The Secret Service Played a Special Role in George H.W. Bush’s Last Goodbye to Barbara Bush

• A story in George H.W. Bush’s chief of staff Jean Becker’s new book details how the former president said his final goodbye to his wife Barbara Bush.

• The couple’s home had lost power and the Secret Service had to carry him upstairs to her bedside.

• Becker’s book, The Man I Knew, recounts stories about George that took place in the 25 years after his presidency.

George H.W. Bush’s role as the 41st president will always have a place in history books. But people are less likely to know how he lived after serving his term, which is why his long-time chief of staff, Jean Becker, wrote a book about those 25 years called The Man I Knew.

“One of the reasons why I wrote the book is I really felt the American people, when he left the White House, still didn’t really understand who this man was,” Becker told People. “He was a bigger-than-life person, smart, funny, and had a heart as big as Texas. Until the day he died, he never stopped thinking of ways to try to make a difference.”

The new book is filled with stories—happy and sad—about George’s life after presidency, including the story of his final goodbye to his wife, Barbara Bush.

After more than 70 years of partnership, George would spend his last moments with Barbara at her bedside in their home after the former first lady ended treatment for congestive heart failure and pulmonary disease, per USA Today. George got to hold her hand as she took her last breath, per Becker, which “in itself had been a difficult feat.”

George was 93 at the time and experiencing his own health issues that required him to use a wheelchair. So when the couple’s power went out for three days leading up to Barbara’s death in April 2018, it created a sticky situation.

“President Bush could not use the elevator to get to her second-floor bedroom,” Becker wrote. But there was no way he wouldn’t be there for his wife. “The Secret Service carried him up the stairs,” she continued. “The power came back on about the same time she passed.”

In the book, Becker recalls nearly losing George to sepsis the day after Barbara’s funeral. But “he rallied,” she wrote, and made it five more months without her before dying in December 2018. Up until Barbara’s death, she says they were “as in love” as they were the day they met.

You Might Also Like

• The Best Yoga Mats, According to Top Yoga Instructors

• The Shockingly Simple Diet Change This Woman Made to Drop 54 Pounds

• Losing Stubborn Belly Fat Really Comes Down to These Two Lifestyle Changes