A loyal husband, great grandfather, father and i think he will be remembered well in the history of this country. Shannon i think you are right. We leave with that beautiful cartoon. Ings. Tonight he is gone. Shannon if you are joining us, breaking News Coverage of the death of president george h. W. Bush. Im Shannon Bream at fox news World Headquarters in new york. President bush 41 has died. He was 94, the oldest president in u. S. History. Bush 41 spent the summer at his home in kennebunkport, maine. Condolences and fond memories are pouring in from president s, former advisors, and well wishes from Around The World. Hes being remembered as a statesman, an icon of the greatest generation, and oneofakind. Bret baier looks back at the life of this american hero. For a new breeze is blowing, and a world refreshed by freedom seems reborn, for in mans
heart, if not, in fact, the day of the dictator is over. Bret george bush as hard as test as president was giving the green light for operation desert storm. But he is credited with rescuing the tiny, oilrich nation of kuwait from Saddam Husseins Million Man Army of iraq. The forge George Herbert walker bush took his first step into the white house, he learned to walk in kennebunkport, maine. During to born june 12th, 1924, and the town of milton, massachusetts, to a family alrey deeply involved in Public Service, he was the second of five children to dorothy and senator prescott bush. With high school behind him, george was accepted at yale university, but put his education on hold. The start of the Second World War beckoned him to serve his country instead. In 1942, george bush celebrated his 18th Birthday by enlisting in the u. S. Naval reserve. Within a year, he was ensign
bush, the youngest Fighter Pilot in the navy. Taking part in 58 Combat Missions in the pacific theater, bush was flying his plane on a special Bombing Mission over china when he was shot down by the japanese and was forced to bail out at sea. He survived, though his crew did not. Im floating around in his raft, paddling, and then all of a sudden, saw this tower come up and saw the submarine service. Bret by the end of the war inside, bush set his sights on barbara peers. The two wed in 1945 while bush was still in the navy. They would have six children, Including Our 43rd president , george w. Bush, and popular florida governor, jeb. Bush left the navy and graduated yale before he and barbara moved to texas to find his dreams on an oil field. By the age of 30, he was cofounder and president of zapata offshore, which pioneered experimental drilling equipment. But just like his father, bush
was attracted to Public Service and politics. After losing his First Political race for a senate seat in 1964, he was elected to the House Of Representatives two years later, serving two terms, encouraged by Richard Nixon to run again for the senate in 1970, he was defeated a second time. He moved on to high government positions. In 1971, Richard Nixon appointed him ambassador to the united nations, and in 1973, he became chairman of the Republican National committee at the height of the watergate scandal. In that role, bush urged nixon to resign for the good of the party. I shall resign the presidency effective at noon tomorrow. Bret president gerald ford sent bush to china as chief of the u. S. Liaison office. A short time later, he called him home to be director of the cia, and bush was credited with bringing morale back to that agency. Bush left in 1977, when President Carter entered the
white house. By 1979, he was ready to get back into the political ring. Ladies and gentlemen, i am a candidate for president of the United States. [applause] bret bush was seen as a moderate alternative to Ronald Reagan, but dropped out of the president ial campaign after poor primary performances. A short time later, he accepted reagans offer to be his running mate. Reagan won in a landslide. During his eight years as Vice President , bush was credited with softening reagans view of the soviet union and pressed hard on issues like deregulation and the war on drugs. International progression, bush became the Republican Party nominee in 1988 with senator dan quayle from indiana as his running mate. The Republican Team defeated Massachusetts GovernorMichael Dukakis and texas senator lloyd benson. I, George Herbert walker bush, do solemnly swear. Bret during his president ,
the soviet union dissolved, the berlin wall fell, and Manuel Noriega was arrested, securing the panama canal. Everything came to a head when iraqs Saddam Hussein invaded neighboring kuwait. We are not walking away until our mission is done, until the invader is out of kuwait bret president bush reacted quickly, committing over 400,000 u. S. Troops, and building a Strong Coalition of allies. Operation desert storm had begun. The majority of america supported the president s decision to throw Saddam Hussein back into iraq and bushs Popularity Rating hit an alltime high. Most thought he was unbeatable for a second term. But a broken campaign promise. Read my lips no new taxes to. Bret would come back to haunt the 41st president. In the fall of 1992, with the war a distant memory, george bush lost reelection to
