I'm assuming similar steps would apply in Word 20, but I don't have them and don't know. I finally figured out the process for changing the default bullet format and I'm sharing in case anybody else has the same issue. The first line was indented a full inch, while subsequent lines in the bullet point were indented an inch and a half.
Somewhere along the way, the default style for the bulleted list that arises when you click the bullet icon in the toolbar got completely mangled. Changing the default for bulleted lists in Word is neither intuitive nor obvious.