George H. W. Bush Dead at 94

CNN
Photos: Lubavitch Archives

George H.W. Bush, the 41st President, whose steady hand and foreign policy vision led the nation through a period of sweeping global change, has died at the age of 94.

Bush’s death, late Friday at his home in Houston, was announced by his son and fellow Republican, former President George W. Bush, who praised his father as “a man of the highest character.”

Born into privilege and a tradition of service, Bush was a son of a senator, celebrated World War II combat pilot, student athlete, Texas oilman, Republican congressman, national party chairman, pioneering diplomat and spy chief. After his own 1980 presidential campaign came up short, he served two terms as Ronald Reagan’s vice president before reaching the pinnacle of political power by winning the 1988 presidential election, soundly defeating Democrat Michael Dukakis.

After losing the White House in 1992, Bush became a widely admired political elder who leapt out of airplanes to mark birthday milestones. Emphasizing the generosity of his soul, he forged a close — and unlikely — friendship with Democrat Bill Clinton, the man who ended his presidency. When Parkinson’s disease mostly silenced him in public, Bush flashed his sense of humor by sporting colorful striped socks.

Bush’s death comes after his wife of 73 years, Barbara Bush, passed away on April 17 at age 92. Before her funeral, Bush was pictured in a wheelchair gazing at his wife’s flower-covered casket, in a moment that encapsulated their life-long love affair.

On his final day, Bush was asked, according to a source, whether he wanted to go to the hospital. The former president said no, and that he was ready to go and be with Barbara and Robin, who died of leukemia as a child.

A source familiar with Bush’s final hours told CNN that Bush spoke his final words to his son, George W., during a phone call. In the conversation, the son told the senior George Bush that he had been a “wonderful father.”
“I love you, too,” his father replied.

The elder Bush’s final words were first reported by the New York Times.

The first sitting vice president to be elected to the presidency since 1836, Bush was also only the second person in US history to see his own son follow in his presidential footsteps when George W. Bush was elected in 2000.

In addition to the 43rd president, Bush is survived by his son Jeb, the former Florida governor and 2016 presidential candidate; sons Neil and Marvin; daughter Dorothy; and 17 grandchildren. His daughter Robin died of leukemia as a child, a tragedy that still moved Bush deeply late in his life. He will be buried alongside her and the former first lady at his presidential library in College Station, Texas.

Bush will lie in state at the US Capitol before a memorial service at the National Cathedral in Washington, DC, with a second memorial service to follow at St. Martin’s Episcopal Church in Houston. He will then be taken by a motorcade procession to the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library in College Station, Texas, where he will be laid to rest. Specific times and more details will be announced at a later time, according to the statement released by Bush’s spokesman Jim McGrath.

President Donald Trump will designate December 5 as a national day of mourning, according to a White House statement, and the President and first lady Melania Trump will attend the funeral at the National Cathedral.

When Bush left office in 1993, he joined the dubious club of presidents rejected by voters after only one term in office. A career filled with top jobs preparing him for the presidency was cut short in its prime.

He lost to Clinton after failing to shake off his image as a starchy Yankee oblivious to the struggles of heartland Americans during an economic downturn.
But as time passed, his foreign policy acumen has come to define his presidency, leaving a legacy of wise and sure-handed management of world affairs.

Statement from President Donald J. Trump and First Lady Melania Trump on the Passing of Former President George H.W. Bush pic.twitter.com/qxPsp4Ggs7

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 1, 2018

Correspondence between the Rebbe and George H. W. Bush in 1989.
Courtesy of Lubavitch Archives

THE WHITE HOUSE

WASHINGTON

April 13, 1989

Dear Rebbe:

On the occasion of your forthcoming birthday, April 16, I send my personal greetings to you along with my thanks for your work on behalf of “Education Day, U.S.A.”

In addition, I understand that this past February 10th ushered in the “40th year” since you assumed the position of spiritual guidance and leadership as the Rebbe, world head of the Lubavitch movement.

Over fifty volumes of your teachings and over 700 active institutions of Lubavitch in all corners of the world are testimony to your efforts.

Historically, according to the Bible, it was forty years from the time the Israelites were delivered out of the bondage of Egypt and guided to the point of entering the Promised Land. This past forty years, too, have been indeed critical in the history of the Jewish people, having -survived the Holocaust and reaching the point with the birth of the State of Israel, when once again the light of Jewry’s heritage is flourishing throughout the world.

It is my sincere hope and wish that the Almighty will grant you many more years of health and good life.

George Bush

***

Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson
Lubavitch
770 Eastern Parkway
Brooklyn, N.Y. 11213

By the Grace of G-d
13th of Nissan, 5749
Brooklyn, N.Y.

President George Bush
The White House
Washington, D.C.

Greeting and Blessing!

Thank you very much, Mr. President, for your kind and heartwarming letter of April 13, 1989, on the occasion of my birthday.

I deeply appreciate your warm sentiments and good wishes which I can best reciprocate by quoting the Divine promise to Abraham, “I will bless them that bless thee.”

Accordingly, may you, together with the First Lady and all yours, be blessed from on high with all good, both materially and spiritually.

Your kind tribute to the Lubavitch movement, which I am privileged to head, is a message of encouragement to me and to our members in the USA and abroad.

Of course, a large measure of whatever has been achieved is due to the happy circumstances that when my predecessor, my father-in-law the Rebbe of saintly memory, transplanted the movement’s headquarters on these blessed shores (in 1940), it found fertile soil and a conducive climate to thrive and grow consistently, from strength to strength.

Your personal and Presidential support to “Education Day USA,” reflects your awareness that education is the first and foremost vehicle of fostering the most basic and inexhaustible national resource. This, as mentioned earlier, is truly a source of encouragement to all who work for the betterment of life at home and for humankind at large.

With prayerful wishes for your continued success in carrying out the awesome responsibilities of your exalted office, in the best and fullest measure, in good health and happy circumstances.

With esteem and blessing,

M. Schneerson