George H.W. Bush

I voted against George H. W. Bush twice. Four times, if you count his being on the ticket with Ronald Reagan. I danced for joy when Bill Clinton beat him in 1992, and I doubt I agreed with him much on almost any kind of policy.

And yet. Hearing of his death made me a little sad and nostalgic. Of course, he was 94 and led a full life, and the death of an old man is not a tragedy. But he represents something that is just about completely gone from American politics.

Bush, a scion of a New England family, was a dignified and genteel man. He was an American first, and served his country almost all his adult life. He was a rich kid who chose to enlist, and flew many missions for the Navy, including being shot down and rescued by a submarine. He was later a congressman, the U.N. ambassador, director of the CIA, vice-president, and then the 41st president of the United States. I have no doubt that he was a patriot in the good sense of the word, that he believed in improving the lives of all Americans.

One article I saw mentioned that he was the last president who was not despised by a large number of people. I think that's true. We on the left didn't despise the man, at least I didn't, because he was kind of comical. I think back to his speech moments, such as "a thousand points of light," or "there's a new breeze blowing," and of course, "read my lips, no new taxes." I think of Ann Richards' line, "Poor George. He was born with a silver foot in his mouth," and Dana Carvey's almost affectionate impression of him on SNL.

Bush belong to the old generation of politics, and wasn't particularly telegenic, which is one of the reasons he only lasted one term. He didn't understand the way politics was changing, not like Clinton did. And while Lee Atwater was a particularly vicious henchman (think of the Willie Horton ad) Bush's letter to Clinton upon leaving the White House shows a man of character. And he voted for Hillary Clinton instead of Donald Trump.

Of course, the far left isn't much better than the right when it comes to speaking ill of the dead. Yes, Bush was not a great president. He started an unnecessary war, he was not exactly hip to LGBT issues (especially the AIDS crisis) and he gave us Dan Quayle. But for god's sake, I think we can talk about his legacy after he's put in the ground. For now, let's remember the good about him, and there's a lot of it.

One of the most immediate responses to his passing is that, compared to Donald Trump, the man was a great leader. Lefties have grown soft ono his son, George W. Bush, who was a horrible president, because at least he wasn't as blatantly evil and incompetent as Trump. We can look back at almost every Republican president, even Nixon, and think "At least he was better than Trump." This contributes to the hagiographic glow that now surrounds President Bush in the aftermath of his death.

I hope I live long enough to see what the reaction to Trump's death will be. I'm sure Fox News will have glowing tributes, but will the rest of us show a period of respect. I'm not so sure.