George H. W. Bush vomiting incident

George H.W. Bush began 1992 with a 12-day trade oriented trip to Asia and the Pacific to discuss readjusting the United States economic relations and policies to represent the end of the Cold War.[1] On January 8, 1992, Bush played a doubles tennis match with the Emperor of Japan Akihito and his son the Crown Prince Naruhito. The Emperor and Crown Prince beat Bush and his partner, a former U.S. ambassador to Japan.[2] That evening, Bush attended a state event for 135 diplomats held at the Japanese Prime Minister's residence. The president, scheduled to give remarks at the dinner, fainted in his chair between the second and third courses and vomited in the lap of the Prime Minister. Barbara Bush rushed to her husband and held a napkin to his mouth until the Secret Service took over. Bush, on the ground, quipped to his personal physician, Dr. Burton Lee, "Roll me under the table until the dinner's over." [3] The president regained consciousness, assured the dinner guests that it was just the flu, and exited the event for the evening. First Lady Barbara Bush gave a speech following dinner in place of the president:

I can't explain what happened to George because it never happened before. But I'm beginning to think it's the Ambassador's fault. [Laughter] He and George played the Emperor and the Crown Prince in tennis today, and they were badly beaten. And we Bushes aren't used to that.[2]

The following day, January 9th, 1992, the president's spokesman, Marlin Fitzwater, assured the public that Mr. Bush had a common intestinal flu and insisted he was feeling fine.[4] That afternoon, the President held a news conference with the Japanese Prime Minister at the Akasaka Palace. [5]

The incident was widely reported,[4] coming just weeks before the New Hampshire Primary, and quickly became fodder for the nation's comedians. Footage of the President vomiting was broadcast on the ABC network. The incident was parodied by Saturday Night Live[3] with a mock documentary featuring Barbara Bush trying to escape by crawling across the table.[6]

Shortly after the incident, an Idaho man, James Edward Smith, called CNN posing as the president's physician and claimed that Bush had died. A CNN employee entered the information into a centralized computer used by both CNN and sister network CNN Headline News, and Headline News nearly aired it before it could be verified. Smith was subsequently questioned by the Secret Service and hospitalized at a private mental health facility for evaluation.[7]

In Japan, even several years later, Bush was remembered for this event.[8] According to the Encyclopedia of political communication, "The incident caused a wave of late night television jokes and ridicule in the international community, even coining Busshu-suru (ブッシュする[9]) which literally means 'to do the Bush thing'."[10]

In 1993, the incident was spoofed in the comedy film Hot Shots! Part Deux.[11] According to a 2007 listicle published by USA Today, the incident was one of the top "25 memorable public meltdowns that had us talking and laughing or cringing over the past quarter-century."[12]

The incident was later mentioned by Hank Hill in the "Pilot" episode of the TV series "King Of The Hill", in which he states that "Detroit hadn't felt any real pride since George Bush visited Japan and vomited on their auto-executives." It was also briefly referenced in Season 7, Episode 13 of The Simpsons in which George Bush moves next door to the family. Whilst strangling Homer, he remarks "I'll ruin you like a Japanese Banquet!"

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