At the time, Bush was well known to the public, but he lacked the things SNL actors might seize on for an impression, such as a twangy accent, a propensity for malapropisms, or a reputation for scandal. Bush wasn’t a strong personality. In SNL’s early days, Chevy Chase handled a similar issue with Gerald Ford by exaggerating that president’s reputation as a klutz (largely based on an incident in which Ford fell down the stairs of Air Force One) and by turning every sketch into a slapstick routine. 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.

“As commander in chief, I am ever cognizant of my authority to launch a full-scale orgy of death there in the desert sands,” Carvey-as-Bush said in a 1990 SNL sketch that aired during the Gulf War. “Probably won’t, but then again, I might.” His Bush was a reedy actuary imbued with the almighty power of American government, someone who might quibble over a minor detail in a speech about a global war coalition. “Seventy-eight countries are contributing to Operation Desert Shield … From New Zealand, socks. Socks ranging in size 6 over here all the way through 12. Now, 6 is small. Twelve, that’s kind of big. Me, I’m a 10 and a half, right in there. Could wear a 10 down here. Wouldn’t be prudent.”

In a 1991 sketch, Carvey’s Bush gave a holiday-season address and tried to assure the American people, through his signature emphatic hand gestures, not to worry about the sluggish economy. “I’m not afraid to say ‘recession.’ Recession! Recession! Heck, I’ll say it all day,” he said. “We’re not in a recession. We’re not even in a downturn here; we’re more in sort of a hovering action, there,” he added, swirling his hands around the desk. Compared with the high-concept, star-laden political sketches of SNL today, it seems tame.

Read: George H. W. Bush and the soft lighting of a president’s legacy

Yet 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. In a 1989 sketch about the war on drugs (mocking Bush’s own controversial address on the matter), Carvey blended the president’s calm, expert attitude with dialogue that suggested he was totally at sea. “We’re gonna whip it with a three-pronged attack. First prong: education. Tell our kids that it’s bad! Second prong: interdiction. Self-explanatory. Third prong: a secret. Secret prong. Not gonna reveal it now, wouldn’t be prudent at this juncture.”