The nation stood still, flags at half-mast. Banks closed, markets shut down, government offices stood empty. George H.W. Bush, forty-first President of the United States had died. President Trump declared Wednesday, December 5, 2018, a National Day of Mourning. For a few days, we became, what “41” had hoped for us; we were a gentler and kinder nation.
The news of the President’s death was not a surprise. Failing health was visible for a couple of years. Seven months before, Barbara Bush, his partner for 73 years passed away. The events that followed showed the extent of the planning that had gone into this week of mourning. President Trump’s immediate proclamation, while he was at the G20 meeting in South America, was soothing and eloquent. Air Force One was sent to Houston to transport the body and the family back to Washington. The Military’s preparation for the reception of the casket, for transportation to the Capital, for standing guard, and for other events was precise.
No one would be surprised if public memories faded in the twenty-five years since he had been in office, but they evidently did not. Lying-in-State in the rotunda of our magnificent Capital, scores of thousands of people stood in line for hours, in freezing weather, to spend a few minutes viewing the casket. It lay on the same catafalque used for the viewing of Abraham Lincoln, and only 32 others in the history of the nation.
The memorial service at the National Cathedral in D.C. was a combination of reverent Episcopal liturgy and civic ritual. Attended by 2,000 or so invited guess, it was very much a public ceremony for the country. The “private” service at St. Mark’s in Houston was a more personal funeral for his family, and his friends. From Houston, the President went by train to his library on the campus of Texas A&M for burial. The seventy-mile route was lined by thousands upon thousands of people wanting a last glimpse, wanting to say goodbye, wanting their children to savor the experience, wanting the family to know how much they respected “41.”
The theme of the week, peeking through all of the military ceremony and liturgies, was palpable: family, honor, and service. He served his country well and history books tell the story. He was a man who prized family, who embedded in them a sense of duty, for to whom much is given… He taught constantly, he gathered the growing clan at every chance and he let them know they were loved.
George H.W.Bush was one of the country’s most prepared servants: decorated war hero, Member of Congress, Envoy to China, Director of the CIA, Ambassador to the U.N. and Vice President. He is thought to be the most effective and important one-term President in our history. He presided over the downfall of the Soviet Union, the reunification of Germany, freed Kuwait from occupation, and much more. Political accomplishments, however, no matter how high or how important, pale in comparison to how he will be remembered in the end: he was a “good man.”
There is no higher achievement.
