--- title: George Herbert Walker Bush 1924-2018 description: The 41st President and father of the 43rd left a lasting legacy of service canonical: https://time.com/5472305/george-herbert-walker-bush-1924-2018/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-12-06T11:55:05.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T22:12:44.386Z article:section: Politics og:title: George Herbert Walker Bush 1924-2018 og:description: The 41st President and father of the 43rd left a lasting legacy of service og:url: https://time.com/5472305/george-herbert-walker-bush-1924-2018/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt50cb73d65a65ef2f/6987a2d2e20a87170ea87813/bush-in-prague.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Bush-in-Prague og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: George Herbert Walker Bush 1924-2018 twitter:description: The 41st President and father of the 43rd left a lasting legacy of service twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt50cb73d65a65ef2f/6987a2d2e20a87170ea87813/bush-in-prague.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # George Herbert Walker Bush 1924-2018 by [David Von Drehle](https://time.com/author/david-von-drehle/) ## David Von Drehle Dec 6, 2018 11:55 AM UTC  President George H.W. Bush bundled-up against autumn chill, speaking while visiting Prague, Czechoslovakia, November 18, 1990. President George H.W. Bush bundled-up against autumn chill, speaking while visiting Prague, Czechoslovakia, November 18, 1990.Diana Walker for TIME/Getty Images by [David Von Drehle](https://time.com/author/david-von-drehle/) ## David Von Drehle Dec 6, 2018 11:55 AM UTC George H.W. Bush, the careful and pragmatic manager of the Cold War’s final dramas, had nearly every tool a great president needs. He had fire and drive, which are indispensable to a great statesman. From his glamorous youth through his momentous single term as 41st President of the United States, Bush was consumed, in the words of one biographer, by “an almost insatiable ambition and competitiveness.” He had experience, gained over decades in private business and public service. He had good judgment, cultivating the quality that Aristotle called “practical wisdom,” but which Bush referred to as “prudence.” He had the courage to make difficult decisions. He was discerning in his choice of strong advisers, and was comfortable with dissenting views. Bush was a natural born leader. All of which points to the riddle of his life: why did his presidency end in rejection? _To read the full story,_ [_click here_](http://time.com/longform/president-george-hw-bush-dead/)_._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5472305/george-herbert-walker-bush-1924-2018/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5472305/george-herbert-walker-bush-1924-2018/"},"headline":"George Herbert Walker Bush 1924-2018","datePublished":"2018-12-06T11:55:05.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T22:12:44.386Z","description":"The 41st President and father of the 43rd left a lasting legacy of service","url":"https://time.com/5472305/george-herbert-walker-bush-1924-2018/","keywords":[],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt50cb73d65a65ef2f/6987a2d2e20a87170ea87813/bush-in-prague.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"David Von Drehle","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/david-von-drehle/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt50cb73d65a65ef2f/6987a2d2e20a87170ea87813/bush-in-prague.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Bush-in-Prague","caption":"President George H.W. Bush bundled-up against autumn chill, speaking while visiting Prague, Czechoslovakia, November 18, 1990.","creditText":"Diana Walker for TIME/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5472305/george-herbert-walker-bush-1924-2018/","name":"George Herbert Walker Bush 1924-2018"}}]}] ```