he entered politics in the 1960s, first running for the us senate in 1964, but lost the election. in 1966, he ran for the house of representatives and won. five years later, in 1971, president richard nixon appointed bush to become the ambassador of the united nations, then chairman of the republican national committee in 1973. in 1974, president gerald ford appointed him as chief of the liaison office to the people's republic of china, then in 1976 bush became the director of central intelligence. in 1980, bush ran for president, but lost the nomination to ronald reagan. however, reagan chose bush to be his vice presidential running mate.