Former US President George H. Bush dies, aged 94

George Herbert Walker Bush, who as 41st president of the United States ushered in the final days of the Cold War, died Friday evening in Houston. He was 94.

He perpetuated a family political dynasty that influenced American politics at both the national and state levels for decades.

Bush was the last president to have served in the military during World War II. His experience in international diplomacy served him well as he dealt with the unravelling of the Soviet Union as a superpower, and later the rise of China as a commercial behemoth and potential partner.

We pay tribute to the memory of #GeorgeHWBush. 29years ago, almost to the day, he met Mikhail #Gorbachev in #Malta and together paved the way for the end of Cold War and the birth of #Europe as we know it -JM pic.twitter.com/zGocGudJnD

— Joseph Muscat (@JosephMuscat_JM) December 1, 2018

His wife of 73 years, Barbara Pierce Bush, died April 17, 2018, at the age of 92.

Bush felt the lure of political life when in 1962 he was chosen to head Houston’s fledgling Republican Party. He spent the next three decades in the political limelight, a career largely free of scandal or great controversy, with one exception — his role as vice president in the Iran-Contra scandal.

The second of five children, Bush was born on June 12, 1924 in Milton, Massachusetts, to Prescott and Dorothy Bush. After graduating from Yale University in 1948, he found success as an oilman and later as a Congressman.

Bush ran in November 1966 for Congress and won, becoming the first Republican from Houston and the star of the growing Texas GOP. After Bush’s second term and a failed Senate bid, President Richard Nixon appointed Bush to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and, later, chairman of the Republican National Committee.

His tenure coincided with investigations into the Watergate affair, which resulted in Nixon’s resignation. New President Gerald Ford appointed Bush “envoy” to China but the two nations did not yet have full diplomatic relations, so Bush – then director of the Central Intelligence Agency – could not be called an ambassador.

Deeply saddened to hear about the demise of former US President #GeorgeHWBush, a patriot who believed the U.S. should lead the world as a positive force. At this time, our thoughts & prayers are with his family and the American people. @MFAMalta @MaltaGov pic.twitter.com/m3uIl3c8U9

— Carmelo Abela (@AbelaCarmelo) December 1, 2018

Bush returned to Houston in 1976, when Ford was defeated. He ran for president but ended up instead the two-term vice president to Ronald Reagan, proving a loyal second.

In 1988, Bush won the top office decisively. He came to be widely respected by foreign leaders and diplomats, but his political profile at home was different, dogged by assertions that he was a bland and hazy character, aloof and dilettantish.

When the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, Bush adopted a cautious posture as the Soviet Union beginning to unravel. He saw the negotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement, and the victorious Operation Desert Storm, a multinational response to the military invasion of Kuwait by neighbouring Iraq.

At home, plagued by inherited budget deficits and a Congress under the control of Democrats, Bush was pushed into a tax increase that belied his explicit promise to allow none. His legislative achievements included the Americans with Disabilities Act, a bolstered Clean Air Act, and an increased minimum wage.

He lost a second presidential term to Democrat Bill Clinton, who after two of his terms was succeeded by Bush son George W. in 2000.

When he lost the ability to walk, there were few public appearances. At his wife’s funeral, he wore socks with images of books of them, a testament to his wife’s devotion to improving literacy.