Remembering President George HW Bush

I had the privilege of actually seeing then President George H.W. Bush give a speech. It was back in the 90s when I was serving my final tour of duty with the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Office of Training. At the time, DEA’s training division was co-located in the FBI Academy at Quantico, Virginia. That was in anticipation of plans to eventually merge the two agencies, which never occurred.

On this occasion, and I don’t recall the exact year, President Bush was scheduled to give the address at the graduation of the FBI’s basic agent class. A few DEA personnel managed to get invitations, and my supervisor gave me his pass. I recall that due to security requirements, we had to be in our seats 90 minutes before the President arrived.

To be honest, I don’t even recall what President Bush said other than making joking references to the academy’s “Yellow Brick Road”, its iconic jogging trail, and Hogan’s Alley, its mock town set up for practical exercises in surveillance, raids and arrests. What he said doesn’t matter. What matters is the opportunity to see hear a sitting president speak live. Especially one so deserving of respect.

Few US presidents have had a resume as impressive as Bush, who died Friday at 94. At the age of 20, he was shot down in the Pacific during World War 2 and had to be plucked out of the water, a film of which still survives. Prior to becoming president, he served in Congress, as CIA director, US ambassador to the UN and China, and, of course, as vice president under Ronald Reagan.

As president, Bush presided over the breakup of the Soviet Union, a process he handled wisely, refusing to gloat and further humiliate our Soviet adversaries. He will be primarily remembered for his response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, an invasion he famously stated, “will not stand”. He masterfully put together a coalition of nations-including Arab nations- to drive Saddam Hussein’s forces out of Kuwait.

By all accounts, Bush was a decent man, a gentleman, and a class act. Some may quibble as to whether he was as conservative as Reagan, but I think in the end, history will treat George H.W. Bush very kindly-as it will his son who followed him into the White House. Our nation should be thankful for the service of George H.W. Bush.