At the Capitol, George H.W. Bush Is Saluted as a 'Gentle Soul' and a 'Great Man'
WASHINGTON (AP) — The nation’s
capital embraced George H.W. Bush in death Monday with solemn ceremony and high
tributes to his service and decency, as the remains of the 41st president took
their place in the Capitol rotunda for three days of mourning and praise by the
political elite and everyday citizens alike.
With Bush’s casket atop the
Lincoln Catafalque, first used for Abraham Lincoln’s 1865 funeral, dignitaries
came forward to honor the Texan whose efforts for his country extended three
quarters of a century from World War II through his final years as an advocate
for volunteerism and relief for people displaced by natural disaster.
President from 1989 to 1993, Bush
died Friday at age 94.
In an invocation opening Monday
evening’s ceremony, the U.S. House chaplain, the Rev. Patrick J Conroy, praised
Bush’s commitment to public service, from Navy pilot to congressman, U.N.
ambassador, envoy to China and then CIA director before being elected vice
president and then president.
“Here lies a great man,” said
Rep. Paul Ryan, the House speaker, and “a gentle soul. … His legacy is grace
perfected.”
Vice President Mike Pence and
Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell also spoke. President Donald Trump did
not attend, but he and first lady Melania Trump came to the Capitol later
Monday to pay tribute. They stood in front of the casket with their eyes closed
for a few moments, before Trump saluted the casket.
Political combatants set aside
their fights to honor a Republican who led in a less toxic era and at times
found commonality with Democrats despite sharp policy disagreements. Democratic
Rep. Nancy Pelosi, past and incoming House speaker, exchanged a warm hug with
George W. Bush and came away dabbing her face. Bush himself seemed to be
holding back tears.Pelosi and Chuck Schumer, the Senate Democratic leader,
placed wreaths in the short ceremony before the rotunda was to be opened to the
public. It was to remain open overnight.
Sent off from Texas with a 21-gun
salute, Bush’s casket was carried to Joint Base Andrews outside the capital
city aboard an aircraft that often serves as Air Force One and designated
“Special Air Mission 41” in honor of Bush’s place on the chronological list of
presidents.
Cannon roared again outside the
Capitol as the sun sank and his eldest son, former President George W. Bush,
stood with his hand over his heart, watching the casket’s procession up the
steps.
Bush was remembered just feet
away from what he called “Democracy’s front porch,” the west-facing steps of
the Capitol where he was sworn in as president.
He will lie in state in the
Capitol for public visitation through Wednesday. An invitation-only funeral
service, which the Trumps will attend, is set for Wednesday at Washington
National Cathedral.
Although Bush’s funeral services
are suffused with the flourishes accorded presidents, by his choice they will
not include a formal funeral procession through downtown Washington.
 |
President Donald Trump and first
lady Melania Trump pay their respects to former President George H. W. Bush, as
he lies in state in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol, Monday, Dec. 3, 2018, in
Washington. Jacquelyn Martin—AP
|
The younger President Bush, his
wife, Laura, and others from the family traveled on the flight from Houston.
On Sunday, students, staff and
visitors had flocked to Bush’s presidential library on the campus of Texas
A&M University, with thousands of mourners paying their respects at a
weekend candlelight vigil at a nearby pond and others contributing to growing
flower memorials at Bush statues at both the library and a park in downtown
Houston.
“I think he was one of the
kindest, most generous men,” said Marge Frazier, who visited the downtown
statue on Sunday while showing friends from California around.
After services in Washington,
Bush will be returned to Houston to lie in repose at St. Martin’s Episcopal
Church before burial Thursday at his family plot on the library grounds. His
final resting place will be alongside Barbara Bush, his wife of 73 years who
died in April, and Robin Bush, the daughter they lost to leukemia in 1953 at
age 3.
Trump has ordered the federal
government closed Wednesday for a national day of mourning. Flags on public
buildings are flying at half-staff for 30 days out of respect for Bush.
Trump, who has not always uttered
kind words about the Bush family, offered nothing but praise in the hours after
the former president’s death was announced.
“He was just a high-quality man
who truly loved his family,” Trump said Saturday while in Argentina. “One thing
that came through loud and clear, he was very proud of his family and very much
loved his family. So he was a terrific guy and he’ll be missed.”
Bush’s passing puts him back in
the Washington spotlight after more than two decades living the relatively
low-key life of a former president. His death also reduces membership in the
ex-presidents’ club to four: Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and
Barack Obama.
One of Bush’s major achievements
was assembling the international military coalition that liberated the tiny,
oil-rich nation of Kuwait from invading neighbor Iraq in 1991. The war lasted
just 100 hours. He also presided over the end of the Cold War between the
United States and the former Soviet Union.
A humble hero of World War II,
Bush was just 20 when he survived being shot down during a bombing run over a
Japanese island. He had joined the Navy when he turned 18.
Shortly before leaving the
service, he married his 19-year-old sweetheart, Barbara Pierce, and forged the
longest presidential marriage in U.S. history. Bush enrolled at Yale University
after military service, becoming a scholar-athlete and captaining the baseball
team to two College World Series before graduating Phi Beta Kappa after just 2½
years.
After moving to Texas to work in
the oil business, Bush turned his attention to politics in the 1960s. He was
elected to the first of two terms in Congress in 1967. He would go on to serve
as ambassador to the United Nations and China, head of the CIA and chairman of
the Republican National Committee before being elected to two terms as Ronald
Reagan’s vice president.
Soon after he reached the height
of his political popularity following the liberation of Kuwait, with public
approval ratings that are the envy of today’s politicians, the U.S. economy
began to sour and voters began to believe that Bush, never a great communicator
— something even he acknowledged — was out of touch with ordinary people.
He was denied a second term by
Arkansas Gov. Clinton, who would later become a close friend. The pair worked
together to raise tens of millions of dollars for victims of a 2004 Indian
Ocean tsunami and of Hurricane Katrina, which swamped New Orleans and the Gulf
Coast in 2005.
“Who would have thought that I
would be working with Bill Clinton of all people?” he joked in 2005.
In a recent essay, Clinton declared
of Bush: “I just loved him.”
Associated Press writers Juan A.
Lozano and Nomaan Marchant reported from Houston.
Time
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