President George H. W. Bush set an example for public service, decency and character, according to local leaders.
The 41st president died Friday at age 94.
Dr. Michael Caldwell, left, is pictured with President George H. W. Bush, his daughter Julia and Barbara Bush. The Caldwells’ visit to Kennebunkport, Maine, in 2009 was to celebrate the president’s 85th birthday. Courtesy of Dr. Michael Caldwell.
Recalling a president
Former Dutchess County Health Commissioner Dr. Michael Caldwell remembered the former president fondly. Caldwell worked with Bush as part of the organization for cancer research and prevention, C-Change, which Bush founded in 1998.
Caldwell said he first met Bush at a C-Change meeting in 2004. He tells the story of being invited by Bush to sit down and talk. Little did Caldwell know he had taken Barbara Bush’s seat. As he and the former president talked, she waited patiently for them to finish before retaking her spot. The moment is captured in a photograph of the three of them.
The day before Bush’s 85th birthday in 2009, Caldwell snapped a picture of his daughter Julia giving the former president a birthday card at another C-Change meeting. The card wished him luck on his sky dive planned for the next day.
“He certainly had a great impact on me personally, and professionally,” Caldwell said.
A man of character
Former U.S. Rep. Chris Gibson, a retired Army colonel and Republican, said he was deployed with the 82nd Airborne Division into Iraq during Desert Storm and was grateful for the leadership Bush provided.
“We were appreciative we were able to bring that conflict to a close with a minimal loss of lives,” he said.
Gibson said Bush will be remembered for signing into law the Americans with Disabilities Act — that prohibits discrimination based on disability.
“He was a man of character,” he said. “He was able to bring people together both on the the domestic front and internationally.”.
U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, a Democrat, said: “President George H.W. Bush will be greatly missed in many ways. He was a fine man and even when he opposed your views, you knew he was doing what he thought was best for America. His yearning for a kinder and gentler nation seems more needed now than when he first called for it.”
Brought dignity to the office
Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro, a Republican, said Bush’s four years as president dovetailed with his four years at Red Hook High School. He most vividly recalls the end of the Cold War and the fall of the Berlin Wall, as well as Operation Desert Storm during the Bush presidency.
“They are memories that are very clear in my mind,” Molinaro said.
The county executive said Bush was the “last of the paternalistic presidents” who brought dignity to the office.
“He was a grandfatherly figure who led calmly and decently,” Molinaro said. “He was very much the statesman politician.”
In this Oct. 12, 1987, file photo, Vice President George H. W. Bush and his wife, Barbara, with their son, George W. Bush, far left, wave to supporters who turned out in Houston to hear him announce he was a candidate for the Republican nomination for president of the United States. Ed Kolenovsky/AP.
Public service example
Former state Sen. Steve Saland, a Republican, said Bush dedicated his life to public service, beginning with military service in World War II and later serving stints as envoy to China, CIA director and vice president.
“He’s a sterling example of what people who want to pursue public service should use as a model, regardless of political philosophy,” Saland said.
Molinaro, who has spent his adult life in public office, also recalled Bush's example.
“President George H.W. Bush set an example. He was devoted to his family, public service and the country he loved. A distinguished statesman, he understood the office he held and nation he led deserve decency, strength and honor," Molinaro said in a statement.
Set a standard for character
Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, D-Cold Spring, was also moved by the former president's example.
“Like many in his generation, George H.W. Bush embodied such decency that even politics and ambition could not overcome it," Maloney said in a statement. "He was a good man. He loved his family and his country and worked to keep both safe and sound. His life sets the standard for the character and patriotism essential to true public service.
“As we remember him, we take comfort in knowing that he has been reunited with his beloved wife Barbara and is free now from all sickness and pain in the loving arms of our Lord. We pray for his entire family and hold them in our thoughts," he said. "We pray too for our country; that we will learn from his example and set a higher standard once again for our politics.”
This article was originally published by Journal Staff of the Poughkeepsie Journal, titled President Bush recalled for dignity, public service, on December 1, 2018.
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