Bush's presidential peers remember his life and legacy of 'service,' 'decency,' and 'authenticity'

Former first families stand with first lady Melania Trump and former President George H.W. Bush

(Image credit: Paul Morse/George W. Bush Presidential Center/Getty Images)

published 1 December 2018

Presidents past and present on Saturday joined the Bush family in remembering former President George H.W. Bush, who died Friday at 94.

He "was a man of the highest character," said former President George W. Bush. "The entire Bush family is deeply grateful for 41's life and love, for the compassion of those who have cared and prayed for Dad."

President Trump praised the elder Bush's "essential authenticity, disarming wit, and unwavering commitment to faith, family, and country," highlighting his role in drawing down the Cold War. Former President Barack Obama, meanwhile, said Bush left "a legacy of service that may never be matched, even though he'd want all of us to try." And former President Bill Clinton, who defeated the incumbent Bush in 1992, recalled the friendship the two former rivals developed, as well as Bush's "innate and genuine decency."

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Remembrances also poured in from other public figures and international leaders, perhaps most notably former Soviet premier Mikhail Gorbachev, who led the Soviet Union during Bush's tenure. "It was a time of great change, demanding great responsibility from everyone. The result was the end of the Cold War and nuclear arms race," Gorbachev said of their time working together, adding that he and his wife "deeply appreciated the attention, kindness and simplicity typical of George and Barbara Bush, as well as the rest of their large, friendly family."

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Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.