George Herbert Walker Bush, the World War II veteran who was elected the 41st President of the United States and fathered the nation’s 43rd, died late Friday at the age of 94, his family announced in a statement.
Bush advocated a “kinder, gentler” conservatism, pursued policies that helped topple the Soviet empire and initiated military campaigns that ousted one foreign dictator and crippled another. He lived longer than any other U.S. president, and presided over the demise of the Cold War, punctuated by the fall of the Berlin Wall.
The former president was hailed by the 44th U.S. president, Barack Obama, who in a statement called Bush “a patriot and humble servant…While our hearts are heavy today, they are also filled with gratitude.”
Bush’s life was “a testament to the notion that public service is a noble, joyous calling,” the statement read.
