George H.W. Bush, the upper-crust war hero turned oilman and diplomat who steered America through the end of the Cold War as president and led a political dynasty that saw his son win the White House breathed his last yesterday. He was 94. George W. Bush called his father a “man of the highest character and the best dad a son or daughter could ask for,” in a statement announcing his death. His death comes just months after the death of his wife and revered first lady Barbara Bush in April.
The 41st American president was a foreign policy realist who navigated the turbulent but largely peaceful fall of the Soviet Union in 1989 and assembled an unprecedented coalition to defeat Iraqi strongman Saddam Hussein two years later. Bush presided over economic malaise at home, and infuriated his fellow Republicans during a budget battle with rival Democrats by famously breaking his vow: “Read my Lips: No new taxes.”
At the time of his death, Bush was the American president to have lived the longest.” America has lost a patriot and humble servant in George Herbert Walker Bush. While our hearts are heavy today, they are also filled with gratitude,” former president Barack Obama said in a statement.