George H.W. Bush — 41st U.S. president — dies at 94

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George Herbert Walker Bush led the U.S. to a swift and decisive victory in the first Persian Gulf War and presided over the peaceful dissolution of the Soviet Union and unification of Germany, before a painful recession cost him a second term as president.

He died at age 94 at on Nov. 30. His wife of more than 70 years, Barbara, died at the age of 92 earlier this year.

Bush was the last American president to serve in World War II, a fight that helped shape his life and the lives of many in his generation. He went on to build a sterling resume — businessman, member of Congress, envoy to the United Nations and China, head of the Central Intelligence Agency — before becoming Republican Ronald Reagan’s vice president in 1980 and then succeeding him in the White House in 1988.

He lost his bid for re-election to Democrat Bill Clinton in 1992, after a campaign in which he was hampered by two years of disappointing economic performance and an insurrection among his own party’s conservatives over a decision to raise taxes. The loss was a bitter personal disappointment, but one he handled with the kind of grace that allowed him to become friends with Clinton in later life.

An expanded version of this article appears at WSJ.com

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