George H.W. Bush, who served as the 41st president of the United States from 1989 to 1993, has died at the age of 94.
His death was announced late Friday evening by Jim McGrath, the former president's current spokesman. He also provided a statement from George W. Bush, Bush's son and the 43rd president:
Statement by the 43rd President of the United States, George W. Bush, on the passing of his father this evening at the age 94. pic.twitter.com/oTiDq1cE7h
The Washington Post lays out some highlights of Bush's one term:
Ed Bailey/ZUMA Press/Newscom
Over the course of a single term that began on Jan. 20, 1989, Mr. Bush found himself at the helm of the world's only remaining superpower. The Berlin Wall fell; the Soviet Union ceased to exist; the communist bloc in Eastern Europe broke up; the Cold War ended. …
Mr. Bush's presidency was not all plowshares. He ordered an attack on Panama in 1989 to overthrow strongman Manuel Antonio Noriega. After Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait in the summer of 1990, Mr. Bush put together a 30-nation coalition — backed by a U.N. mandate and including the Soviet Union and several Arab countries — that routed the Iraqi forces with unexpected ease in a ground war that lasted only 100 hours.
However, Mr. Bush decided to leave Hussein in power, setting up the worst and most fateful decision of his son's presidency a dozen years later.
Read more here. There will no doubt be additional weighing in about the elder Bush's presidential career, both the ups and the downs.
Previous Reason coverage of the elder Bush here. Bush's official site here will be updated with funeral information as it's available.
