Former President George HW Bush Passes Away

George H.W Bush, 41^st President of the United States passed away at the age of 94 on November 30^th due to vascular parkinsonism, a condition cause by one or more small strokes. Bush was the longest surviving former president, the last World War II veteran to serve at the White House, and the second person in US history to see their son succeed them as president. Long before presidency, Bush worked a multitude of short-winded high-status government jobs. He served as anything from a naval lieutenant to Director of the CIA.

The Bush family has a long line political prowess; Bush Sr.’s father was a U.S Senator and, more famously, his son later became the 43^rd President. Bush, his father, and his son were educated at Yale University. Prior to enrolling, he enlisted in the Navy shortly after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. He became a naval aviator until later was promoted to lieutenant. He married his wife Barbara during his time in the Navy, they had 6 children from their marriage. George and Barbara Bush had the longest presidential marriage (73 years) and were together until her passing in April of this year.

After his time in the Navy, he served as a Texan congressman. While in Congress, he voted mostly conservative, except for in one instance in which he voted in favor of birth control, which his party was greatly opposed to. In 1971 he was nominated by then- President Nixon as the United States Ambassador for the United Nations, a position he was unanimously voted for; he was the American Ambassador from 1971 to 1973. Nixon then appointed him as the Chairman of the Republican National Committee. He held this position briefly before he was appointed by President Ford as the Director of Central Intelligence in 1976. He was Vice President under Ronald Reagan and then in the following election became the 41^st President of the United States.

Bush is survived by his 5 children, 14 grandchildren, and many great-grandchildren. He had two funerals, one in Texas, and the state funeral in Washington D.C. He was buried in Texas next to his wife, Barbara, and their daughter Robin, who died at the age of 3 after battling with leukemia. His eldest grandchild who spoke at his funeral shared an excerpt from one of the many stories his ‘Gampy’ would tell.

“He said the sky was clear, the stars were brilliant, like a blizzard of fireflies in the night,” Bush recalled. “There was a calm inner peace. Halfway around the world in a war zone, an inner peace. God’s therapy.”

After the wake of H.W Bush’s death, many have released touching eulogies and personal statements sharing fond memories of him. Bush spent his last moments at home and through a phone conversation, his last words were to his son, George W. Bush, in which he said “I love you, too”. While Bush Sr. has stirred up plenty of controversy throughout his presidential term, we are thankful for his service to our country.