The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
HOW THE BUSHES FELL IN LOVE
CARTER, FORMER OFFICIALS OFFER TRIBUTE TO BUSH
George H.W. Bush was remembered Sunday by several former members of his administration, including former Vice President Dan Quayle, former secretaries of state James Baker III and Colin Powell, and Dick Cheney, who served as Bush’s defense secretary.
In an appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Baker said he spent time with Bush on Friday, the day of his death. Baker said he arrived early in the morning at Bush’s Houston home, where the president ate a big breakfast of eggs, yogurt and fruit drinks. Baker said Bush hadn’t gotten out of bed in “three or four days,” but that based on Bush’s energy, he thought the president would “bounce back.”
Baker noted that Bush was his daughter’s godfather and his friend of 60 years. Bush is the reason Baker got into politics, having recruited Baker to help with his Senate campaign after Baker’s first wife died of cancer.
“George Bush was possibly the most kind and considerate person I’ve ever known in my life,” Baker said.
Baker was asked whether the era of civility in politics died with Bush on Friday. “I hope it didn’t die on Friday, because we badly need to bring some civility back into our public discourse,” Baker said. “We need to stop yelling at each other and start listening to each other. George Bush had a Congress that was totally controlled by Democrats, and look what he got done.”
The casket bearing Bush’s body will arrive at the U.S. Capitol tonight and will be on public display in the Rotunda until Wednesday morning, when it will be taken to Washington National Cathedral for his funeral. President Donald Trump has declared Wednesday a federal holiday and a national day of mourning.
Powell, who served as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under Bush, described the late president as “a perfect American,” noting his service in the White House, in Congress, as U.S. ambassador to China and as CIA director as well as his career in business.
“You name it, he did it,” Powell said on ABC News’ “This Week.” “And then he became vice president for eight years and then president of the United States. But throughout that entire period, he never forgot who he was. He never let it all go to his head. He was a man of great humility. He was humble.”
Powell added Bush was “a product of his parents, who told him, you know, ‘Don’t show off, George; just always remember, you’re humble, you work for people, you serve people.’ “
In an appearance on “Fox News Sunday,” Cheney was asked about Bush’s reported criticism of him as “hardline” during his time as vice president to his son, George W. Bush.
Cheney acknowledged Bush’s criticism. He then said that after the elder Bush made those comments, he sent Cheney a note reading, “Dear Dick, I did it.”
“And then he went on at great length to tell me what a great American I was,” Cheney said.
Later that year, Bush invited him to sit with him at the head table at the prestigious Alfalfa Club dinner.
“That sort of dampened down any notion that there was a fundamental break between Bush and Cheney,” he said.
Quayle was asked on the Fox News Channel what he believes Bush’s legacy will be. He said that while historians will have their own interpretations, his view is that Bush “got things done.”
“When he left office, the economy was growing at probably 5, 6 percent,” Quayle said on “Sunday Morning Futures.” “The Berlin Wall came down, Eastern and Central Europe freed from the yoke of communism. Apartheid in South Africa was eliminated, success in putting Saddam Hussein back into Iraq, Noriega apprehended. So many things in the short period of time, and the domestic front, as well, so — accomplishments.”