Former
Sen. Bob Dole paid his respects to the late President George H.W. Bush on
Tuesday afternoon and was helped out of his wheelchair so he could stand and
salute the coffin.
The 95-year-old can no longer walk. An aide lifted him
from behind so the former senator could be upright to salute Bush, a fellow
World War II veteran.
Dole then sat in his wheelchair for a few moments,
blinking back tears, as he stared at the flag-draped coffin containing the
remains of his fellow member of the Greatest Generation.
UPDATE:Welcome
readers of Bad Blue
Uncensored News.Thanks to Doug Ross
for linking to this post.
He took office with the
humility that was his hallmark.
"Some see
leadership as high drama, and the sound of trumpets calling, and sometimes it
is that," he said. "But I see history as a book with many pages, and
each day we fill a page with acts of hopefulness and meaning. The new breeze
blows, a page turns, the story unfolds."
George H.W. Bush was the
last veteran of World War II to serve as president. He was a consummate public
servant and a statesman who helped guide the nation and the world out of a
four-decade-long Cold War that carried the threat of nuclear annihilation.
Flying ace and
record-setting test pilot, Gen. Chuck Yeager, tweeted
his wish that he say “Hello” to his wife Barbara as she welcomed him home, “She
sure looked out for me during your inaugural parade.”
The elder Bush was an
Eisenhower Republican, whose prudence was displayed first when the Berlin Wall
came down and when Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait.
Bush earned the lasting
admiration of a discerning posterity, a judgment more important than the one
rendered by the undiscerning electorate that in 1992 limited him to one term.
Family spokesman Jim McGrath
said the former president died shortly after 10 PM Friday, nearly eight months
after the death of his wife of 73 years, Barbara Bush.
President Trump issued
a statement while in Buenos Aires, Argentina, for the G20 summit and the White
House immediately noted the passing of Bush by ordering the flag be lowered to half-staff.
John Sununu, who was Chief
of Staff to President George H.W. Bush, noted “he [Bush] always considered Lou
Gehrig to be one of his greatest heroes.No doubt, this admiration stemmed in part from Bush’s own baseball
career.Like Gehrig, Bush played as a
left-handed first baseman for Yale. But more substantially, Gehrig’s career
closely mirrored that of Bush.Gehrig
played in the shadow of the legendary Babe Ruth, much like Bush did in the
shadow of his partner Ronald Reagan.And
like Gehrig, Bush operated more comfortably as the soft-spoken member of his
partnership.As he said in his 1988 RNC
convention acceptance speech: ‘I am a quiet man, but I hear the quiet people
others don’t.’”
Sununu added, “As
president, George H.W. Bush laid a solid foundation for his successors to build
on. Whether we have the fortitude and discipline to eventually do so remains to
be seen.”
“In any case, the world
will miss a great president. And I will miss a great friend.”
Naval Aviation mourns the passing of our 41st President, George H.W. Bush, a Naval Aviator, statesman, and humble public servant. His legacy lives on in those who don the cloth of our great nation and in the mighty warship which bears his name, @CVN77_GHWB. May he Rest In Peace. pic.twitter.com/0COuk6veDV
