« I will never forget the image of Mrs. Bush shaking hands with… »
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The last time former Secret Service agent Jonathan Wackrow worked with former first lady Barbara Bush, she made a request that left a lasting impression on him.
Wackrow explained in a CNN op-ed that he wasn’t assigned permanently to her detail but worked with her on multiple occasions.
After the Bush family left the White House, he was charged with driving her from New York City to New Jersey.
He recalled that the motorcade only consisted of a couple of Secret Service vehicles and an unmarked New York police vehicle, but the “small and unassuming” traits were ones she appreciated.
However, when the motorcade exited the Holland Tunnel and crossed into New Jersey, multiple New Jersey State Police vehicles and motorcycles joined it, all of which had their sirens and lights going.
Wackrow wrote that the hubbub was one Bush tended to reject, but at the moment, a smile illuminated her face, and she told her staff, “They remember me! We have not had this much excitement since the White House!’”
On their way back to New York, the former first lady asked the head of her security detail if they could stop so she could thank the police officers who “so warmly welcomed me to New Jersey.”
The simple request left a lasting impression on Wackrow, who explained:
Peering out the limo’s back windshield, I will never forget the image of Mrs. Bush shaking hands with the officers. It was a genuine moment of sincerity and unguarded kindness delivered out of the public eye, which, to me, defined this great woman.
The former Secret Service agent added that Bush’s code name was “tranquility,” which was fitting because of her “calming, humanizing and gentle effect on those around her.”
Bush passed away at the age of 92 on Tuesday, and on Saturday, family and friends will gather in Houston to pay their respects and lay the former first lady to rest.
Jenni Fink joined IJR in 2016 as a writer and covers primarily politics and stories about inspiring human beings. She graduated from the University of… more
