Why Dana Carvey's President George H.W. Bush remains one of the best-ever impressions

The Atlantic

Carvey's SNL take on the 41st president of the United States (who died Friday at age 94) may be tame by today's standards, but it seized on the little details to deliver incisive satire, according to David Sims. "Carvey skewered Bush with the little details, making him an eye-roll-worthy ’80s dad who claimed to have all the answers to the country’s problems but largely obsessed over what was or wasn’t 'prudent,' tossing in a few vague hand gestures," says Sims, adding: "Carvey’s approach with Bush was more focused, and ultimately more devastating. The impression remains my favorite of SNL’s presidents because of how Carvey’s work relied not just on easy catchphrases, but also on the darkly funny scripts he was reading, which epitomized the bland malevolence of American politics in the 1980s and early ’90s."