America honors George H.W. Bush
Tributes pour in as body lies in state at Capitol
WASHINGTON — Americans will begin saying goodbye to former President George H.W. Bush today when his body arrives in Washington for public viewing in the Capitol Rotunda — a rare honor that will be bestowed on a man who earned the respect and admiration of many with his leadership, bravery and grace.
The public viewing will begin four days of events that will include a state funeral at Washington’s National Cathedral on Wednesday and a private service at Bush’s longtime church, St. Martin’s Episcopal Church in Houston, on Thursday. But tributes from leaders around the world have been pouring in since his death Friday night.
Former Secretary of State Colin Powell called him “a perfect American” for how “he served the country in so many capacities.”
“He never forgot who he was,” Powell, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during Bush’s presidency, said Sunday. “He never let it all go to his head. He was a man of great humility.”
Bush, who died at his Houston home at age 94, will be buried Thursday on the grounds of his presidential library at Texas A&M University.
In Washington, D.C., he will lie in state in the Capitol Rotunda from 7:30 p.m. today to 8:45 a.m. Wednesday. President Donald Trump, who ordered federal offices closed for a national day of mourning on Wednesday, is to attend with first lady Melania Trump and other highranking officials.
George H.W. Bush played many prominent public roles in nearly a century of life, from when he was a 20-year-old World War II hero to the 41st president of the United States. He died Friday at age 94.
James Baker, Bush’s former chief of staff and secretary of state, called his boss’s tenure in office “a consequential presidency” because of his foreign policy achievements.
“Yes, he’s a one-term president ... but he is going to be and was a very consequential one-term president. And I would argue far and away the best one-term president we’ve ever had,” Baker said.
Bush’s crowning achievement as president was assembling the international military coalition that liberated the tiny, oil-rich nation of Kuwait from invading Iraq in 1991 in a war that lasted just 100 hours. He also presided over the end of the Cold War between the United States and the former Soviet Union.
A humble hero of World War II, Bush was just 20 when he survived being shot down during a bombing run over Japan. He enlisted in the Navy on his 18th birthday.
“He knew what combat was all about,” Powell said. “He knew that combat meant the death of people, people on your side and people on the other side. And so he wanted to avoid a war.”
Roberto Molina, whose family owns Molina’s Cantina, one of Bush’s favorite Tex-Mex restaurants in Houston, said he remembers Bush’s kindness to his staff.
“No matter which party you’re affiliated with, everybody seemed to say the same things about President Bush,” Molina said. “He was a downto-earth person, approachable, and just a good man.”