A National Day of Mourning
Former President George Herbert Walker Bush died Friday at his home in Houston, Texas. Bush served as the President of the United States from 1989 to 1993. His funeral service from the National Cathedral in Washington, DC will be held today (Wednesday) and President Trump has declared this day a “National Day of Mourning”.
Part of a funeral or memorial should be about reflections. Thinking of President Bush’ death caused me to look up some of his old quotes. Here are some that you might enjoy:
- On America: “America is never wholly herself unless she is engaged in high moral principle. We as a people have such a purpose today. It is to make kinder the face of the nation and gentler the face of the world”.
- On history: “No generation can escape history”.
- On his politics: “I am a conservative, but I’m not a nut about it.”
- On the end of the Cold War: “In a world where we are the only remaining superpower, it is the role of the United States to marshal its moral and material resources to promote a democratic peace. It is our responsibility to lead. There is no one else.”
- On Service: “There is nothing more fulfilling than to serve your country and your fellow citizens and to do it well. And that’s what our system of self-government depends on.”
- On diversity: “We are a nation of communities . . .a brilliant diversity spread like stars, like a thousand points of light in a broad and peaceful sky”.
- And, on broccoli: “I do not like broccoli and I haven’t liked it since I was a little kid and my mother made me eat it. I’m President of the United States now and I’m not going to eat any more broccoli”.
May God Bless the service and memory of our 41st President, George Herbert Walker Bush.
Related: Being the funeral director that I am and always being drawn in by the ceremony of a State funeral such as we will see with President Bush, I researched to see if any of the deceased United States Presidents have been cremated. What I found out is that none have, however, Vice-President Nelson Rockefeller was cremated following his death in 1979. His cremated remains were then interred in the Rockefeller Family Cemetery in Sleepy Hollow, New York. You can read about it from this Wikipedia entry.
I saw where, in an interview, President Bush declined to answer about his “legacy or L word” and he made reference to “allowing others to decide what his legacy should be.” I think this post does a nice job of starting to define that legacy and remembering a soul that served our country in the highest way. And I love the bit about broccoli!
On the topic of cremation and Presidents; I read in one account of President Kennedy’s assassination that his wife Jacqueline had commented to close staff members that she was considering cremation for the President. Staff members and aides pointed out to her that the nation needed to see the President to mourn him. Jacqueline agreed that the need to have President Kennedy’s body present for his services was important for the grieving nation.
Really enjoyed these reflections…thank you.