George H.W. Bush dies at 94

[Rewind]

George H.W. Bush, 41st President of the United States, dies at 94
The Washington Post, Nov 30 2018 11:56 PM

George H.W. Bush, the 41st President of the United States and the father of the 43rd, died today. He was 94. He was a steadfast force on the international stage for decades, from his stint as an envoy to Beijing to his eight years as vice president and his one term as commander in chief from 1989 to 1993. The last veteran of World War II to serve as president, he was a consummate public servant and a statesman who helped guide the nation and the world out of a four-decade Cold War that had carried the threat of nuclear annihilation.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local...c2f_story.html

[Rewind]

Former President George H.W. Bush dies at 94
NPR, Nov 30, 2018 11:55 PM

George H.W. Bush was the definition of establishment success: Yale graduate. Prosperous business career. Forty-first President of the United States. But to one admittedly biased observer, the elder Bush has always been shortchanged. "As a result of him being a one-term president, historians hadn't paid much attention to him," George W. Bush told NPR in a 2014 interview. He called his father "one of the greatest one-term presidents in the nation's history." George Herbert Walker Bush died today at the age of 94. He had been hospitalized for low blood pressure and fatigue in May, a week after arriving in Maine to spend the summer.

http://www.npr.org/2018/11/30/423556...ush-dies-at-94

[Penguin]

This may sound funny but I think what I remember most about Bush is that he said "Read my lips, no new taxes" but after he became president he raised taxes anyway. I think that was part of the reason he did not get re-elected.

[Rewind]

Bush made that promise at the Louisiana Superdome when he accepted the Republican nomination for President. He wound up carrying 40 states. In the mid-1950s, Bush spent time in Louisiana negotiating oil drilling rights for Texas-based Zapata Petroleum Corporation, which he had co-founded in 1953. He formed lasting friendships with many Louisianans. Here are the details:

How George H.W. Bush's relationship to Louisiana was unique among modern Presidents

https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_ro...648ac2207.html

[Rewind]

George H.W. Bush will be buried at his Presidential library in College Station, Texas, next to his wife Barbara, who died in April. Former President Barack Obama released this statement:

"America has lost a patriot and humble servant in George Herbert Walker Bush. While our hearts are heavy today, they are also filled with gratitude. Not merely for the years he spent as our forty-first President but for the more than 70 years he spent in devoted service to the country he loved – from a decorated Naval aviator who nearly gave his life in World War II to Commander-In-Chief of our Armed Forces, with plenty of posts along the way. Ambassador to the United Nations. Director of Central Intelligence. US Envoy to China. Vice President of the United States.

George H.W. Bush's life is a testament to the notion that public service is a noble, joyous calling. And he did tremendous good along the journey. Expanding America's promise to new immigrants and people with disabilities. Reducing the scourge of nuclear weapons and building a broad international coalition to expel a dictator from Kuwait. And when democratic revolutions bloomed across Eastern Europe, it was his steady diplomatic hand that made possible an achievement once thought anything but – ending the Cold War without firing a shot.

It's a legacy of service that may never be matched, even though he'd want all of us to try. What a testament to the qualities that make this country great. Service to others. Commitment to leaving behind something better. Sacrifice in the name of lifting this country closer to its founding ideals. Our thoughts are with the entire Bush family tonight – and all who were inspired by George and Barbara's example."

[Rewind]

Peope magazine chronicles the relationship of George and Barbara Bush, from their first meeting at a dance in 1941 to a marriage that lasted 73 years. If you're wondering what the heck a "meet-cute" is, here is the explanation: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meet_cute

Barbara and George Bush's epic love story: From their storybook meet-cute to final farewell

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/ba...kdqB?ocid=AMZN

[Rewind]

Bush did not attack his political opponents. He did not call his rivals nasty names. He did not criticize America's justice system. He did not demonize immigrants. He did not condemn Muslims and Mexicans. He did not give huge tax cuts to big corporations and the wealthiest Americans. He refused to gloat when the Berlin Wall came down. What a contrast to our current President -- and how nice it would be if someone like George H.W. Bush would run for President in 2020.

