I'm not going to belabor this issue. President Bush chose to join the Texas Air National Guard as way to avoid the war in Vietnam. It's possible that a family friend interceded in favor of President Bush's father (also a President Bush, although of course this was before even that), and that President Bush 43 didn't make the call himself.
But there is still a contrast between a man, Senator Kerry, who chooses to join the Navy and requests an assignment on a Swift Boat Patrol (one of the more dangerous jobs in the Navy in Vietnam) and President Bush who joined what Molly Ivin's describes (in Shrub the short but happy political life of George W. Bush) as "a safe haven in Texas Guard Units. The unit that accepted Bush included the son of former Texas senator Lloyd Bentsen, the son of former Texas governor John Connally, and enough rich young men to field a polo league. It also included a few black guardsman - several members of the Dallas Cowboy's football team."
Even if you cut out all the stuff about Senator Kerry's medals and whether or not he earned them, there is still a contrast.
I don't know if President Bush failed to attend to his duties in 1972. I suspect he did; I've not seen any convincing information to suggest that he didn't. And you'd think if such information existed, President Bush would be in a hurry to display it.
And that's all I have to say about that period in President Bush's life.
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