Bush’s handwritten notes fostered warm ties even with opponents
Old-fashioned virtue and endearing practice became his hallmark while in office
Nothing was too small, too personal or too easily overlooked to merit a handwritten thank-you letter from George H.W. Bush, who died late on Friday at 94.
To the Marine who dropped his rifle in a parade at the Marine Barracks, in front of his commander in chief, Bush wrote: “I want to thank you and the others in the platoon for a super performance... Please thank all involved in the drill.”
To his granddaughter, on the day she was born: “I am a happy Gampy because you’re here.”
Bush was a great letterwriter. This old-fashioned virtue became his hallmark, an endearing practice and a pragmatic one as he fostered warm connections with world leaders, potential allies and even his opponents.
He carved out time most evenings to write cards and thank-you notes.
He wrote so many that they fill a 700-page book, All the Best, George Bush, which serves as his memoir.
The thank you notes were also good politics. “Countless times he would send a congratulatory note to a foreign leader for a seemingly innocuous achievement. I came to understand that he was building a relationship, which served him well when he needed to ask that leader to do something hard,” wrote Condoleezza Rice, who served as adviser to Bush on Soviet and Eastern European affairs.