We do not normally editorialize on national events or personages, but the uniqueness of the 41st president of the United States, George Herbert Walker Bush, prompts us to want to be among those expressing admiration following his death Friday.
As tribute after tribute published and broadcast over the weekend pointed out, Bush was an uncommonly kind and considerate person. These are not traits normally associated with persons involved in the rough and tumble, too often nasty, world of politics.
It was as not as though Bush was not fully immersed in public service that involved him in politics.
His entire adult life was devoted to public service.
As chronicled in online sources, Bush began serving his country on his 18th birthday when he enlisted in the U.S. Navy and became the Navy’s youngest aviator. After then attending Yale University, he moved to Texas and became a millionaire in the oil industry.
He would become a member of Congress, a U.S. ambassador, director of the Central Intelligence Agency, vice president and, of course, president.
By all accounts he never lost his humility and inherent kindness, qualities that seem to be all too rare in the world of politics and government today.
This does not mean Bush was not effective in his public service roles. Various sources credit his diplomatic skills with bringing the world’s cold war to an end during his presidency.
He was a good man and our country was better because of him.