George H. W. Bush, the 41st president of the United States, died late Friday, seven months after his family buried former first lady Barbara Bush.…
George H. W. Bush, the 41st president of the United States, died late Friday, seven months after his family buried former first lady Barbara Bush.
Michiganians remembered the 94-year-old as a dedicated public servant who managed the end of the Cold War with the old Soviet Union. Bush, a Navy pilot, and Barbara briefly lived in Michigan in 1945 during World War II while he was based at Naval Air Station Grosse Ile — a pilot training base — after returning from combat against Japan in the Pacific.
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But perhaps one of his most obscured achievements was being offered a one-day baseball contract from the Detroit Tigers in 1984, when he was vice president under President Ronald Reagan.
Bush has been hospitalized intermittently over the past few years for infections and other health issues.
Former Michigan Gov. John Engler who considered Bush a “dear friend,” called his life “a tribute to public service the old-fashioned way.”
“This is a man who, because he was the kind of person he was — the outstanding military record, the devotion to country, the devotion to family — really he is a bit of a throwback. There won’t be many more like him. I hope there will be, but I fear there won’t be,” Engler said in a 2017 interview.
Michigan Republican Party Chairman Ron Weiser also hailed Bush’s legacy.
„“Michigan lost an outstanding statesman,“ Weiser said in a Saturday statement. „President Bush was a beacon of light and freedom, the last of the Greatest Generation to serve. A grateful nation mourns with his family and celebrates his life today.”
Bush’s public service included two terms in Congress in Texas, a stint as United Nations ambassador, Central Intelligence Agency director, the first U.