George H.W. Bush's letter to Bill Clinton demonstrates former President's civility
CBS News, Dec 1 2018 2:03 PM

Former President George H.W. Bush, who died late Friday, was known for his civility in politics and in his relationships. Bush wrote a letter to incoming President Bill Clinton, who had just defeated him in the 1992 election, in an expression of cordiality to one's political opponents and encouragement to a new President.

Clinton read Bush's letter to him on 60 Minutes Overtime, as he reflected about their friendship: "When I walked into this office just now I felt the same sense of wonder and respect that I felt four years ago. I know you will feel that, too. I wish you great happiness here. I never felt the loneliness some Presidents have described." Bush said being President would be "very tough times" and urged Clinton to not get discouraged by criticism: "You will be our President when you read this note. I wish you well. I wish your family well. Your success now is our country's success. I am rooting hard for you."

Clinton said, "No words of mine or others can better reveal the heart of who he was than those he wrote himself. Given what politics looks like in America and around the world today, it's easy to sigh and say George H.W. Bush belonged to an era that is gone and never coming back — where our opponents are not our enemies, where we are open to different ideas and changing our minds, where facts matter and where our devotion to our children's future leads to honest compromise and shared progress. I know what he would say: 'Nonsense. It's your duty to get that America back.'"

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/george-...ents-civility/

[Rewind]

Heaven is "where I want to go," he said. George H.W. Bush did not fear death, nor did he have any reason to.

'I love you, too': George H.W. Bush's final days
The New York Times, Dec 1 2018

George H.W. Bush had been fading in the last few days. He had not gotten out of bed, he had stopped eating and he was mostly sleeping. For a man who had defied death multiple times over the years, it seemed that the moment might finally be arriving. James A. Baker III, his longtime friend and former secretary of state, arrived at his Houston home on Friday morning to check on him. Bush suddenly grew alert, his eyes wide open. "Where are we going, Bake?" he asked. "We're going to heaven," Baker answered. That’s where I want to go," Bush said. Barely 13 hours later, Bush was dead.

The former President died in his home in a gated community in Houston, surrounded by several friends, members of his family, doctors and a minister. As the end neared on Friday night, his son George W. Bush, the former President, who was at his home in Dallas, was put on the speaker phone to say goodbye. He told him that he had been a "wonderful dad" and that he loved him. "I love you, too," Bush told his son. Those were his last words.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/01/u...last-days.html

[Rewind]

Comparing Bush to Trump is like comparing apples to oranges -- or, more accurately, apples to an orange-skinned, petulant, narcissistic blowhard. Los Angeles Times writer Michael McGough makes the comparison for us. Here is an excerpt:

George H.W. Bush was everything Trump isn't
Michael McGough, Los Angeles Times, Dec 1 2018 12:15 PM

The death of former President George H.W. Bush is inspiring comparisons between his Presidency and that of the current occupant of the White House. That was inevitable, because the traits that defined Bush's one term in office are scandalously absent from the way Donald Trump has approached the highest office in the land.

Bush assumed the Presidency after serving as a member of Congress, as ambassador to the United Nations, as CIA director and as Vice President; Trump was a political amateur (and proud of it). when he was elected. Bush was respectful of the expertise of his advisers and career government officials; Trump disdains them as a sinister "Deep State."

Bush was willing to abandon his "Read my lips: No new taxes" campaign pledge in order to cement a compromise agreement on the budget; Trump is loath to repudiate positions he took on the campaign trail, such as his reckless promise to withdraw from the Iran nuclear agreement.

Bush was an ambitious politician but he also was self-effacing and reluctant to personalize the achievements of his administration. For Trump, everything is about Trump.

https://www.latimes.com/opinion/la-o...htmlstory.html

[Atypical]

To be critical of someone who has recently died is considered by many to be boorish and unnecessary. There seems to be a certain squemishness among many, who prefer to only recite the complimentary.

But, that is a grievous evasion of objective truth and reality, however unpleasant it is, especially about someone who had significant power and privilege. How the person used those advantages is critical to know.

Times (and Republicans) were somewhat different during Bush's time, and it is tempting to compare Trump, who is so grotesque in every way, with someone who acted (apparently) with a markedly different style. That temptation should be of interest only in passing.

Here is an essay listing only some of the facts about GHW Bush. There should be more, objective and accurate, that will not whitewash who he really was - positive and not.

https://theintercept.com/2018/12/01/...on-of-justice/