On the evening of Friday, Nov. 30, the 41st president of the United States, George Herbert Walker Bush, passed away at the age of 94. His death was announced via Twitter by Jim McGrath, his spokesman.
Wednesday, Dec. 5, was deemed the national day of mourning for the former president. Post offices and major US stock markets such as NASDAQ and the New York Stock Exchange were closed, and all federal employees were excused from work.
George H.W. Bush had humble beginnings before becoming president. He was a World War II veteran and became the youngest pilot in the US Navy at 18. After returning home from the war, he worked for Dresser Industries, an oilfield supply company, where he swept warehouse floors and painting machinery. Later, in 1950, he had established a solid financial standing by creating his own business, the Zapata Offshore Company.
Once Bush gained enough fortune, he entered the world of politics. In 1966, he became the first ever Republican to represent Houston in Congress. He was also appointed to a series of high-level positions including Ambassador to the United Nations, Chairman of the Republican National Committee,and Director of the Central Intelligence Agency.
By 1980, he tried running for president as the Republican nominee, but he lost to Ronald Reagan. 1988 was the lucky year for Bush, as he won the presidency with Dan Quayle as his vice president. With the end of the Soviet Union and the Cold War during his term, George H.W. Bush had to deal with an ever-changing political atmosphere.
It was in 1990 when Bush infamously declared a “new world order” which would be “free from the threat of terror, stronger in the pursuit of justice and more secure in the quest for peace.” In this quest for peace and justice, Bush decided to send 425,000 American troops to free Kuwait from Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein in a mission called Operation Desert Storm in the same year.