Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Washington to Pay Respects, Bid Farewell to George H.W. Bush
By admin
Published 5 years ago on
December 3, 2018

Share

HOUSTON — George H.W. Bush is ready to embark on his final journey to Washington as the nation salutes the 41st president for his lifetime of public service that began in the Navy during World War II, ended with four years as president and was characterized throughout by what admirers say was decency, generosity and kindness.

“I think he was one of the kindest, most generous men.”Marge Frazier
A long motorcade accompanied the hearse carrying Bush’s remains from a Houston funeral home to nearby Ellington Field for the trip to the nation’s capital on an aircraft that often serves as Air Force One.
Before that, students, staff and visitors had been flocking to Bush’s presidential library on the campus of Texas A&M University, with thousands of mourners paying their respects at a weekend candlelight vigil at a nearby pond and others contributing to growing flower memorials at Bush statues at both the library and a park in downtown Houston.
“I think he was one of the kindest, most generous men,” said Marge Frazier, who visited the downtown statue on Sunday while showing friends from California around.
A similar outpouring is anticipated in Washington this week during the state funeral for Bush, who died late Friday at his home in Houston. He was 94.

Final Resting Place Alongside Barbara Bush

Bush, who was president from 1989 to 1993, will lie in state in the U.S. Capitol rotunda for a ceremony and public visitation from Monday through Wednesday. An invitation-only funeral service is set for Wednesday at Washington National Cathedral. President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump are to attend. Bush’s family has not said who will speak at the service. Former President Jimmy Carter also will be there.

Bush will be returned to Houston to lie in repose at St. Martin’s Episcopal Church before burial Thursday at his family plot on the library grounds. His final resting place will be alongside Barbara Bush, his wife of 73 years.
Afterward, Bush will be returned to Houston to lie in repose at St. Martin’s Episcopal Church before burial Thursday at his family plot on the library grounds. His final resting place will be alongside Barbara Bush, his wife of 73 years who died in April, and Robin Bush, the daughter they lost to leukemia in 1953 at age 3.
Bush’s casket is set to arrive in Washington on Monday afternoon aboard the U.S. military airplane. The crew has been tasked by Trump with carrying out “Special Air Mission 41.” The number is a reference to Bush’s place in the roster of America’s presidents.
Former President George W. Bush, the eldest of the four Bush sons, and his wife, Laura, along with brother Neil Bush and his family, will accompany their father’s body to Joint Base Andrews outside Washington, said family spokesman Jim McGrath. Other Bush family members are expected to be at the Maryland military base for the arrival.

Federal Government Closes Wednesday for a National Day of Mourning

Retired Gen. Colin Powell, who as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff was Bush’s top military adviser, said Bush was the “perfect American” for serving his country in so many different capacities and should be remembered for “a life of quality, a life of honor, a life of honesty, a life of total concern for the American people.”

“He was just a high-quality man who truly loved his family. One thing that came through loud and clear, he was very proud of his family and very much loved his family. So he was a terrific guy and he’ll be missed.” — President Donald Trump
“He was a patriot. He demonstrated that in war, he demonstrated that in peace. He was able to demonstrate that in his four years of service,” Powell said on ABC’s “This Week.”
Trump has ordered the federal government closed Wednesday for a national day of mourning. Flags on public buildings are flying at half-staff for 30 days out of respect for Bush.
Trump, who has not always uttered kind words about the Bush family, offered nothing but praise in the hours after the former president’s death was announced.
“He was just a high-quality man who truly loved his family,” Trump said Saturday while in Argentina. “One thing that came through loud and clear, he was very proud of his family and very much loved his family. So he was a terrific guy and he’ll be missed.”
This Sunday, Dec. 2, 2018 photo, Sully, President George H.W. Bush’s service dog lies in front of his casket in Houston. The 41st president died Friday at his home in Houston at 94. (Evan Sisley/Office George H.W. Bush via AP)

Back in the Washington Spotlight

Bush’s passing puts him back in the Washington spotlight after more than two decades living the relatively low-key life of a former president. His death also reduces membership in the exclusive ex-presidents’ club to four: Carter, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama.
One of Bush’s major achievements was assembling the international military coalition that liberated the tiny, oil-rich nation of Kuwait from invading neighbor Iraq in 1991. The war lasted just 100 hours. He also presided over the end of the Cold War between the United States and the former Soviet Union.
A humble hero of World War II, Bush was just 20 when he survived being shot down during a bombing run over Japan. He joined the Navy when he turned 18.
Shortly before leaving the service, he married his 19-year-old sweetheart, Barbara Pierce, and forged a 73-year union that was the longest presidential marriage in U.S. history until her death. Bush enrolled at Yale University after military service, becoming a scholar-athlete and captaining the baseball team to two College World Series before graduating Phi Beta Kappa after just 2½ years.

Public Approval Ratings That Are the Envy of Today’s Politicians

After moving to Texas to work in the oil business, Bush turned his attention to politics in the 1960s. He was elected to the first of two terms in Congress in 1967.

