With a ceremony in the US Capitol, members of the Senate and the House of Representatives of the late former US President George H.W. Bush thought. For the White House, Vice President Mike Pence paid tribute to the merits of the 41st US President. „President Bush accompanied the collapse of the Soviet Union, the fall of the Berlin Wall, and under his leadership America won the Cold War,“ Pence said. „When President George Herbert Walker left Bush, he left America and the world more peaceful, prosperous and secure.“
The Republican Majority Leader in the Senate, Mitch McConnell, called Bush a „hero“ who ruled the US with a steady hand. „Through the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union, he kept us on track.“ Speaker of the House Paul Ryan praised Bush as „a great patriot“, a „great man“ and a „gentle soul“. Even US President Donald Trump came with his wife to the Capitol, but he did not speak.
The plans for the coming days
Bush’s body had recently been received and decorated with military honors at the Capitol, the seat of the US Congress. After the ceremony with the deputies, citizens can say goodbye there until Wednesday. Then the central funeral service takes place in the National Cathedral in Washington. Trump and First Lady Melania are expected as well as German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The party will also feature George W. Bush, who, like his father, was also US President.
Thereafter, the coffin of George Bush to be brought back to Texas. The deceased is to be buried on Thursday in College Station on the campus of A & M University, which houses his library and museum.
Bush died Friday night at the age of 94 at his home in Houston, Texas. He ruled the United States from 1989 to 1993. You can read an obituary on George Bush here. How he became a „friend of the Germans“, you can find out here. And here’s more on how he greeted his successor, Bill Clinton, as US President.
