George Bush Sr. in Team of Five, by Kate Brower
On Health Care:
Parkinson's disease & used a wheelchair at end of life
In November 2018, Bush had been in and out of hospitals and was still mourning the death of his beloved wife of 73 years, Barbara, less than eight months before.
Bush was having one of his bad days. He had Parkinson's disease and used a wheelchair or a motorized scooter, and he was not feeling well.
His wife's death had shaken him; she had always said she hoped she would pass away before he did, because she could not imagine living without him.
Now he was forced to live without her, and it was taking a heavy toll. The day after Barbara Bush's funeral, he was hospitalized because of an infection that spread to his blood.
Source: Team of Five, by Kate Andersen Brower
Apr 21, 2020
On Homeland Security:
Disturbed by candidates who took military deferments
Trump was always well aware of how the Bush dynasty viewed him--he was not part of the plan. Jeb Bush was supposed to win the Republican nomination, and Trump got in the way. But George H.W. Bush's dislike of Trump ran deeper than Trump assumes.
Bush was particularly disturbed when Trump, who received four student deferments from military service between 1964 and 1968, and one medical deferment after college, famously attacked John McCain at a Christian conservative gathering in the summer of
2015. "I like people who weren't captured," Trump said, referring to the Arizona senator's 5 years as a prisoner who was tortured at the infamous "Hanoi Hilton" during the Vietnam War. "He's not a war hero. He was a war hero because he was captured,"
Trump said."I can't understand how somebody could say that and still be taken seriously," Bush said, particularly upset because of his own service during World War II. "I'm getting old," he told friends, "at just the right time."
Source: Team of Five, by Kate Andersen Brower
Apr 21, 2020
On Principles & Values:
2005: Time's "Partners of the Year" with Jimmy Carter
The former presidents supported George W. Bush after 9/11, and how George H.W. Bush and Clinton traveled the world together, seeking help after the tsunami in Asia, and in their leadership roles raising money after Hurricane Katrina. They became
near-constant companions, doing interviews together and even traveling with George W. as part of the American delegation to Pope John Paul II's 2005 funeral in Rome. "Come on," Bush senior implored Clinton. "It will be better with you along."
Nicknamed "the A-team" in the press, they became like father and son. Time made them Partners of the Year in its 2005 Person of the Year issue. After seeing how powerful the Clinton-Bush team was,
President Obama dispatched George W. Bush and Clinton to Haiti to raise awareness and funds after the devastating 2010 earthquake. This kind of teamwork and camaraderie now seems unthinkable and almost quaint.
Source: Team of Five, by Kate Andersen Brower
Apr 21, 2020
On Principles & Values:
Former presidents shouldn't publicly criticize successors
George H.W. Bush did not think that a former president should publicly criticize his successor, believing that it would do lasting damage to the presidency if every sitting president had to be looking over his shoulder. The last former president to see
Bush before he died on November 30, 2018, was not George W. Bush: three days before he died, Bush, 94, welcomed Obama into his Houston home. That day, November 27, Obama saw the man he called "my buddy 41" for the last time. Bush had been in and out of
hospitals and was still mourning the death of his beloved wife of 73 years, Barbara, less than eight months before. He had good days and bad days now, but Obama was someone he wanted to see, even on a particularly bad day.When Obama was president,
Bush returned to the White House several times, including two visits to the Oval Office and the unveiling of the official White House portraits of his son and daughter-in-law in May 2012.
Source: Team of Five, by Kate Andersen Brower
Apr 21, 2020
Page last updated: Mar 16, 2021