Former US President George HW Bush has died at the age of 94.
Bush, the 41st President and father of the 43rd, died on 30th November. His death comes just months after that of his wife, Barbara, and follows a long battle with a form of Parkinson’s disease.
The couple’s son and former President, George W Bush, issued a statement paying tribute to his father.
“Jeb, Neil, Marvin, Doro and I are saddened to announce that after 94 remarkable years, our dear Dad has died,” he said. “George HW Bush was a man of the highest character and the best dad a son or daughter could ask for.
“The entire Bush family is deeply grateful for 41’s life and love, for the compassion of those who have cared and prayed for Dad, and for the condolences of our friends and fellow citizens.”
Current US President Donald Trump praised Bush’s “sound judgment, common sense and unflappable leadership” and said that as President, Bush “set the stage for the decades of prosperity that have followed”. Former US President Barack Obama described Bush as a “patriot” and credited him with “expanding America’s promise to new immigrants and people with disabilities and reducing the scourge of nuclear weapons to build a broad international coalition”.
Wednesday has been declared a national day of mourning ahead of a state funeral.
Bush served a single term as president, between 1989 and 1993, but was respected for his navigation of the US during the turbulent times which saw the fall of the Berlin Wall and collapse of the USSR. He is also remembered for his role in assembling a coalition of nations to defeat then Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
