“I do not mistrust the future; I do not fear what is ahead. For our problems are large, but our heart is larger,” former president George Herbert Walker Bush once said. In the evening of November 30, George H.W. Bush passed away in the company of his close family and friends in Texas. One of his closest companions, former Secretary of State James A. Baker who also hailed from Texas, stood by his side throughout Bush’s political and post-presidency life.
Baker was one of the last people Bush spoke to, and he kept Bush hopeful during his last days. “We’re going to heaven,” remarked Baker to Bush just 13 hours before his passing. “That’s where I want to go,” replied Bush. After briefly speaking with his son, former president George W. Bush, on the phone, Bush passed away peacefully.
Bush was known for his kindness, but also his impact on American political history. His involvement in the Persian Gulf War was his most well-known contribution to foreign policy as president, where Bush assured the American public that he was not afraid to intervene overseas if it meant protecting the overtaking of uninvolved countries.
His legacy was not untarnished. The Persian Gulf War under H.W. Bush developed into the Iraq War fought by his son, George W. Bush, and troops remained in Iraq until the tail end of 2011. What began as a conflict to return Kuwait to its independence in 1990 both militarily and diplomatically dragged on for two decades.
Bush also made some influential domestic policies, signing both the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990. His promise of “No New Taxes” did not come to fruition, and he eventually lost the reelection to former president Bill Clinton. His approval rating throughout his time in office was 60.9% according to Gallup, the highest since the Johnson era.
After his presidency, Bush returned home to Texas. Bush and former president Bill Clinton gave resources to those affected by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and he continued to support his son through his presidency. Continuing his philanthropic streak, Bush shaved his head in 2013 to support the son of a Secret Service member who was battling leukemia.
In an interview with a biographer, Bush once exclaimed, “I am lost between the glory of Reagan — monuments everywhere, trumpets, the great hero — and the trials and tribulations of my sons.” His passing comes at a time of reflection within the Republican party, but those on all sides of the aisle united in celebrating the life of the gentleman that was George H. W. Bush.
Bush was laid to rest at his Presidential Library at the Texas A&M College Station campus on Thursday, Dec 6.
Article by MoCo Student staff writer Lindsay Keiser of Walt Whitman High School