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George H.W. Bush, president and servant-statesman, is laid to rest
COLLEGE STATION, United States, Dec 7, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Former US
president George H.W. Bush, remembered as much for his legacy of service as
his impact on history, was buried Thursday, capping days of tribute from a
nation that briefly set aside political divisions to honor him.
After a state funeral Wednesday in Washington that was attended by the
country’s five living presidents and foreign dignitaries, Bush’s flag-draped
casket was flown to Texas for a final farewell.
A compassionate national spotlight had shone on Bush’s passing and the
memorial proceedings throughout this week.
But his burial at Bush’s presidential library center in College Station,
Texas — alongside Barbara, his wife of 73 years, and their daughter Robin
who died of leukemia at age 3 — was a private family service.
“The 41st President of the United States of America, George Herbert Walker
Bush, has reached his final resting place,” family spokesman Jim McGrath
posted on Twitter.
Bush, who died Friday at age 94, lay in repose at St Martin’s Episcopal
Church in Houston, where he was eulogized at a final memorial service by
close friend James Baker, who served as his secretary of state.
“His incredible service to our nation and the world are already etched in
the marble of time,” Baker said, highlighting the sense of duty, service, and
personal grace that drove Bush.
Fighting through tears, the 88-year-old Baker recalled how Bush’s deeds
“expressed his moral character, and they reflected his decency, his boundless
kindness and consideration of others, his determination always to do the
right thing.”
– Final resting place –
Son George W. Bush, the nation’s 43rd president, appeared somber at his
wife Laura’s side, and stood ramrod straight as military pallbearers carried
the casket from the Houston church to a waiting hearse.
It was then placed on a train — with a locomotive painted in the colors
and pattern of Air Force One, the presidential jet — for the final journey
to the presidential library, part of a precise series of ritualized events.
There were emotional displays along the route in towns like Spring,
Magnolia, Navasota and College Station.
Crowds of people braved rainy weather to mass beside the tracks, where they
held American flags, saluted, cheered and waved goodbye as the train rolled
slowly past.
Bush was the 12th president to lie in state in the US Capitol rotunda.
Thousands paid respects there to a statesman who steered the nation through
turbulent times including the end of the Cold War and the marshalling of an
international coalition to oust invading Iraqi forces from Kuwait.
On Thursday, Baker pointed to Bush’s eagerness to forge compromise and
peace rather than rattle sabers.
“He had the courage of a warrior,” Baker said. “But when the time came for
prudence, he always maintained the greater courage of a peacemaker.”
Bush was a decorated World War II aviator who nearly died when he was shot
down on a bombing mission.
He served as a congressman, envoy to China and to the United Nations,
director of the Central Intelligence Agency, and vice president to Ronald
Reagan before winning the White House.
At Wednesday’s service in Washington, President Donald Trump and First Lady
Melania shared a front row pew in the National Cathedral with past presidents
Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter and their wives, to honor Bush.
Son George delivered an emotional eulogy in tribute to his father. The pair
are only the second father-son presidential duo in American history, after
John Adams and John Quincy Adams.
– An uneasy truce –
Since Bush’s death, Trump has traded his usual provocative posture for one
of solemnity and respect for the Bushes, with whom he has often clashed since
his meteoric rise in the world of politics.
As Trump toned down the rhetoric this week, Washington’s political heat was
reduced from a normal boil to a simmer.
But at Wednesday’s service, tensions were obvious.
Trump arrived and shook hands with the Obamas, but his body language turned
cold as he failed to acknowledge Hillary Clinton, his defeated Democratic
rival in 2016, or her president husband Bill.
BSS/AFP/MRI/0822 hrs