George H. W. Bush served as the 41st President of the United States. He also was the father of George W. Bush, the 43rd President of the United States.

The life of Mr. Bush was one of bravery, dedication, and service to our country. Mr. Bush graduated in the top of his high school class; after graduation, his parents wanted him to go straight to Yale University. Instead, on his 18th birthday, he enlisted in the Navy during World War II where he would be sent into the Pacific. After a year, he was promoted to a pilot, a challenging feat to do in such a short time.

After coming home from the war with a Distinguished Flying Cross Medal, he attended Yale University, all while starting a family with his high school sweetheart, Barbara Pierce. Mr. Bush would go on to dedicate his life to public service. He worked in several high profile government positions during his political career before serving as Vice President of the United States to former President Ronald Reagan.

After serving two terms as Vice President, he began to plan his biggest political move: running to become President of the United States. He was a good and decent man on all accounts. In 1988, he won the presidential race, making him the 41st President of the United States. While he had many foreign policy triumphs and a high approval rating of 93%, in 1992, he would go on to lose his bid for reelection to Bill Clinton. Despite their political differences, the Clinton’s and the Bush’s became good family friends after their time in the White House.

The passing of George H. W. Bush marks the end of an era.

The funeral service at Arlington National Cemetery for Mr. Bush brought together a powerful group of men as they mourned the former president’s death. The Presidents Club came together for the first time since the election of our current president, Donald J. Trump. This assembly was rather awkward as tensions between the current president and the former presidents are at a high. Donald Trump’s presidency has been marked by scandals, fear-mongering, bigotry, hate, and the Mueller investigation.

It seems that lack of kindness can be dismissed in our current political climate. George H. W. Bush believed in a gentler kind of politics. The same belief could not be applied to today’s politics; in fact, I think it’s the opposite. There was a time when people simply agreed to disagree, but that sense of respect and politeness has been declining. Lately, in politics, we just attack anyone who we don’t agree with because we either aren’t willing to see both sides of an argument or we simply just don’t understand the other points of view.

The lack of compromise that is taking place in politics here in America is quite frightening, and if we don’t start seeing that we’re all Americans instead of “(R)” and “(D),” it will be the demise of our democracy as we know it. Our political system is strongest when disagreeing parties can work together to find a solution that will benefit everyone. Maybe with the idea of compromise, you won’t get everything you wanted but at least Congress will be able to actually do something that could potentially benefit the people.

Starting next month we will have a Democratic-controlled House and a GOP-controlled Senate. I fear that we will not see much legislation over the next two years because of the two parties inability to work together on bipartisan issues. George H.W. Bush saw an era of politics where facts mattered, where politicians could work across the aisle much more often, and where your political opponents weren’t your enemies, but your fellow Americans that were doing what they believed was right.