“A twentieth-century founding father” – Denison Forum

“George Herbert Walker Bush was America’s last great soldier-statesman, a twentieth-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.”

With these words, biographer Jon Meacham eulogized President George H. W. Bush at yesterday’s state funeral in Washington, DC. The service at the National Cathedral was one of the most moving I have witnessed.

Several speakers referred to the late Barbara Bush, the president’s amazing wife of seventy-three years, and to their daughter Robin, who died of leukemia at the age of three. I was especially touched when President George W. Bush ended his wonderful eulogy in tears as he said, “Dad is hugging Robin and holding Mom’s hand again.”

I was reminded of a cartoon published after Mr. Bush died. It pictures a World War II fighter plane now landed in heaven. Next to it are the president and Barbara wearing her trademark pearls, holding hands with little Robin. His wife says, “We waited for you.”

“Why was I spared?”

The great theologian and spiritual writer Henri Nouwen noted: “We have to prepare ourselves for our death with the same care and attention as our parents prepared themselves for our births.” George H. W. Bush was prepared for his death long before it came.

His son noted in his eulogy that Mr. Bush nearly died twice–once from a staph infection when he was a teenager and once when he was shot down in the Pacific in World War II. George W. Bush then said, “For dad’s part, I think those brushes with death made him cherish the gift of life. And he vowed to live every day to the fullest.”

According to Meacham, Mr. Bush thought nearly every day about his brush with death during the war and asked himself, “Why me? Why was I spared?” Meacham offered this answer: “The workings of providence are mysterious, but this…