bush--the unauthorized biography"
- The Relatively Charmed Life Of Neil Bush (Washington Post)
- Ignite! Learning Webpage
- Neil Bush's political donations