# George H.W. Bush Has Passed **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 1, 2018, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-h-w-bush-has-passed/825379 "2018-12-01T05:05:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2018, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-h-w-bush-has-passed/825379/21 "2018-12-01T10:45:47Z")
“Hillary and I mourn the passing of President George H.W. Bush, and give thanks for his great long life of service, love, and friendship. I will be forever grateful for the friendship we formed. From the moment I met him as a young governor invited to his home in Kennebunkport, I was struck by the kindness he showed to Chelsea, by his innate and genuine decency, and by his devotion to Barbara, his children, and their growing brood. Few Americans have been—or will ever be—able to match President Bush’s record of service to the United States and the joy he took every day from it; from his military service in World War II, to his work in Congress, the United Nations, China, the Central Intelligence Agency, the Vice Presidency and the Presidency, where he worked to move the post Cold War world toward greater unity, peace, and freedom. He never stopped serving. I saw it up close, working with him on tsunami relief in Asia and here at home after Hurricane Katrina. His remarkable leadership and great heart were always on full display. I am profoundly grateful for every minute I spent with President Bush and will always hold our friendship as one of my life’s greatest gifts. Our hearts and prayers are with George, Jeb, Neil, Marvin, Doro, their families, and the entire Bush clan.” Bill Clinton ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2018, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-h-w-bush-has-passed/825379/22 "2018-12-01T11:04:35Z")
CNN anchors are wearing all black. Is that normal procedure for a dead President? It is in the UK for a Royal. ---
**Author:** ![peedin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peedin/32/14095_2.png) [@peedin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peedin)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2018, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-h-w-bush-has-passed/825379/23 "2018-12-01T12:38:56Z")
He was a good and decent man. RIP Mr. Bush. ---
**Author:** ![DummyGladHands](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/49beb7/32.png) [@DummyGladHands](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DummyGladHands)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2018, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-h-w-bush-has-passed/825379/24 "2018-12-01T13:41:10Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > A real gentleman regardless of political beliefs. RIP. > > Another funeral Chump won’t be invited to. Does he need one?? Serious question ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2018, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-h-w-bush-has-passed/825379/25 "2018-12-01T14:22:24Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > A real gentleman regardless of political beliefs. RIP. > > Another funeral Chump won’t be invited to. He prefers presidents who don’t die. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2018, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-h-w-bush-has-passed/825379/26 "2018-12-01T14:57:44Z")
Trump has already stated that he and Melania will attend, and has declared Wednesday as a national day of mourning. As for President Bush, he had a life of service to his country, all of which was honorable if not always effective. That has to be respected, regardless of your political persuasion. As POTUS, he was good at international relations, but fairly weak with his domestic message. But he did no real harm at home. By all accounts of people who knew him, he was a good person, compassionate, caring and honest. Can’t ask for much more than that. ---
**Author:** ![KAndre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@KAndre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KAndre)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2018, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-h-w-bush-has-passed/825379/27 "2018-12-01T15:39:54Z")
Now George H.W. Bush was the kind of president that even through I never voted for the man - not in Texas or the national level - I never doubted that he really did have the best interests of the country at heart and I respected him. I had earnestly wished he had beaten Reagan (who I disliked then, now and forever, but was among some of the Republicans I liked - “voodoo economics” was true then and is still true). I still feel he was one of the best presidents for international relations in my lifetime, but in the end got caught up in the backlash of Reagan’s failures. He was bracketed by two of the most charismatic people to hold the office of President, but still managed to be calm, cool and collected (to the point that SNL mocked his for it and he not only took it in stride but had a clear sense of humor). He was smart, loyal, and dignified and someone I can say was a fine example of a good man and a good President. I really wish Trump would stay away from his funeral - he’s nothing but an unnecessary distraction. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2018, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-h-w-bush-has-passed/825379/28 "2018-12-01T16:37:16Z")
He was a decent and good man who I had a great deal of respect for. Though I voted for Dukakis, Bush’s winning was not the worst thing that ever happened. I wish that he had run the campaign without the Willie Horton ad, that has tainted his legacy a bit. We give him too much credit for “winning” the Cold War- it ain’t over yet. The Russians have simply resumed the fight on different terrain. Let’s give the guy credit for being a war hero, for being a decent man, for having the most complete resume of any president ever, and for appealing to basic human goodness. A certain orange boor may mock him for his thousand points of light, but the concept was noble and inspiring. We are better off for having GHWB. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2018, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-h-w-bush-has-passed/825379/29 "2018-12-01T17:02:27Z")
He gave us Clarence Thomas. That is not an easy thing to forgive. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2018, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-h-w-bush-has-passed/825379/30 "2018-12-01T17:02:54Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > A certain orange boor may mock him for his thousand points of light, but the concept was noble and inspiring. I don’t want to make this thread a political debate, but I can’t let this go. I apologise. July, 2018: > [@Trump](#): > > The thousand points of light, what the hell was that by the way? Thousand points of light, what did that mean, does anyone know? I know one thing, Make America Great Again we understand. Putting America first, we understand. Thousand points of light, I never quite got that one. What the hell is that? Has anyone ever figured that one out? And then today: > [@Trump](#): > > President Bush inspired generations of his fellow Americans to public service—to be, in his words, ‘a thousand points of light’ illuminating the greatness, hope, and opportunity of America to the world. ---