former arkansas governor bill clinton. Bush traveled to kuwait to commemorate the gulf war in 1993. An Assassination Plot on his life was uncovered by bush was unharmed. It was later discovered the part of poorly orchestrated plan was the work of the iraqi intelligence service. The Kuwaiti Court would convict all but one of the defendants. Bush retired to texas with barbara, getting in a few rounds of horseshoes and celebrating countless birthdays buy birthdays by parachuting out of planes. Spending time with her family in maine and reliving memories of when he was a boy. I can honestly say that the three most rewarding titles bestowed upon me are the three that i have got to left husband, father, and granddad. Bret while retired, his life was active until the end. Joining forces with former political flow bill clinton to raise money for the victims of
their 2004 indian ocean tsunami, and Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The former president s formed a close friendship, continuing their charity work and enjoying annual lunches at Buschs Home In Kennebunkport and using his experience and insights to serve as a quiet advisor to his eldest son, the 43rd president. Here, attending george w. Bushs president ial Library Dedication in 2013, and sharing a few words. Glad to be here. God bless america and thank you very much. [applause] bret bush even kept up with Public Debate by joining twitter, where he often shared photos of his colorful socks that began part of his signature look. Each brought health challenges, of course. A form of Parkinsons Disease that left him in a wheelchair, and brief hospital stays in his 90s for pneumonia, bronchitis, and a fall in his home. But not enough to keep them out
of the limelight, throwing out the first pitch before a 2016 baseball game, and pregame ceremonies months later at the super bowl in his houston home town. Reuniting with his former running mate and Vice President dan quayle in july, and then catching a glimpse of the rare eclipse that crossed the country alongside his family in maine in august. One of bushs last public appearances was that his beloved wife, barbara, a part of his funeral, where he met with former president s, first ladies, and the current first lady, melania trump. He recently returned to his Vacation Home town of kennebunkport, maine, joining fellow veterans with a Pancake Breakfast before he was hospitalized. This was the first time in decades that neither he nor his wife attended the annual memorial day parade. He wrote in a tweet, i am forever grateful not only to
those patriots who made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation, but also the Gold Star Families Heritage is imbued with their honor and heroism. Known for his maturity and straightforward approach, george h. W. Bush called this country to be better in hopes of inspiring the people to be great. I think historians are going to say that we did pretty well, and thats all right for me. Im not in any rush. In heaven, let down and let them make that determination. Shannon tonight, bret baier is with us, anchor of Special Report in the geopolitical anchor. Bret, you think about that, he talks about being in heaven, and we are all thinking about him and his reunion that he is having with his wife and their young daughter that they lost many, many decades ago. Bret shannon, tonight im at the reagan president ial library ahead of the Reagan NationalDefense Forum this
weekend. Behind me, air force one, where President Reagan took it Around The World on his Vice President , george h. W. Bush. I think the world will probably, as the president said, smiled down. History will tell how the world remembers the term of president george h. W. Bush. But what i am struck by is the family relationship. I mean, think about this, 17 grandchildren, eight grandchildren. His oldest daughter, robin, died when she was four years old in 1953. When barbara bush died, his wif wife, there was that moment where, at the funeral, president bush was sitting in his wheelchair, doro bush, his daughter, behind him, and he is looking at the casket. It was a moment that really, i
think, captured the feeling of this family, as he was saying goodbye to his wife of so many years. The other thing that captured the imagination, i think, of the american people, was a cartoon actually that barbara bush is seen going to heaven and reuniting with her daughter, 4yearold daughter, who died, robin. Now, as you look at these pictures, you think about that reunification, and you think about the love of his life who he is now with, and obviously, with robin as well. I think history will look back at president george h. W. Bush is an honorable, decent man, and as a good president , who change the trajectory of the United States. Shannon certainly on The World Stage. With the cold war in his Foreign Policy as well. We will bring in chris wallace. We want to read a tweet from jeb bush. Nothing gave him his leadership taught us to be kinder and gentler, true love each other. We will miss him dearly. Chris, that is going to be a very interesting conversation for this country to have. As we talked about, it will likely be very bipartisan over the next couple of days, as we remember the life of this very special man and former presiden president. Chris absolutely. There is a sense in the country now that its a zerosum game, that one side wins, the other side loses, and that was not the way that george h. W. Bush view to life and certainly not the way he viewed politics, as i said earlier, he was very competitive, very tough, fought hard for a variety of positions, fought hard to become president , and was certainly
