Integrity and grace of australia’s trusted friend

Illustration: Sturt Krygsman.

George HW Bush personified the meaning of public service. He enlisted in World War II, served two terms in congress, and worked as CIA director, ambassador, Republican Party chairman, vice-president to Ronald Reagan and a term as president. While patrician with a deep sense of noblesse oblige, he was nevertheless a man of rare dignity, unfailing grace and unimpeachable integrity.

Bush also was a great friend to Australia. He was the first serving president to visit since Lyndon Johnson. He was especially close to Bob Hawke, whom he regarded as a good friend and unstinting ally. Bush also had a good relationship with Paul Keating, who hosted his visit to Australia.

Keating also invited George and Barbara Bush to stay at Kirribilli House as private citizens when they visited in 1994.

In a recent interview with Bush for a forthcoming biography of Hawke — one of his last interviews — the former president told me that he saw the Australia-US relationship as fundamental to the future peace and prosperity of the Asia-Pacific region and urged both countries to continue to work closely together to engage constructively with China.

Bush said the shared commitment to “democracy, freedom and human rights” made the relationship especially important. The alliance partnership, which extends to joint defence facilities, intelligence sharing, personnel exchanges, military exercises and combined operations, made it even more so. “We are bound by a history of alliance, by culture, by common values,” he said.

He wanted the US to continue to strengthen its presence in the Asia-Pacific. He thought the Australia-US alliance should be central to US engagement. “It only makes sense for two of the leading proponents of democracy, freedom, fair trade, human rights and the other issues that bind us together to stand together, and work together, to shape a future where greater freedoms and opportunities are possible,” he said.

As economic and military power shifts from the West to the East, and the rise of China cannot be ignored, Bush took a realpolitik view of the challenges in the region based on the values he espoused as president.

He warned against the US and its allies trying to counter the rise of China and instead viewed continued co-operation and dialogue as necessary.

“I have long thought trying to counter China’s rise on the world stage would be a counter-productive exercise,” he said. “But I also think there is absolutely a role for the US and Australia to engage China, work with China and to continue raising with China those concerns we have, whether it is on copyright issues, human rights or what have you.”

Bush’s visit to Australia in December 1991 and January 1992 was a testament to his friendship with Hawke. But it was Keating, prime minister for 10 days, who welcomed Bush. Keating had met Bush 20 years earlier while visiting the US. Hawke took Keating to meet Reagan and Bush at the White House in June 1983. They sang Waltzing Matilda at Bush’s vice-presidential residence after dinner one night.

Air Force One touched down in Sydney on a wet New Year’s Eve in 1991. That evening, the Bushes watched the fireworks illuminate Sydney Harbour from Admiralty House. The next day, at Kirribilli House, Keating presented George Bush with his ambitious plan for regional heads of government to meet regularly. Bush welcomed the idea and encouraged Keating to broach it with other leaders. This later became the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation leaders’ meeting.

Australians warmly embraced Bush. He was the first foreign leader to address the Australian parliament. He emphasised that free trade led to growth and jobs. He reassured Australians that the US would remain “a Pacific partner” and would continue to be “engaged” in the region. Bush understood the need for the US to commit, in the post-Cold War era, to strengthening diplomatic, economic and security relationships in the Asia-Pacific.

Bush’s great legacy lay more in foreign than domestic policy. He was pragmatic rather than ideological in grappling with the end of the Cold War as the Soviet Union collapsed, Germany was reunified, and nuclear and chemical weapons arsenals were dismantled.

The liberation of Kuwait in 1990-91, he thought, helped salve the US mindset after the tragedy of Vietnam. He was one of the last great leaders of that era.

The corollary of Bush’s success in global affairs was that as the US economy tanked many felt he had little appreciation of, or empathy for, everyday Americans. Seemingly bored with these complaints, he was caught looking at his watch during a presidential debate in 1992. His patrician bearing did not help, nor did his broken pledge: “Read my lips. No new taxes.” His Americans with Disabilities Act remains his signature domestic achievement.

Time magazine once characterised Bush as a “wimp”. Yet his genial reputation and modesty belied his toughness as a politician. There is no better example of this than his brutal campaign for president in 1988, run by Lee Atwater, who targeted Democratic nominee Michael Dukakis without mercy. (Atwater later apologised for the harshness of the campaign.)

Bush’s presidential library in College Station, Texas, tells the story of his remarkable life from privileged beginnings as the wealthy son of a senator, his time as a navy pilot and Texas oilman to his years in congress, government service and the White House. But it is the letter he left in the Oval Office for Bill Clinton, hanging on a gallery wall, that stuck in my mind after visiting.

“When I walked into this office just now I felt the same sense of wonder and respect that I felt four years ago,” Bush wrote to Clinton after his humiliating defeat after four years in office in November 1992.

“I wish you well. I wish your family well. Your success now is our country’s success. I am rooting hard for you. Good luck.”

That letter encapsulates the legacy of a good and decent man who dedicated his life to serving others, and did so with civility, charm and humility.