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WASHINGTON (AP) – Former President George HW Bush returns to Washington as a revered statesman, hailed by leaders from all walks of life and around the world, not only for his greatness, but for his decency and his unusual kindness.
Bush, who died Friday night in his 94-year-old home in Houston, will be honored with a funeral service at the National Capital's National Cathedral Wednesday, followed by a funeral Thursday in the precincts of his Presidential Library at Texas A & M After an arrival ceremony on Monday, his body will rest in the capital Rotunda until Wednesday morning.
President Donald Trump, who ordered the closure of federal offices for Wednesday's National Day of Mourning, is the first to attend the ceremony. Lady Melania Trump and other senior officials.
Bush's supreme success as president was the constitution of the international military coalition that liberated Kuwait, a tiny oil-rich country, from the invasion of neighboring Iraq in 1991, at the end of the war. A war of 100 hours only. He also presided over the end of the Cold War between the United States and the former Soviet Union.
"We were not much in agreement on domestic politics, but as for the international side, he was very wise. and a caring man, "said Saturday to the Associated Press the former Massachusetts governor, Michael Dukakis, a Democrat who lost the presidency. He acknowledged that Bush's ability to negotiate with former Soviet Prime Minister Mikhail Gorbachev played a key role.
"It was a time of great change, demanding great responsibilities from all," Gorbachev told the Interfrax news agency. "The result was the end of the cold war and the nuclear arms race."
During and after, Mr. Gorbachev stated that he always appreciated the kindness of Bush and his family.
In Washington, the former Republican Speaker Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan congratulated him for leading the nation with "decency and integrity," while the Speaker of the House Democratic, Nancy Pelosi, said that it was "a privilege to work with him".
Republican Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee said that Bush "was befriending political enemies, reminding Americans that there was always more that unites us than divides us."
At the G-20 summit in Argentina, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who was raised in East Germany, then divided, told reporters that she probably would not never became the head of his country if Bush had not insisted that the country be reunited in 1990.
Humble hero of the Second World War, Bush was only 20 years old when he was killed . clean during a bombing in Japan. He enlisted in the US Navy at the age of 18.
Shortly before leaving military service, he married his 19-year-old girlfriend, Barbara Pierce, into a union that lasted until her death earlier this year.
Bush enrolled at Yale University, where he would become a scholar-athlete, commander of the two university series baseball team before graduating from Phi Beta Kappa after only two and a half years.
After moving to Texas to work in the oil sector, Bush turned his attention to politics in the 1960s, having been elected to his first of two congressional terms in 1967. He would then be ambassador to the United Nations and in China, head of the CIA and chairman of the Republican National Committee. before being elected to two terms as vice president of Ronald Reagan.
Shortly after reaching the zenith of its political popularity after the liberation of Kuwait, the US economy began to deteriorate and voters began to believe that Bush A great speaker was disconnected from ordinary people
He had lost his bid for the reelection of Bill Clinton, then Governor of Arkansas, who would later become a close friend. The two men worked together to raise tens of millions of dollars for the victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and Hurricane Katrina, which flooded New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. in 2005.
"Who would have thought that I would work with Bill Clinton did he joke in 2005.
Clinton said that he would be" always grateful "for this friendship.
Published December 1, 2018
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