Point of light
Kind, thoughtful
I got to know George H.W. Bush when he was running for Congress, and I was running for state representative. We would go to the same campaign events. He was a Republican, and I was a Democrat. He won, and I lost.
I invited him to my singles College Club for ages 21-35, and everyone enjoyed his visit.
I invited him and Barbara to my 1968 wedding. They did not come but sent a ceramic dish as a wedding gift, which I still have.
I always admired his dedication to public service and his call for a kinder and gentler nation. He was a class act and a great role model for our youth. Jimmy Dunne, Houston
Presidential parallels
There are some very interesting parallels between the careers of George H. W. Bush and George Washington.
Both men served in the military. Bush did not start a war, but he helped finish one. Washington helped ignite the French and Indian War when he took his reconnaissance party into Pennsylvania and captured Fort Duquesne (which became Pittsburgh).
Both Bush and Washington were independently wealthy when they took office. Oil was the economic engine of the 1950s; land and agriculture were the economic engines of the 1750s.
Both men had to deal with very tricky foreign alliances. Washington had to bring the French into the War of Independence without ceding land and colonies to them as they fought the British. Bush had to deal with a diplomatic labyrinth as he led the coalition of Middle Eastern and other nations against Saddam Hussein’s Iraqi forces in Kuwait. Bush also had to deal with power shifts after the Persian Gulf war.
Both men served their country long and well.
Both men were treated dismissively by party power brokers. The Founding Fathers chose Washington to head the Revolutionary War army because they thought he would not be a candidate for civilian leadership. Bush served as head of the CIA and envoy to China because the Republican Party did not really view him as being an electable presidential candidate.
The party politicos were wrong in both cases, and both Georges served their country with dignity, grace and success. James A. Babb, Friendswood