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The Underestimated


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George H.W. Bush, R.I.P.

Tevi Troy

December 1, 2018

 

George H. W. Bush was always being underestimated. Though he was successful at almost everything he did—Yale student, baseball team captain, fighter pilot, oil executive, politician, and father—people always seemed to think that he was missing something. Peter Flanigan, the Nixon aide who dangled in front of Bush a senior job in the Nixon White House, seemed to typify this uncharitable and inaccurate view when he told him, “Well, you know, George, you’d have to work hard if you took this job.” Bush, ever gracious, held his tongue at the insult, prompting his impressed wife Barbara to marvel, “How George kept his temper, I’ll never know.” Bush went on to serve in a multitude of high-level positions in the Nixon and Ford administrations, including head of the Republican National Committee, UN ambassador, liaison to China, and CIA director. This array of positions served as a launching pad to the vice presidency and then the presidency. Flanigan tried and failed to become ambassador to Spain. Fooled by his quiet resolve, those who underestimated Bush—from Flanigan to Bob Dole to Michael Dukakis to Saddam Hussein—found themselves astounded when Bush bested them. They shouldn’t have been. Beneath his gracious, even goofy, WASP exterior was a real warrior.

(Snip)

With his humor, his grace, and his ease with people, George H. W. Bush embodied the phrase, “Never let them see you sweat.” But the lack of visible perspiration didn’t mean that Bush wasn’t sweating—or hadn’t worked extraordinarily hard. We shall not see his likes again.

 

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One of the many things I don't understand is why there are those on the right who can't wait until HW is buried to loudly proclaim their Conservative  Bona Fides by pointing out every mistake George HW Bush made, and declaring The Worst Person In the World.  Oh and casting dispersion's on anyone who says anything positive about President Bush. Thinking some people just have no class.

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