GEORGE H. W. BUSH...Former U.S. President...Dies November 30th - December 1989...On A Tiny Mediterranean Island - He Writes History

Former U.S. President George H.W. Bush, who blasted out Saddam Hussein's Iraqi army from the invaded Kuwait but lost the subsequent presidential election due to a lingering economy, died on Friday at the age of 94.
Bush, the 41st president of the United States, lived longer than any of his predecessors and died peacefully at his home in Houston, according to a source close to the family.

He was married for 73 years to Barbara Bush who died less than eight months ago, fathered former President George W. Bush, who served two terms in the White House, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush and four other children.

He defeated former Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis, the Democratic nominee, in the 1988 presidential campaign, and lost his 1992 re-election bid to Democrat Bill Clinton. The former president, served as a U.S. naval aviator during World War Two being shot down in the Pacific by the Japanese in 1944, he then moved to the oil business in Texas, a pioneer in the industry, he became a millionaire by the age of 40. Moving into politics and diplomacy he built a remarkable career, amongst numerous positions, he served as ambassador to the United Nations, envoy to China, chairman of the Republican National Committee at the height of the Watergate scandal, director of the CIA and vice-president, some argue that he was the best-prepared president in US history. The New York Times Nov.30 https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/30/us/politics/george-hw-bush-dies.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FBush%2C%20George%20W.&action=click&contentCollection=timestopics&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=4&pgtype=collection 

 Mr Bush, a Republican, was a transitional figure in the White House, where he served from 1989 to 1993, capping a career of more than 40 years in public service. A decorated Navy pilot who was shot down in the Pacific in 1944, he was the last of the World WarII generation to occupy the Oval Office. Mr. Bush was a skilled bureaucratic and diplomatic player who, as president, helped end four decades of Cold War and the threat of nuclear engagement with a nuanced handling of the liberation of Eastern Europe.

Mr. Bush the president, worked long hours and is said to have emphasised on detail, however he apparently and generally failed to portray and deliver his plans. “The vision thing,” as he called it, eluded him. “Some wanted me to deliver fireside chats to explain things, as Franklin D. Roosevelt had done,” he confided to his diary. “I am not good at that.” He was, he said, a “practical man,” who preferred “what’s real,” not “the airy and abstract.


Some articles from: BBC News, The Guardian, The Washington Post and The Daily Mail Online covering President's Bush demise, his life, his career and tributes from world leaders.


https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-46410225

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/dec/01/george-hw-bush-former-us-president-dies-aged-94


https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/george-hw-bush-41st-president-of-the-united-states-dies-at-94/2018/11/30/42fa2ea2-61e2-11e8-99d2-0d678ec08c2f_story.html



https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6449107/Former-President-George-H-W-Bush-dead-age-94.html

George H.W Bush, the one term President, with a brilliant career did not only save Kuwait, he was one of the two main protagonists in saving the world, from a long cold war which threatened the planet of nuclear devastation. The former U.S.S.R or Soviet Union had grown into a Super Power post World War Two, (an armed power, not a financial one as we would learn in the years after its collapse), the immense occupied territory was never enough for the Communist Russians and their arsenal of Nukes instilled fear especially in neighboring Europe. On the other side, the U.S.A, a Capitalist but democratic economic force which countered the Russians for Nuclear and wouldn’t back off in case of provocation. This until, a certain Mikael Gorbachev comes into power in the U.S.S.R, the new President though non democratically elected and not requested to bring change, did in fact start the change, and that was called “Perestroika” meaning reform and openness, ( he probably did not foresee the dismantling of the whole Soviet Union, but never also seemed to regret it) while on the other side U.S. president Ronald Reagan, recognising the will and honesty of Gorbachev for change, reached out to him, hoping to drift away from war and move towards peace.

President Reagan’s term was soon over, in comes Bush, who is determined to continue the talks with Gorbachev, discussions go on and get better, the parts agree to meet and take some decisions on ways to end the cold war and start to denuclearise, an agreement was reached for a venue, and were better than a non-aligned country ? the smallest of European countries sitting strategically in between Europe and North Africa, that was Malta. The New York Times, Dec.2 1989 https://www.nytimes.com/1989/12/02/world/the-malta-summit-destiny-in-air-leaders-arrive-for-the-summit.html?fbclid=IwAR2vnyEIuVcEN4fiqeUL-rGTKFBsAFHYjCLIAjaazDuSdpmPjzhKC284pU8

