George H.W. Bush was a steward of stability

But if you listened to those who knew him best, they tended to eulogize him.

American presidents tend to fit two molds: transformative leaders and transitional ones.

Transformative presidents seek to radically alter the status quo, either out of political necessity or psychological ambition. They prefer to keep the outbox on their desk full.

Transitional presidents see themselves as stewards of stability. They greet the challenges that pile up in their inbox as they materialize, rather than looking for systemic reforms.

Ronald Reagan was a transformative president. Ideologically he was much more conservative than Bush.

But temperamentally, Bush was more conservative. Much like George Washington and Calvin Coolidge, Bush viewed the presidency primarily as an august managerial position in a system where leaders inspire by example, not by rhetoric.

“No president, no government can teach us to remember what is best in what we are,” Bush declared in his inaugural address. His job was to encourage Americans to be their best selves in service to each other, and to lead by example.

This is why Bush was so well-suited to being Reagan’s successor. If the Gipper was the battering ram, Bush was the clean-up operation. He fixed the savings and loan crisis, signed the Clean Air Act, cleared Saddam Hussein out of Kuwait and put a bow on the dangerously messy aftermath of the Cold War.

On election night 1988, he was at a party in Houston, watching the returns. As Fox News’ Brit Hume recounts, when the news arrived that Bush won Bush’s motorcade was waiting outside to take him to a victory celebration. The first thing Bush did? Help clean the dishes.

Bush lost his re-election bid for many reasons. But the most important factor was that the American people had a hunger for transformation.

Our hunger for transformative presidents, for “outsiders” to save America, has only intensified. The sad irony is that if salvation is what we need, it will come only when Americans themselves take to heart the example of this good man.