Fleischer on George W. Bush's relationship with his father
Former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer says George H.W. Bush didn't give his son advice, he gave love.
Back in 2012, when I first told people I was going to Texas to ride mountain bikes with the wounded war fighters and President Bush, I frequently encountered the reply “Which President Bush?” This was when the elder Bush was already close to 90, which gives you an idea how robust and vital he was, even with Parkinson’s Disease already significantly impairing him. The former president inspired us all in later years with his will to live and never giving up.
In fact, this was one of the major themes of the bike ride, with President Bush 43 learning from his beloved father a philosophy of toughness mixed with judiciousness and kindness. It is why the younger Bush has granted me the honor of riding with him and our war heroes every year, once I exhibited the mental toughness that he so highly values. Extreme sports meant a lot to both Bushes. The themes of falling and getting back on the bike and never giving up and attacking an imposing hill one part at a time are themes for life that both President Bushes embraced.
In 2015, after his book “41: A Portrait of my Father” came out, President Bush 43 spoke to me in an interview on his ranch about the strong impression it made on him when he thought his father was about to die only to find him sky diving from a helicopter a few months later. “The will to live is very important for your health,” President Bush 43 said to me. “I think the idea of a guy who can’t walk and near death jumping out of a helicopter at the age of 90 is a pretty clear example of the desire to live to the fullest.”
Mortality wins inevitably, even against the toughest fighter, and now President Bush 41 is gone.
But President Bush 43 continues on, impacted still by the memory of his father, and his mother, whom he lost earlier this year. Pam Jackson, Bush’s bike mechanic, told me that she last rode mountain bikes with him around Thanksgiving, She called him “the distinguished gentleman,” and said that “I stayed at the back and tried to keep him in view.”
Sadly, when I go to Texas next year for the Warrior 100K ride, no one will ask me which President Bush I am joining.
I’m sure he also retains his joie de vivre and famous sense of humor despite losing both parents in one year. When I came back the second time to the W100K bike ride, President Bush 43 quickly ribbed me about all the falls I’d taken the first time. Whenever he thought he’d gone a step too far, he’d quickly whisper “just kidding.” This is part of the decency and moral compass that both Bushes have been known for.
There is only one President Bush now, but the legacy of the father lives on. For some he will be remembered most as a war hero, for how as a young navy pilot he overcame a harrowing plane crash in 1944 during WWII and miraculously swam to safety in a life raft and was finally rescued by a submarine. For others it was his efforts as vice president and then president to end the Cold War and his successful 1991 Gulf War against Saddam Hussein.
For me, as a physician, it was his heroic war against the side effects of Vascular Parkinsonism which included frequent bouts of bronchitis and pneumonia, the ignominity of drooling and being bound to a wheelchair. He soldiered on, and became a role model for the chronically ill everywhere.
His will to survive was minted during that plane crash. The narrow miss where others didn’t make it clearly caused President Bush 41 to further value life and provided him with the toughness needed for battles later on. He lost the final medical battle as we all do eventually, but he fought with honor and dignity.
Sadly, when I go to Texas next year for the Warrior 100K ride, no one will ask me which President Bush I am joining.
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