 Even before the two leaders met, some of their aides were talking about fostering a ''spirit of Malta'' that would speed the transformation of adversaries into friends or something approaching that.Speaking aboard the aircraft carrier Forrestal, operating near here, Mr. Bush called his mission a ''great and noble undertaking,'' borrowing from the prayer of Dwight D. Eisenhower on the eve of D-Day, the invasion of Europe on June 6, 1944. 'All the Generations to Come'Mr. Bush said ''the times are on the side of peace'' as he meets Mr. Gorbachev for the first time as President. As President-elect, he met with the Soviet leader last December on Governors Island in New York Harbor. Mr. Bush told thousands of sailors gathered today in the warship's cavernous hangar that this would be ''a meeting for your generation, and all the generations to come.''Mr. Gorbachev landed here more than 12 hours after Mr. Bush, having met this morning with Pope John Paul II at the Vatican and then having flown north to Milan for a news conference. The Soviet leader said that although his meetings with the American President would take place on warships, he had come here ''on a quest for peace.''Both leaders have tried to portray their conference as a get-acquainted meeting rather than a negotiating session. But events in Eastern Europe since the meeting was announced only a month ago, including the opening of the Berlin wall and the sweeping triumphs of the opposition in Czechslovakia, have given greater urgency to rethinking and reshaping the power relationships that have prevailed since the end of World War II. The impression has been left by some American officials, and by Mr. Gorbachev himself in his meetings in Rome this week, that new proposals will be put on the table, even if no final agreements are reached here. Indeed, despite President Bush's assurances to the contrary, some Western European leaders are worried, as one put in this week, ''that he'll do a Reykjavik'' -that is, get carried away and exceed his brief, as Ronald Reagan very nearly did in the Icelandic capital in 1986. Gorbachev 'Cocky, Determined' During his stay in Rome, the Soviet leader was in ebullient form, asserting that religion had a large role to play in modern life, announcing that the Soviet Union no longer believes ''that those who disagree with us are our enemies,'' and proposing a conference of European nations in Helsinki next year. An Italian official who met and dined with him, and who had expected to find him weighed down with his domestic problems, said that he had instead found Mr. Gorbachev ''cocky, determined and thoroughly in command.''Mr, Bush was in high spirits, too, his mood seemingly unaffected by the attempted coup in the Philippines or by the long overnight flight. He seemed to take great delight, as a former naval aviator, in watching flight operations on the Forrestal, trading old Navy jokes with the crew and piling his mess tray high with lasagna and chicken legs, doused with hot sauce. Churchill once called Malta ''a tiny rock of history and romance.'' A little larger than Martha's Vineyard in square miles, this strategically placed group of islands survived two of the greatest sieges in history, by the Turks in 1565 and by the Germans between 1940 and 1942. Sleeping on Ships Valletta, the capital, is a photogenic little city on a promontory between two harbors, but Mr. Bush and Mr. Gorbachev got just a glimpse of its narrow streets and fine old limestone forts and palaces, which were built by the Knights of St. John in the 16th and 17th centuries. They will spend the next 48 hours working and sleeping in far less picturesque surroundings. The first day's talks will take place on the Soviet cruiser Slava, with the concluding session Sunday on the United States cruiser Belknap. Both are at anchor in Marsaxlokk Bay on the island's east coast. Mr. Bush will sleep on the Belknap, occupying a cabin vacated for the weekend by its usual occupant, Vice Adm. J. D. Williams, the commander of the Sixth Fleet. Mr. Gorbachev will sleep not on the Slava but on the cruise ship Maxim Gorky, which is docked nearby. According to Marlin Fitzwater, the White House press secretary, the United States delegation on the Slava will include Mr. Bush; Secretary of State James A. Baker 3d; John H. Sununu, the White House chief of staff; Brent Scowcroft, the national security adviser, and Robert Blackwill, the top European and Soviet expert on the staff of the National Security Council. The Soviet Team. The Soviet group, Mr. Fitzwater said, will be composed of Mr. Gorbachev; Foreign Minister Eduard A. Shevardnadze; Deputy Foreign Minister Aleksandr A. Bessmertnykh; Anatoly F. Dobrynin, the former Soviet Ambassador to Washington; Aleksande N. Yakovlev, a Politburo member with special responsibility for foreign affairs; Marshal Sergei F. Akhromeyev, Mr. Gorbachev's adviser on military affairs, and Anatoly S. Chernyayev, a special assistant to Mr. Gorbachev. Each side will also have an interpreter present. Mr. Fitzwater said that President Bush would speak first and planned ''to lay out a number of issues that represent U.S. interests in the Soviet Union and which will demonstrate the U.S. desire for progress and improvement in East-West relations.'' In addition to visiting the Forrestal, meeting briefly with Prime Minister Eddie Fenech Adami of Malta and keeping pace with developments in the Philippines, Mr. Bush had a final meeting with a dozen aides, in the Belknap's ward room.

Soviet President Mikael Gorbachev left and Malta Priminister  Dr Eddie Fenech Adami right

U.S. President George H.W. Bush and Malta Priminister Dr. Eddie Fenech Adami

It was the early days of December 1989, meetings were scheduled for the 2nd and 3rd December upon two warships, the U.S. Vessel Belknap and the Soviet Vessel Slava. A incredible storm, one which I personally had never seen alike on this island before(I did not have such a long life history, was only 12 at the time)delayed events as the seas were terribly rough even for two war ships, but at the end it did not stop the discussion from materializing and be very successful indeed, the cold war was over, the rest is history. 

Diplomats from both sides gave their contribution to this historic agreement and must be given credit alongside of course the three Statesman, Reagan, Gorbachev and certainly not least, George H.W. Bush, who deserves a respectful salute from the world around, may you Rest in Peace Mr. President.