George H.W. Bush - The 41st President - Has Died

President George H.W. Bush died on November 30th at the age of 94.

I never voted for Bush, and I opposed many of the policies he pursued. But unlike our current president, I believed Bush to be a decent man who tried to do his best for the country. And it looks like history will remember him kindly. The charts above are from the Gallup Poll. They show he finished him term with a 56% approval rating, and currently enjoyed an approval rating of 64%.

Here is part of his obituary in The Washington Post:

George H.W. Bush, the 41st president of the United States and the father of the 43rd, was a steadfast force on the international stage for decades, from his stint as an envoy to Beijing to his eight years as vice president and his one term as commander in chief from 1989 to 1993.

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 Cold War that had carried the threat of nuclear annihilation.

His death, at 94 on Nov. 30, also marked the passing of an era.

Although Mr. Bush served as president three decades ago, his values and ethic seem centuries removed from today’s acrid political culture. His currency of personal connection was the handwritten letter — not the social media blast.

He had a competitive nature and considerable ambition that were not easy to discern under the sheen of his New England politesse and his earnest generosity. He was capable of running hard-edge political campaigns and took the nation to war. But his principal achievements were produced at negotiating tables.

“When the word moderation becomes a dirty word, we have some soul searching to do,” he wrote a friend in 1964, after losing his first bid for elective office.

And to his credit, he understood the danger of electing Donald Trump -- and he did not support him.