You use Bush the elder (a former VP and he who loves BJ Clinton) in an argument to dispel the case for elevating a candidate to VP to gain an election advantage? Interesting.
Yes, you do suspect correctly about GHWB. I don't care for him as a politician, or as a CIA man, or as a statesman.
My only point was that being VP has rarely helped candidates become president. And fwiw, while I don't personally remember GHWB's presidency, I don't think much of him as a president either.