crossed for a short time when he lost in 1992 to bill clinton. But he had a sense of the community that this country is, and there is much more that unites us than divides us, and boy, if we can have more of that conversation over the next few days as we celebrate his life and observe his death, that will be a very his last contribution to this country. I wanted to mention, shannon, there was a lot of talk today amongst people that president bush might be in trouble. We have heard this a variety of crimes, that he might be near death. He was a tough bird, and a number of times, he was hospitalized. Things seemed serious. I wrote to a couple of his top staff people, one of them, jim mcgrath, his press spokesman, and i said, i hate to ask this
question but is he in trouble . And he wrote a note back and basically said, it yes, hes having a tough week but hes haa lot of tough weeks and he bounces back and he then said, this morning, less than 24 hours ago, he had three eggs for breakfast and is at home resting comfortably. So the people closest to him were not at all convinced that this was going to be the end for george w. Bush. I also wrote a note to a wonderful woman, really, whos been so close to him, his chief of staff, and one of the things i always got a kick out of, and i have been in touch with her over the years, since he left office, we arranged a variety of interviews, the president and all of his staffs email address was flfw. Com. I always wondered what that
meant. I finally figured out, former leader of free world. Com. That was kind of the light way in which george h. W. Bush obviously, he took the presidency seriously, but he didnt take himself seriously. The idea flfw. Com was his email address. Shannon very lighthearted. We talk about just how much he loved to joke, a good punch line, even if it was that as his expense. He accomplished so much on The World Stage that its impossible to go through his entire resume and to remind people about all the things he did domestically and internationally, and what a brave navy aviator he was, going straight into the war, getting up on his dedication, getting through yale into an half years, and accomplishment for anyone. But he just kept charging and we talked about how he was a
risktaker and people remember him as somebody as we are showing him skydiving, which he loved to do, too he was somebody who was not afraid to strike out and business, and family, government. He was always, it seems, rising to a new challenge, chris. Chris i asked him about skydiving, and his decision to do that. Even loud, he put not just as a lark or a personal adventure, but as a Public Service. He said, i am trying to send a message to old folks like him at that point, he was in his 80s. He said, you dont have to sit i remember he put it this way drool in the corner. You can get up, you can do something, maybe not skydiving with the golden nights, but you can do something, and dont put yourself in the grave before you are really there. You talk about his sense of humor, i had the great Opportunity One time after i had
interviewed him in houston that he invited me, and my producer, to go off and have lunch with him. And we were talking remember in 2005 after the terrible tsunami in asia, he and his son, bush 43, assigned him and bill clinton to go tour the area, and part of it was to raise money. Now george h. W. Bush and bill clinton did not seem like a natural fit, among other things, bill clinton had beaten bush and the 92 election. In addition, their personalities could not have been more different. President Bush 41 Regaled us at lunch about their trip together through southeast asia. One of the things he said was, we are so different. He loves to talk and opines about everything, and i am more measured. But a lot of what he said was very interesting and among other
things, if i was having trouble talking about something, i knew that bill would fill the space. Another thing that, frankly, drove him crazy about bill clinton was the fact that bill clinton, and anybody whos ever covered him do this, was always late. He would get involved in a conversation, and we always talked about operating on clinton time. They agreed that they would get up and go at lets say, 9 00 in the morning, and their trip to southeast asia, and bush would be in the car at 9 00 or maybe 8 57, and Clinton Ritual but he did and he said, it is clearly it clearly bothered quentin that he was always keeping bush waiting so one day at about 8 55, he came downstairs like he was going to beat bush into the limousine, taking them around, but bush, not knowing this, not doing it on purpose, had gotten in the car at 8 50. The look of disappointment on bill clintons face when he looked in the car and he thought, this guy beat me again. The one thing that bush very much respected, they were traveling around on the president ial jet, was the deference that bill clinton showed him, and that clinton, obviously, bush considerably older, always insisted that george h. W. Bush had to the president ial cabinet, sleep in the president ial bed, and clinton would find a couch on air force one, or sleep on the floor, but always paid respect. Went to great pains to make sure that bush 41 was comfortable. Shannon as we watch this Treasure Trove of memories that we have, all these pictures and we think about you see they are the banners the kuwaiti people, and that of course was a big moment in his presidency, the coalition that the u. S. Was involved within there, going
into defeat the iraqis, a flash point in that region