“I just loved him.” — Bill Clinton in a recent essay
He would go on to serve as ambassador to the United Nations and China, head of the CIA and chairman of the Republican National Committee before being elected to two terms as Ronald Reagan’s vice president.
Soon after he reached the height of his political popularity following the liberation of Kuwait, with public approval ratings that are the envy of today’s politicians, the U.S. economy began to sour and voters began to believe that Bush, never a great communicator – something even he acknowledged – was out of touch with ordinary people.
He was denied a second term by then-Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton, who would later become a close friend. The pair worked together to raise tens of millions of dollars for victims of a 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and Hurricane Katrina, which swamped New Orleans and the Gulf Coast in 2005.
“Who would have thought that I would be working with Bill Clinton of all people?” he joked in 2005.
In a recent essay, Clinton declared of Bush: “I just loved him.”

DON'T MISS

Police Investigating Possible Vandalism at Jewish Temple, Catholic Church

DON'T MISS

Valley PBS’ Top 2 Executives Departing. Were Their Resignations a Surprise?

DON'T MISS

Unfiltered Clip: Insights from Dr. Trita Parsi on Navigating the Israel-Palestine Conflict

DON'T MISS

Hamas Is Sending a Delegation to Egypt for Further Cease-Fire Talks in the Latest Sign of Progress

DON'T MISS

President Joe Biden Calls Japan and India ‘Xenophobic’ Nations That Do Not Welcome Immigrants

DON'T MISS

DEA’s Marijuana Reclassification Could Revive California’s Struggling Pot Industry

DON'T MISS

How to Reclaim the Israel-Palestine Debate From the Radicals on Both Sides

DON'T MISS

US Airstrike Targeting Al-Qaida Leader in Syria Killed a Farmer, American Military Says

DON'T MISS

Today’s Campus Protests Aren’t Nearly as Big or Violent as Those of the Vietnam Era

DON'T MISS

Mike Yaz Homers at Fenway In Giants Win After Visit From His Hall of Fame Grandpa

UP NEXT

Another State Department Official Resigns Over Biden’s Gaza Policy

UP NEXT

Senators Want Limits on Government’s Use of Facial Recognition Technology for Airport Screening

UP NEXT

Biden Says ‘Order Must Prevail’ on Campuses, but He Won’t Send National Guard

UP NEXT

Police Dismantle UCLA Tent Camp, Take Pro-Palestinian Protesters Into Custody

UP NEXT

Fresno State’s Randa Jarrar Dragged Out of Event Featuring Big Bang Theory’s Mayim Bialik

UP NEXT

Trump Calls Judge ‘Crooked’ After Facing a Warning of Jail Time if He Violates a Trial Gag Order

UP NEXT

Biden’s Historic Marijuana Shift Is His Latest Election Year Move for Young Voters

UP NEXT

The Latest | In Israel, Blinken Pushes Hamas to Agree on Gaza Cease-Fire Deal

UP NEXT

What Marijuana Reclassification Means for the United States

UP NEXT

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene Vows to Force a Vote on Ousting House Speaker Mike Johnson

Hamas Is Sending a Delegation to Egypt for Further Cease-Fire Talks in the Latest Sign of Progress

11 hours ago

President Joe Biden Calls Japan and India ‘Xenophobic’ Nations That Do Not Welcome Immigrants

11 hours ago

DEA’s Marijuana Reclassification Could Revive California’s Struggling Pot Industry

11 hours ago

How to Reclaim the Israel-Palestine Debate From the Radicals on Both Sides

11 hours ago

US Airstrike Targeting Al-Qaida Leader in Syria Killed a Farmer, American Military Says

12 hours ago

Today’s Campus Protests Aren’t Nearly as Big or Violent as Those of the Vietnam Era

12 hours ago

Mike Yaz Homers at Fenway In Giants Win After Visit From His Hall of Fame Grandpa

12 hours ago

Lagging Revenue Drives California Budget Deficit as Deadline Nears

13 hours ago

Valley Children’s Gets ‘Historic’ Gift to Boost Cancer Treatments. How Big Is It?

Californians Are Protecting Themselves from Wildfire. Why Is There an Insurance Crisis?

13 hours ago

Police Investigating Possible Vandalism at Jewish Temple, Catholic Church

Fresno police are investigating an incident of flyers posted on the exterior windows of Temple Beth Israel, and also at St. Anthony of Padua...

7 hours ago

7 hours ago

Police Investigating Possible Vandalism at Jewish Temple, Catholic Church

Entertainment /
9 hours ago

Valley PBS’ Top 2 Executives Departing. Were Their Resignations a Surprise?

Video /
9 hours ago

Unfiltered Clip: Insights from Dr. Trita Parsi on Navigating the Israel-Palestine Conflict

11 hours ago

Hamas Is Sending a Delegation to Egypt for Further Cease-Fire Talks in the Latest Sign of Progress

11 hours ago

President Joe Biden Calls Japan and India ‘Xenophobic’ Nations That Do Not Welcome Immigrants

11 hours ago

DEA’s Marijuana Reclassification Could Revive California’s Struggling Pot Industry

11 hours ago

How to Reclaim the Israel-Palestine Debate From the Radicals on Both Sides

12 hours ago

US Airstrike Targeting Al-Qaida Leader in Syria Killed a Farmer, American Military Says

MENU

CONNECT WITH US

Search

Send this to a friend