**Author:** ![Royal\_Nonesutch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecb155/32.png) [@Royal\_Nonesutch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Royal_Nonesutch)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2018, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-h-w-bush-has-passed/825379/31 "2018-12-01T18:02:56Z")
I am convinced that compared to Bill Clinton or Donald Trump, as a human being, at the core of his moral fiber, George H. W. Bush was likely marginally a better man than either one of those truly vile scumbags, but didn’t several women come forward in the past year or two to say that he liked to play a hard, aggressive, seemingly calculated (and completely one-sided) game of Grab Ass with females, some in their teens, that he got his letcherous mitts in range of? I initially thought it might be a sign of senile dementia, but apparently it was his M.O. for at least 20 years, even down to using the same “humorous” catchphrase when he struck, something about how his favorite magician has always been David Cop-a-Feel. Doens’t sound like a harmless old man innocently acting a wee bit randy in his dottage, rather the actions of an arrogant old prick that hadn’t been told “NO” since he left the Navy after WWII. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2018, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-h-w-bush-has-passed/825379/32 "2018-12-01T18:32:58Z")
Jenna posted a wonderful photo with her sister and grandfather. It’s great that George lived long enough to meet his great grandchildren. [https://www.instagram.com/p/Bq2C0pbB-Yn/?utm\_source=ig\_embed&ig\_mid=W71J5gABAAFWZxISCmUPxwg5uYie](https://www.instagram.com/p/Bq2C0pbB-Yn/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_mid=W71J5gABAAFWZxISCmUPxwg5uYie) ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2018, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-h-w-bush-has-passed/825379/33 "2018-12-01T19:09:17Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > He didn’t start the Iraq war. Some dude in Iraq invaded and conquered Kuwait. I’m sure GHWB would have preferred that that didn’t happen. Secret CIA testimony in the Senate showed sanctions were having a great effect, blocking some 90% of Iraq’s money coming in. Bush dismissed it b/c he wanted to go to war in time for the 1992 elections for which his polling numbers were so poor they were headlines. And when Bush could have finished Saddam Hussein by supporting the Kurds fighting against him near the end of the war, he instead pulled back and hung them out to dry (and die). Even Zbigniew Brzezinski said the US’s errant bombing in 1991 of mostly citizens (w/ ‘smart bombs’ that turned out not to be so smart) sent a message to the Arab world that the US does not care about Arab lives; a decade later we saw that come back to haunt us. What GHWB preferred to happen happened, just not w/ the result he wanted (re-election). ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2018, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-h-w-bush-has-passed/825379/34 "2018-12-01T19:32:53Z")
I won’t be convinced he’s really dead unless the liberal media gives him a week long funeral like they did for Reagan. In all seriousness, he was a good man and a good President (and a war hero). He was also my CIC when I was in the military. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2018, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-h-w-bush-has-passed/825379/35 "2018-12-01T19:42:07Z")
First President I voted for that won. ---
**Author:** ![Lantern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d26b3c/32.png) [@Lantern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lantern)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2018, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-h-w-bush-has-passed/825379/36 "2018-12-01T19:48:44Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > True. But he dealt with the collapse of Communism and the fall of the Soviet Union with extreme deftness. It should have by all rights been a major shit show. Indeed. People tend to underestimate HW because they underestimate the potential for chaos after the collapse of the Soviet Union. During his political life HW was overshadowed by Reagan and his reputation damaged by his re-election defeat but I think history will judge him well. Reagan’s dogmatic anti-government rhetoric and ideology haven’t aged well and if the Republican party is to become a sane governing party again, it will be through HW’s pragmatism and moderation. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2018, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-h-w-bush-has-passed/825379/37 "2018-12-01T19:53:40Z")
The last Republican I could watch on television without yelling obscenities at the screen. An era has passed. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2018, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-h-w-bush-has-passed/825379/38 "2018-12-01T20:21:25Z")
George & Barbara Bush had the longest Presidential marriage as of [January 6, 2018](https://www.newscentermaine.com/article/news/local/fmr-president-george-h-w-bush-and-barbara-become-longest-presidential-marriage/97-505541780) And the Simpsons’s episode Two Bad Neighbors was very good, even if Bush was voiced by Harry Shearer. ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2018, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-h-w-bush-has-passed/825379/39 "2018-12-01T22:28:20Z")
I have only the faintest memories of H.W. Bush’s administration, because I’m 32. I remember the Gulf War; I actually had a plastic toy submachine gun painted in desert camouflage that said “Desert Storm” on the side, which would make rattling “gunfire” noises when the trigger was held down. I also knew he had a house in Maine because it was pointed out to me by my parents on one of our summer vacations to Bar Harbor. That is about it. Bill Clinton looms much larger when I remember the presidents of my childhood. His most lasting legacy for my generation will be that he’s “the president in The Big Lebowski.” ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2018, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-h-w-bush-has-passed/825379/40 "2018-12-02T00:23:55Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > And the Simpsons’s episode Two Bad Neighbors was very good, even if Bush was voiced by Harry Shearer. Ah yes, back when The Simpsons was the best thing on television. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-h-w-bush-has-passed/825379.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/george-h-w-bush-has-passed/825379.md?page=3)