Your trusted source

George HW Bush, who as the 41st president shepherded the US through a turbulent period in global relations that included the breakup of the Soviet Union and the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, has died. He was 94, The Guardian reports.

A statement from his office said: “George Herbert Walker Bush, World War II naval aviator, Texas oil pioneer, and 41st President of the United States of America, died on November 30, 2018. He was 94 and is survived by his five children and their spouses, 17 grandchildren, eight great grandchildren, and two siblings. He was preceded in death by his wife of 73 years, Barbara; his second child Pauline Robinson ‘Robin’ Bush; and his brothers Prescott and William or ‘Bucky’ Bush. Funeral arrangements will be announced as soon as is practical.”

A statement from Donald Trump praised Bush for his “sound judgment, common sense and unflappable leadership”.

A moderate conservative who served a single term in office between 1989 and 1993, Bush lacked the charisma or polarising ideology of his predecessor, Ronald Reagan, under whom he had served as vice-president.

But he was widely respected for showing a steady hand during an uncertain moment in history during which the Berlin Wall came down, Soviet-sponsored communism in eastern Europe collapsed and the US emerged as the single global superpower.

Bush will inevitably be remembered, too, as the patriarch of the Bush political tribe, one of the most successful political dynasties in America. The 41st president was father to George W Bush, the 43rd, and Jeb Bush, who ran unsuccessfully against Donald Trump for the Republican nomination for president in 2016.

The two brothers, former governors of Texas and Florida respectively, were among six children the 41st president had with his wife, Barbara, who died in April, aged 92. A close-knit family, they had watched George Bush Sr’s health slowly deteriorate in recent years. Bush suffered from lower-body Parkinson’s disease, which causes a loss of balance, and had used a wheelchair since at least 2012.

An admission to a hospital in Houston, Texas, in November 2012, following a problem with a bronchitis-related cough, resulted in a two-month stay under the supervision of doctors, including a brief period in intensive care. Bush spent another week in hospital two years later after complaining of shortness of breath.

He was admitted to hospital again in July2015 after fracturing a bone in his neck during a fall at the family’s summer residence in Kennebunkport, Maine. He was in hospital again after his wife’s funeral and was admitted on Sunday after feeling fatigued.

Despite his increasing fragility, Bush remained active well into his old age. He celebrated at least three of his birthdays since his retirement from the White House by parachute jumps – including, in June 2014, a skydive to celebrate his 90th birthday.

While Bush Sr earned credit for his approach to foreign policy, he was less successful on the domestic front and lost the 1992 presidential race to Democrat Bill Clinton. His defeat was in part due to the argument that he had performed badly as steward of the American economy during a period in which unemployment grew.

Indeed, Bush’s best-remembered line is likely to be a pledge he delivered as vice-president at the 1998 Republican National Convention: “Read my lips,” he told delegates. “No new taxes.”

He is survived by his five children, 14 grand-children and four great-grand-children.