This is not a hagiography. President George H.W. Bush, like all Republican Presidents, envision a vastly different America than we do, and thus pursue policies and make decisions that we vehemently disagree with, to the point of fervent anger. But he also was more “moderate” in his policies and tone than his two Republican presidential successors. He was classier than both, and had enormous respect for the office and for norms. He was also just a nice guy, to the point of being made fun of for it. He was the last Republican President that wasn’t a complete disaster. He actually raised taxes when he realized the country needed it.
So goodbye and godspeed. If only more Republicans were like you.
He appointed a great SCOTUS judge and he got other countries to pay for a war that he knew how to end. RIP
That must be Souter, because he also nominated Clarence Thomas.
https://mobile.twitter.com/zei_nabq/status/1037901734369214465
See also Panama, see also Noriega.
Just because he was an old fashioned blue blood with the good manners of an aristocrat didn’t mean he was any different.
GHWB Class act!
https://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/2018/12/02/biden-bush-visited-when-beau-hospital-man-class-and-decency/2182850002/
How did the overtly racist Willy Horton ads demonstrate that Bush I was “moderate”, “classier” and “just a nice guy” ?
It is pretty easy from where we sit right now to look favorably on George HW Bush — I would count him as the last GOP President who respected the overall business of running the government of the United States of America for the many of us. And his administration saw the end of the Cold War, and did that relatively well, even though the sins of the Cold War live with us to this day. It is important to remember that George HW Bush had Lee Atwater as his last campaign manager. This was a man who sanctioned the Willie Horton campaign, the campaign to discredit Dukakis’ wife, outed Tom Foley (although that may have been after the campaign) and who basically created the modern business of the politics of personal destruction. It is very fair to remember George H W for his accomplishments and public service. It is also fair to remember that he was an adherent to the GOP political playbook where capitalizing on racial panic and on other prejudices was part of the price of the ticket. It didn’t matter to him that Americans were hurt by this or that he contributed to our own internal divisions. But we should remember that as much as he looks like a model of rectitude now, we shouldn’t use his passing to normalize the routine mistreatment of citizens of this country for electoral purposes.
Well said.
GWB with his buddy Jim Baker in Texas engineered the recruitment of George Wallace Dems out of our Texas Democratic Party to build a dominant, racist Texas Republican Party. We were shoving the Wallace people out as a matter of moral principle; they recruited as a matter of cynical opportunism. They played the racist tune there for decades after. I was in the Democratic trenches on that one and can attest to the stench. GWB’s slick, preppy demeanor and elite northeasterner accent masked the hate they loved to spew at the River Oaks Country Club. No teary eyed nostalgia from me on his passing.