George H.W. Bush: A Life of Service

George Herbert Walker Bush has died at age 94. He was born June 12, 1924, in Milton, Massachusetts. He graduated from Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, on his 18th birthday in 1942 and immediately joined the Navy.

With World War II raging, Bush earned his wings in June 1943. He was the youngest pilot in the Navy at that time.[Three WWII-era naval aviators stand in front of their aircraft.]In his inaugural address on Jan 20, 1989, Bush spoke about America having a meaning “beyond what we see.” The idea of America and what it stands for is important in the world, he said.

“We know what works: Freedom works. We know what's right: Freedom is right. We know how to secure a more just and prosperous life for man on Earth: through free markets, free speech, free elections and the exercise of free will unhampered by the state,” Bush said.

“We must act on what we know,” he said later in the speech. “I take as my guide the hope of a saint: in crucial things, unity; in important things, diversity; in all things, generosity.”