Bush was the first president I remember. In fact, one of my earliest childhood memories was watching Bush announce the US attack of Iraq’s military following Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait.
His political career was nearly finished by this time and it wasn’t until two decades later that I learned more about the president’s life and career. What I saw was a classy, former president with exceptional character. And, today, his character is a model for would-be leaders and serves as a reminder of what could be in this age of political vitriol.
1. He was courageous
Bush grew up in privilege, as the son of an influential banker in New England, in a strict, Episcopal home that fostered his strong morals and integrity. His upbringing was comfortable and insular, but as he stepped into adulthood his courageous spirit was released. Immediately upon graduating from high school, Bush volunteered to serve in WWII and became the youngest US naval aviator in history. His plane was shot down in Japanese waters, and alone survived to be miraculously saved by a US submarine. After WWII, the war hero married his sweetheart, Barbara, and completed his education at Yale. He then traded the comfortable option of a Wall Street banking career in New England to set out for Texas to enter the oil industry. He learned the oil business and later started a business of his own in the new field of offshore drilling.
By the age of twenty-five, George Bush had passed up the safety of college to serve his country as a naval aviator during WWII. He passed up the financial security of Wall Street to learn the oil business in West Texas. His spirit of adventure and zeal for new challenges made it impossible for him to stand still. Over the next two decades, he pushed himself from one frontier to the next. In his business career, he went from employee to an entrepreneur, from a small city to a big city, and from onshore oil to the new horizon of offshore drilling.
– George W. Bush in 41: A Portrait of my Father
After his business success, George H.W. Bush entered politics by holding a local political position as the Republican Party chairman in Harris County, Texas. He later ran and narrowly lost a bid for U.S. Senate in Texas, and would serve two terms as a U.S. Congressman before another unsuccessful bid for U.S. Senate. Pres. Richard Nixon appointed him Ambassador to the United Nations and then Republican National Committee Chairman. After Nixon’s resignation, Pres. Gerald Ford appointed Bush the Special Envoy to the People’s Republic of China upon his request but later called him back to become Director of the CIA. Bush ran for president and lost to Ronald Reagan in the Republican primary. Bush joined the Reagan presidential ticket and served as vice president for two terms. After Reagan’s second term ended, Bush won and served as president for one term, but narrowly lost reelection to Pres. Bill Clinton when Ross Perot ran as an Independent and split the vote.
While president for only one term, Bush’s presidential legacy was quietly completing the work Ronald Reagan began. Bush negotiated the successful end of the Cold War and balanced the budget with bi-partisan support by going back on his infamous pledge of “Read my lips: no new taxes.”
President Bush was criticized for what was seen as caution and timidity – yet his courage to resist the politically tempting path was the difference between failure and achievement…Victory in first Persian gulf war and successfully bringing the Cold War to a peaceful end – came because he ‘resisted popular pressure to take the politically expedient route.’
– Gerald F. Seib, Wall Street Journal, The Courage of H.W. Bush: Avoiding the Easy Path
2. He was a humble, relationship builder
Bush was raised to be humble, polite, and respectful. He brought this upbringing into his interactions with people, including his political career. “Kinder. Gentler.” were words that Bush used in his inaugural speech and serve as a concise description of Bush’s political tone. But some teased him for being too nice. In October 1987, Newsweek ran a cover story titled “Fighting the ‘Wimp Factor.’”
What Bush lacked in bravado, he made up for in knowing the secret of politics: what he called “personal diplomacy.” Bush knew how to forge friendships, and he leveraged his personality and skill with people to form personal relationships during his political career. During his time in Congress, he organized weekly Sunday afternoon hotdog cook-outs and hosted a hodgepodge of old friends, new friends, and political colleagues. While Ambassador to the United Nations and president of the United States, he was known for calling up heads of state to inquire their opinion on a matter or simply to maintain their personal relationship. Even an unsuspecting Kevin Costner got to experience Bush’s personal diplomacy when he was suddenly invited to the White House for the day.
In crucial things, unity. In important things, diversity. In all things, generosity.
– George H.W Bush
3. He valued his family
Bush had an extraordinarily accomplished life: starting a successful oil business, serving in Congress, as Ambassador to the United Nations, Envoy to China, Director of the CIA, vice president, and then president. But what’s more inspiring is the loving relationship Bush had with his family and the loving relationship they had with him – in spite of his accomplished life. So often business or political leaders are revered for their accomplishments when things are not so accomplished at home.
Before his wife, Barbara, passed away earlier this year, George and Barbara had been married for 73 years, an incredible feat in society today. Their son and Former President George W. Bush described the success of his parents’ marriage in simple terms: “When they needed each other most, they were both willing to go three-quarters of the way.”
It’s also evident that George H.W. Bush had a strong relationship with his children and grandchildren as well. He was known to write heartfelt letters (and later emails) to his children. One letter in 1998 captures how important family was to the former president:
I want to put this aging on hold for a while now. I don’t expect to be on the A-team anymore, but I want to play golf with you and I want to fish or throw shoes and I want to rejoice in your victories and I want to be there for you if you get a bad bounce in life and no doubt you will for the seas do indeed get rough.
And it appears that his love was reciprocated by his children. Shortly after George H.W. passed away this week, his son, Jeb, tweeted lovingly about his late father “I already miss the greatest human being that I will ever know. Love you Dad!” And, in his eulogy yesterday, George W. Bush described his father as “the best father a son or daughter could have.”
The end of a man’s life is also telling about his character, and nothing sums up what’s really most important to a man than his last words on earth. George W. Bush shared those words in yesterday’s state funeral:
When I was told he had minutes to live, I called him … I said ‘Dad, I love you, and you’ve been a wonderful father’. And the last words he would ever say on Earth were, ‘I love you, too.’
We need more leaders like Bush 41 today
When Bush accepted the presidential nomination in 1988, his address to the Republican National Convention included this guiding principle: “I am guided by certain traditions. One is that there’s a God, and He is good and His love, while free, has a self-imposed cost: We must be good to one another.”
George H.W. Bush’s contributions to our nation and world during a critical time in history alone are worthy of our respect. But what’s truly exceptional and inspirational was how he treated people – both in politics and within his family.
Similarly, may we be good to one another and let these guiding principles serve as an inspiration for our nation in these polarized times. Thank you, 41.