Legacy built by George H.W. — for family and country — will last
On Friday, former president George H.W. Bush was reunited with Barbara, his beloved wife of 73 years, who died in April at the age of 92.
Bush had met the loss of his wife with his customary graciousness and fortitude.
“We have faith she is in heaven, and we know life will go on — as she would have it,” Bush said in a statement, at the time. For the following seven months he had seemed to be in good spirits, if frail health. Over the course of last week, though, Bush faded. And on Friday he was “ready,” according to James A. Baker III, who arrived at the family home that morning and was among the friends and family members gathered at Bush’s bedside that evening.
Americans were ready too, in a sense. We already had an occasion to reflect on the Bush family’s legacy of public service in the wake of Barbara’s death. It had also allowed us to reflect on roles she and George H. W. held as pillars of a political dynasty.
The first Bush to hold public office was George H.W.’s father, Prescott, who served two terms as a United States senator from Connecticut. But the Bush family became a political dynasty as a result of the partnership that George H.W. Bush forged with Barbara Pierce.
The two met as teenagers at a high school dance. They were married in 1945, after George returned from his service in the United States Navy during World War II. And he and Barbara were true partners over the long and often difficult years that followed.
The Bushes traveled the world together, and the country; it was George’s decision to work in the oil industry that initially brought them to Texas. They shared the exhilaration of victory on a number of occasions, beginning in 1962, when George was elected chairman of the Harris County GOP. They raised five children together — including Jeb, who became governor of Florida, and
George W., who became the 43rd president after serving as governor of Texas.
George and Barbara also faced heartbreak together.
In 1953 they buried their 3-year-old daughter, Robin, after she suffered for months undergoing treatment for leukemia. They saw their surviving children struggle. And the two were able to commiserate with George W. and Jeb about the turmoil of being involved in American politics.
Legacy of good acts
George H. W. Bush did a lot of good over the years — beginning at the local level, and eventually on the world stage.
As chairman of the Harris County GOP in the 1960s, for example, Bush helped fend off a takeover attempt from members of the John Birch Society, who would have led the Republican Party in a dire direction. After being elected to the nation’s highest office in 1988, Bush presided over the end of the Cold War, the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and the negotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement, although not its ratification.
Bush also signed the Americans with Disabilities Act — a landmark piece of legislation in itself, and one that reflects a commitment to the dignity and inclusion of all Americans.
But it’s easier to appreciate those accomplishments in retrospect, perhaps. As president, Bush was overshadowed by his predecessor, Ronald Reagan, for whom he served as vice president. He was unseated after one term by the charismatic young Democratic governor of Arkansas, Bill Clinton. Bush’s legacy as president was subsequently entangled with that of his son, George W., whose administration began under a cloud in 2000, and was more polarizing than his father’s had been.
And the tributes that have been pouring in to George H.W. Bush since the news of his death aren’t entirely about him, I think. Throughout the course of his long and storied life, he embodied qualities like graciousness, kindness, and self-discipline—qualities which many of today’s political leaders lack.
The Republican Party, in particular, has changed since Bush was among its leaders — and Bush’s critics would argue that since he was one of the party’s leaders, the change reflects poorly on him. But such arguments can wait.
‘Peaceful passing’
At the moment, the nation is in mourning. And Americans are mourning over the way our country has changed, I think, as much as for the former president.
Bush was 94, after all. He lived a long and full life. He was grieving his wife, with whom he had shared so much, and built so much, during the course of their decades in public service. He died at peace.
“It was a very gentle and peaceful passing,” Baker told the Chronicle.
Bush’s last words, Baker added, were to his eldest son, the former president George W. Bush, who had called to tell his father he loved him.
“I love you, too,” the elder Bush said.
George H.W. and Barbara Bush were the pillars of a political dynasty, because they were pillars of their family. That’s a legacy that will last, even if American politics has changed, for the worse, since then.