President George H. W. Bush Has Died At Age 94

The 41st president of the United States, George Herbert Walker Bush, who brought to the White House a dedication to traditional American values and a determination to make the United States a “kinder and gentler nation,” died last night at age 94. He had been the oldest living former president. His wife, former First Lady Barbara Bush, passed away in early April after a series of hospitalizations related to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and congestive heart failure. The President was “broken-hearted to lose his beloved Barbara,” Jean Becker, the chief of staff for George H.W. Bush’s office said in a statement released on the day of her passing. “He held her hand all day today and was at her side when [she] left this good earth." They had been married for 73 years.

Bush served a single term as president, from 1989 to 1993, and though in recent years he had experienced some health complications—he was admitted to Houston Methodist Hospital in Texas in January 2017 for “shortness of breath” stemming from pneumonia; several years ago he revealed that he suffered from a form of Parkinson’s disease that left him reliant on a wheelchair or a scooter to walk; he was hospitalized in 2014 and in 2015 for various ailments, including a broken neck—that kept him out of the limelight, he had garnered a resurgence of public attention, thanks in part to his son Jeb's unsuccessful 2016 presidential campaign, and a 1993 letter to his own successor, President Bill Clinton, which went viral some 23 years later. The letter, which wished Clinton “great happiness,” also projected the importance of national unity, even in the face of a personal defeat, and recalled a time of political discourse that has been notably absent from the contemporary national stage. “There will be very tough times, made even more difficult by criticism you may not think is fair,” Bush wrote, “I’m not a very good one to give advice, but just don’t let the critics discourage you or push you off course. You will be our President when you read this note. . . . Your success now is our country’s success. I am rooting hard for you.” Later, he would tell an interviewer that the most important value was "Courage...It means you don’t run away when things are tough. It means you don’t turn away from a friend when he or she is in trouble. It means standing up against the majority opinion. In a fundamental sense it means: are you willing to give your life so somebody else can save his or hers? Courage is terribly important. There’s a lot of people who won’t wear it on their sleeve, or display it through some heroic act. But courage is having the strength to do what’s honorable and decent."

Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, and studied at Phillips Academy in Andover and Yale University. He enlisted in the armed forces at age 18, and became the youngest pilot in the Navy when he received his wings. He flew 58 combat missions during WWII and earned the Distinguished Flying Cross for bravery in action. He married Barbara Pierce in January 1945; they had six children together, George, Robin, John (“Jeb”), Neil, Marvin, and Dorothy. He was a devoted husband, once writing in a letter to his wife: "You have given me joy that few men know... I have climbed perhaps the highest mountain in the world, but even that cannot hold a candle to being Barbara's husband." His father, Prescott Bush, was elected a senator from Connecticut in 1952, sparking an interest in his son in public service and politics. George H.W. Bush served two terms as a representative to Congress from Texas, and ran twice for the Senate, both times unsuccessfully. He went on to serve as the ambassador to the United Nations, chairman of the Republican National Committee, chief of the U.S. Liaison Office in the People’s Republic of China, and director of Central Intelligence. After losing a 1980 campaign for the Republican nomination, he was chosen as a running mate by Ronald Reagan, and served as his vice president.

In 1988, with Senator Dan Quayle of Indiana as a running mate, Bush won the general election, becoming the 41st president of the United States. His tenure took place during a rapidly changing world: the end of the Cold War, the dissolution of the Communist empire, the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the resignation of Russia’s president, Mikhail Gorbachev. In early August 1990, in a response to Iraq’s Saddam Hussein–led invasion of Kuwait, Bush instigated America’s involvement in the Persian Gulf War, including the massive U.S.-led offensive known as Operation Desert Storm. After 42 days, Bush declared a cease-fire: Though the Gulf War was initially considered to be a massive success for the international coalition, the simmering conflict that remained (alongside Hussein, who was not forced from power) is largely acknowledged to have directly led to the Iraq War, the repercussions of which his son George W. Bush, the 43rd president of the United States, would spend much of his own presidency dealing with.

In 2010, President Barack Obama awarded George H. W. Bush with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, and lauded his then-more than 70 years of service; his ability to inspire volunteerism throughout the country; his steady, diplomatic hand; and above all, the humility and decency that “reflects the very best of the American spirit.” Nearly seven years later, at his final press conference, President Obama sent his prayers to the Bush family. “[George and Barbara Bush] have been a constant source of friendship and support and good counsel for Michelle and me over the years,” Obama said. “They are as fine a couple as we know.”

"I don’t want to be called a senior citizen, I feel like a spring colt. I don’t want to be called a has-been, because there’s things I want to do in life," Bush said in a 1994 interview in which he pressed the importance of faith and family and the American dream. "But, I’ve been there and I’d say, 'Don’t let the bastards get you down.' And they don’t anymore, I don’t talk to them anymore, so they don’t get me down. I’ve got my family, and I’ve got so many blessings that I don’t think I’ve earned, that I’m a very happy man. I can’t wait for the next day."