World mourns Bush’s passing
Leaders hail former US president’s achievements
COLLEGE STATION: Flags flew at half-staff across the United States as Americans prepared for a week of solemn tributes to George H.W. Bush in his home state of Texas and in the US Capitol, a day after the former president died aged 94.
Tributes poured in from world leaders on Saturday in memory of the 41st US president, who guided America through the end of the Cold War and launched the international campaign to drive Iraqi strongman Saddam Hussein’s forces from Kuwait.
Many of those same leaders are expected to attend Bush’s state funeral next week, alongside President Donald Trump.
Trump was notably absent from the funerals of the statesman’s late wife Barbara and of veteran fellow Republican John McCain.
Although the two Republican presidents were polar opposites – the soft-spoken, patrician Bush reportedly once dismissed the blustering New Yorker as a “blowhard” and even voted for his rival Hillary Clinton – Trump paid the late leader a gracious tribute, saying he had “inspired generations of his fellow Americans to public service”.
“His accomplishments were great from beginning to end,” Trump tweeted.
Declaring a national day of mourning on Wednesday – when the federal government and New York Stock Exchange will close in Bush’s honour – Trump also sig- nalled his respect by calling off a press conference planned at the G20 summit in Buenos Aires.
The days-long national farewell to Bush will begin today with a commemoration in Houston, where the Bushes lived for years and where he died on Friday.
From there, Bush’s casket will travel to Washington on board Trump’s presidential aircraft, in what the US leader called “a special tribute that he deserves very much”.
He will lie in state in the US Capitol between today and Wednesday ahead of a state funeral at the National Cathedral, which is expected to draw dozens of dignitaries from around the world.
Bush’s remains will travel back to Texas late on Wednesday, where he will lie in repose at St Martin’s Episcopal Church in Houston.
A funeral service will be held the next day preceding his internment at the George Bush Presidential Library in College Station.
At the presidential library on Saturday, people came to sign the memorial book in Bush’s honour or lay flowers at the feet of his statue.
World leaders praised Bush both for his strength and his moderation, as well as the commitment to internationalism typified by his assembling of a global coalition to oust Iraqi invaders from Kuwait in 1991.
The oldest surviving former US president, Jimmy Carter, said Bush’s administration “was marked by grace, civility and social conscience”.
Britain took the rare step of lowering flags in government buildings, while Germany’s President Frank-Walter Steinmeier praised Bush’s “unwavering support” for the country’s reunification.”
Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev called him “a true partner” in winding down the Cold War.
French President Emmanuel Macron mourned the loss of a leader who “strongly supported the alliance with Europe”.