President George H.W. Bush: the Man and the Statesman.

• Author: McNamara, Thomas E.
• Position: Obituary

President George H.W. Bush entered the office with more extensive foreign affairs experience than any other president except John Quincy Adams. After serving as ambassador to the United Nations, chief of the Liaison Office in Beijing, and eight years as vice president, Bush had exceptional understanding of foreign policy and diplomatic practice, and personal relationships with the most important world leaders. In his international accomplishments, Bush was, arguably, the most successful and consequential one-term president, and surpassed most two-term presidents.

Those of us who worked closely with him on foreign issues during his twelve years as vice president and president came to know and respect him and his international expertise. We mourn his passing.

What follows are reminiscences of over a dozen of his team, who worked closely with him in different situations in those twelve years. Some came into government from other professions and returned to them afterwards. Others are career diplomats who collectively served under eleven presidents. What all share is a deep admiration for the nation's forty-first president, a great statesman and a wonderful person, who loved the country he served so well.

From Central America to the Persian Gulf

--Thomas R. Pickering: Ambassador to El Salvador (1983-85); Ambassador to the UN (1989-92); Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs (1997-2000)

When I was ambassador to El Salvador, I was fortunate to work with George H.W. Bush. That nation suffered from civil war and a recent offensive by Marxist guerrillas that decimated several military units and destroyed an important bridge, cutting the country in half in 1983. The military's death squads reacted by capturing suspected FMLN sympathizers and murdering them in a vain attempt to stifle rebellion.

Hoping to squelch this death squad activity, I asked Vice President Bush to visit and read the riot act to Salvadoran military leaders. Addressing 50 senior military officers, through an interpreter with me next to him, Bush brilliantly varied his tone and content to fit his purpose and audience. He ended his short, sharply-worded talk and surprised everyone by threatening that unless death squad killings ended, Ronald Reagan and he could do nothing with the American Congress to preserve assistance programs. His words and demeanor suppressed death squad murders for a time.

Thanks to Bush's earlier experience as ambassador to the United Nations, he knew the organization very well. As his successor at the UN, I worked closely with him when he was president. Although Margaret Thatcher argued against going to the UN in response to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, Bush insisted on UN approval to use force. He understood that the Security Council gave legitimacy to the 1991 Gulf War coalition and it was essential to Democratic support of a Congressional resolution for U.S. participation in combat. These steps also assured he would not be hounded into fighting on in to Baghdad. Just as when the Soviet Union fell, Bush remained calm and avoided doing too much.

George H.W. Bush worked for a world order of equality, fairness, justice, and democracy. This was part of his personality and leadership. That vision should go down as part of the growing positive history of his presidency.

Managing the End of The Cold War

--R. Nicholas Burns: NSC Director, Senior Director and Special Assistant to the President for Russian Affairs (1990-95); Professor of Practice of Diplomacy and International Politics at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government

Where does the late George H.W. Bush rank among American presidents? I admit to bias. I worked at the National Security Council in the White House for the last half of his presidency. I am convinced Bush was one of the greatest global leaders in foreign policy of all our presidents, certainly with achievements exceeding those of any president in 50 years.

He ended the Cold War peacefully. He was the central figure unifying Germany after the Berlin Wall fell. He organized a unique global coalition to defeat Saddam Hussein in the Gulf War. That year, he created the contemporary, two-track Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations. He began hemispheric-changing NAFTA negotiations. Each achievement would be consequential for any president. Together, they represent an extraordinary legacy of successes for America and the world.

The Cold War was never predestined to end peacefully. KGB and Red Army leaders tried overthrowing Gorbachev and Yeltsin in 1991. Soviet nuclear weapons might have fallen into the hands of warlords or criminals, or cabals might have obstructed the freedom of former satellites in Eastern Europe. Bush's solid, trusted relationships with Gorbachev and Yeltsin reassured them and Russians that we would not take advantage in the Soviet Union's final months. It was not a given that Germany would unify peacefully until Bush supported Chancellor Helmut Kohl in uniting a Germany embedded in the NATO alliance. Nor was it automatic that an extraordinary U.S.-led coalition would defeat Saddam Hussein without major casualties.

Bush was widely admired by those of us in the career foreign service and the military because he believed in us and in the power of government to do great things. He governed by seeking to unite us as Americans, not to divide us. Bush's combination of in-depth knowledge and sophistication about the world, along with his ability to connect to other leaders personally, was the key to his greatness in the presidency.

Delivering the Message in Central Europe

--Paula J. Dobriansky: NSC Director of European and Soviet Affairs (1981-87); Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs (2001-2009); Presidential Envoy to Northern Ireland (2007-2009)

As a member of the National Security Council staff handling East European and Soviet Affairs in the Reagan...