George H. Bush's legacy of dignity and quiet leadership

In 1991, when Chad Porter was just 15 years old, a water skiing accident left him nearly crippled. Struggling to cope with his trauma, Chad needed help and guidance. His aunt wrote a letter to the White House. Days later, Chad received a letter from President George H. Bush, in which the president encouraged the young man to stay strong, courageous and determined. It was a letter that stayed with the young man and motivated him to overcome his traumatic experience and grow into a healthy adult (WECT News, 2018). It was just one of the many acts of kindness that George H. Bush was known to perform over his life for others.

Essay Comparing and Contrasting Trump and Bush With the passing of George H. Bush, many have weighed in on his legacy and how different he was in tone and manner from the current sitting president. Bush was a very low-key individual, who did not seek the spotlight and did not use bombastic speeches to rouse the rabble. He was known for stating, “Politics doesn’t have to be mean and ugly (Victoria Advocate, 2018). The former envoy to China, CIA Director, Vice President under Reagan and President from 1988 to 1992 had his fair share scandals (notably Iran-Contra and the “babies out of incubators” pretext used for Desert Storm) but through it all he came across to much of America as a gentleman of refinement, class and dignity. He represented an old world type of hero—the last president to actually serve actively in the U.S. military—the last of the so-called greatest generation. Bush was a Republican president who did not generate huge partisan anger. He embodied a different style of politics, one missing in today’s arena. When he died, many commentators, friends, loved ones and former presidents came out to eulogize and remember him fondly. It was almost as though the world were saying collectively, “Remember how things used to be?”
In Jon Meacham’s eulogy, Bush was depicted as a war hero—as the type of courageous young man he encouraged Chad Porter to be in the face of trauma. Bush was the only survivor of an attack on his plane by the enemy in WWII: shot down overseas, he parachuted and was rescued and always wondered, “Why was I spared?” The answer, Meacham stated, was because he was destined to lead not just a nation but a whole world (Meacham, 2018). How did he go on to lead? Not through bombastic rhetoric or bullying but rather with quiet dignity and respect for others. As Meacham (2018) stated, Bush “was America's last great soldier-statesman, a 20th century founding father. He governed with virtues that most closely resemble those of Washington and of Adams, of TR and of FDR, of Truman and of Eisenhower, of men who believed in causes larger than themselves.” In other words, Bush was not full of himself but rather full of idealism and esteem for others’ ideas and points of view as well.
President Trump also attended the funeral of George H. Bush, but many drew contrasts between what is likely to be the current president’s legacy and what has developed as Bush’s. Bush was a one-term president who lost in 1992 to Bill Clinton. He graciously left the White House and expressed no animosity towards his political opponent, who differed from him on many issues in many ways. Bush demonstrated a “presidential” quality—one that is often found to be missing in the current president by critics and commentators.
However, in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Bush had his critics as well. While many people tend to forget the bad and remember the good—especially when one dies, many people viewed Bush as a hypocrite who promised “no new taxes,” only to turn around and raise them on middle class Americans. His shady dealings in pardoning those like Oliver North, who managed the guns-for-drugs trade that fueled that Iran Contra affair, which led to hundreds of thousands of deaths in Central America, were another point of contention. Desert Storm, though brief, was another. Bush was by no means a saint—and yet today he is revered for his quiet dignity and reverence for the office and for the art of statesmanship.
And it appears that the main reason for this reverence is that the current president appears to have such a different character. Trump has shown his willingness to be combative, to engage the opposition party at every turn and cast himself as one who will fight tooth and nail against those who are not with him. Bush, on the other hand, worked with Democrats in Congress and was always considered a basic, old school kind of decent guy. It was his reputation that largely led to his son George W. Bush winning the White House 8 years after his father’s loss to Clinton. People contrasted the memory of Bush I with the scandal-ridden presidency of Clinton and viewed Bush II as a chip off the old block. Compare and Contrast Essay on Trump and Bush Yet, one must ask, if George H. Bush was so beloved, why was he only a one-term president? Part of the answer is due to the fact that he reneged on campaign promises and led a full-scale invasion into the Middle East (though it was quite short in duration and looked extremely mild in comparison to the post-9/11 interventions of his son). Still, even if voters preferred the smooth talk of Clinton in 1992 to Bush’s elder statesman tone, George H. Bush still is remembered for a tone that is sorely missed in today’s politics. For example, when the objective was achieved in Desert Storm and Hussein was pushed out of Kuwait, Bush declared the mission to be over. He did not continue to rattle his saber or see where else he could pick a fight. He wanted to keep fighting to a minimum and only intervened because he viewed it as a humanitarian action on behalf of the Kuwaiti people. In comparison to the tone set by Trump, in which everyone is viewed as a threat—from China to Russia to Syria to the Democrats in Congress, Bush’s tone was downright chivalric. Bush gave more time to the press in conferences than any other. He always kept the lines of communication open and sustained dialog with those who disagreed with him. He never shut down others or blocked them out of his circle because they represented a voice of dissent or a difference of opinion. He respected them and they in turn respected him. He said in his inaugural address that we should have a kinder and gentler nation.