Hance successfully branded him a carpetbagger. Buoyed by investments from family friends back East, his oil exploration business performed modestly well until prices plummeted in 1981. Two Cincinnati investors gave him a boost by merging their larger company, Spectrum 7, with his. Years later, the same pair would tip him off that the Rangers ballclub was coming up for sale. He put them together with other big money to buy the club from family friend Eddie Chiles in 1989. When the team was sold last year, Bush's original $600,000 investment plus a hefty bonus paid off $14.9 million. Another weight was lifted when Spectrum 7 was bought out by Harken Energy in late 1986, leaving Bush with a handsome chunk of stock and $120,000 consulting contract. His days as a full-time oil man over, Bush moved to Washington as a self-described ``loyalty thermometer'' for his father, overseeing the political hired help in the '88 presidential campaign. His tough manner offended some, but Bush felt he had proven himself to Dad. And the experience turned his own ambitions back toward politics.——— NAME — George W. Bush AGE-BIRTH DATE — 53; July 6, 1946 EDUCATION — B.A. Yale University (1968), MBA Harvard University (1975) EXPERIENCE — Businessman in various industries, primarily oil (1968-1989); General Manager of Texas Rangers baseball team (1989-1994), Texas governor (1995-present) FAMILY — Wife, Laura; Twin daughters QUOTE — ``I am proud to be a compassionate conservative. I know that this approach has been criticized, but why? Is compassion beneath us? Is mercy below us? Should our party be led by someone who boasts of a hard heart?'' ...
