By Seriah Sargenton
Assitant Editor
On Wednesday, Dec. 5th, federal offices, and agencies closed as the nation mourned for former president George Herbert Walker Bush who died at the age of 94 on Nov. 30th in his home in Houston, Texas. He was the longest lived president, surpassing former president Gerald Ford.
Bush spent the last several years of his life with Vascular Parkinsonism, which are problems with vessels in the brain that control body movement and are usually caused by small strokes. As a result of this, Bush was confined to a motorized scooter and wheelchair for the remainder of his life. This didn’t stop him from spending his 90th birthday skydiving in Maine.
Bush leaves his sons George W. Bush, Jeb Bush, Neil Bush, and Marvin Bush; daughter Dorothy Bush Koch, and 17 grandchildren. His was preceded in death by the former first lady, Barbara Bush earlier in 2018, and his daughter, Pauline Robinson Bush, who died from leukemia in 1953.
Though he stayed out of the public light due to is deteriorating health, Bush was seen casting his final election day vote with his yellow Labrador, Sully trailing close behind him. A few months before, the internet was crazed with photos of Bush handing former first lady, Michelle Obama a piece of candy at John McCain’s funeral.
Bush is a former Navy veteran who served as the youngest pilot during World War II. After the war, his family moved to Texas where he became a millionaire business owner in the oil industry.
He soon transitioned into politics in 1966 when he earned a seat at the House of Representatives in the Texas 7th Congressional District. Following his time as a representative, he was elected as an ambassador for the United Nations by former President Richard Nixon and became the chairman for Republican National Committee in 1973. His long line of political work pushed him to run against Ronald Reagan for the 1980 primary elections.
Though he lost, Reagan chose Bush as his running mate for the general elections. Bush is known for his hard stance on the war on drugs. Under Reagan, Bush fought for CIA and military involvement on indicting drugs.
During his first nationalized speech as President, Bush ensured to the public that more funding in the military would result in a decrease on mass drug usage throughout the United States.
The Bush Administration is known for many things, including dissolving the Soviet Union in 1991, signing the National American Free Trade Agreement (N.A.F.T.A.), and the end of the Cold War. While good things came out from this administration, it wasn’t perfect.
One the biggest issues that the Bush Administration failed to properly handle was the HIV/AIDS epidemic. While healthcare is a top issues many Republicans, Bush prioritized mass militarization over the needs of people with STDs and AIDS/HIV.
To fund the military properly, funding was cut from research that focused on cures and medications for these sexual diseases. A vast majority of people who were living with HIV/AIDS during his presidency were young people of color and members of the LGBT community.
With AIDS activists calling for action, Bush did include people with HIV/AIDS under the American Disability Act (A.D.A.) and he signed the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency (C.A.R.E.) Act.
These laws were put to place to not only protect people with HIV/AIDS, but to ensure that doctors and other agencies were doing their absolute best to give patients treatments needed to make them healthy again.
After he signed a bill that increased taxes and an economic drop, he lost the 1992 Presidential Election to Bill Clinton. He spent the remainder of his time doing humanitarian work and spending time with his family. He watched his son, George W. Bush through his presidency, and lived to see true changes in our political climate.
