Article snippet: George Herbert Walker Bush, the 41st president of the United States and the head of one of the most prominent families in American political history, died Friday at the age of 94. In a statement released through his son, former President George W. Bush, the family described their patriarch “as a man of the highest character and the best dad a son or daughter could ask for.” The Bushes had been married for 73 years at the time of her death. Back then, her husband released a statement calling her “the most beloved woman in the world.” Bush served for eight years as vice president to Ronald Reagan before winning the White House himself, beating Democratic opponent Michael Dukakis by a convincing margin in 1988. In doing so, he became the first incumbent vice president since Martin Van Buren in 1836 to be elected to the nation’s highest office.As president, Bush showed considerable deftness and prudence in foreign affairs, leading a broad international alliance to victory in the first Gulf War and helping to ensure order, rather than chaos, following the collapse of the Soviet Union.But he was undone by a recession, an infamous U-turn on a campaign pledge not to raise taxes and a more nebulous but important perception that he was not in touch with the challenges faced by the general public.Former President Clinton thwarted his bid for reelection in 1992, imbuing Bush with the scent of failure that clings to all one-term presidents.To his supporters, it was an unfa... Link to the full article to read more