Bush Family Traditions — The End Depends on the Beginning
The morning after we saw “the photo in his pocket,” Ray and I crossed an item off our bucket list. We walked into the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum and spent the whole day there — not even stopping for lunch! That’s George Herbert Walker Bush or as its website (bush41.com) indicates, George Bush the 41st president, as opposed to George Bush the 43rd president. I love that the Bush family refers to this famous father and son as 41 and 43. Of course, when George (then a student at Yale University) and his wife Barbara named their son George after his daddy, they didn’t know they would both be president someday. I also love that George Bush (the 1st or 41st, if you please) became president exactly two hundred years after George Washington, the only other American president who was named George.
One of the first displays we saw in the museum was a quote by President Bush (that’s 41 and he’s the only President Bush I talk about in the rest of this post. Whew! That will streamline things!) concerning his own name:
“My mother couldn’t make up her mind which of her father’s names [George, Herbert, Walker] she wanted me to have. When christening time came she decided not to decide.”
While we don’t respect every position George or Barbara Bush has ever had or everything they have ever done, we do respect a great deal and believe that we can learn valuable lessons from these devoted parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, and public servants.
As I began to write about this visit, I thought I would start at the entrance . . .
. . . and walk you through to the end, but President Bush’s life of service has simply been too full and remarkable for that. For today at least, I will just start where the museum started, with an introduction to Prescott and Dorothy Walker Bush, the parents who reared this remarkable man.
The title of one panel in this section was this:
Family Traditions — The End Depends on the Beginning
The display explained that this way:
The greatest gift George Bush inherited was the core values instilled in him by his parents.
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Tell the truth
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Keep your word
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Take responsibility.
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Set an example.
And his parents demonstrated to him by their example that family, friends, and faith were more valuable than gold.
The display included these quotes about Prescott and Dorothy, penned or spoken by their son George himself:
“An imposing man of six feet four inches, my father was perhaps the most powerful influence in my life.”
“By example he taught all five of his kids a great deal about character. He did it through action, not words.”
“My mother was my guiding light and led us all by example.”
“Physically, she is a small woman but made of mighty stuff.”
“My mother excelled in athletics and had a strong faith in God. She was unfailingly kind and gave us all love until the day she died.”
“My mother loved games and thought competition taught courage, fair play, and — I think most importantly — teamwork.”
“Each morning . . . at the breakfast table, Mother or Dad read a Bible lesson to us.”
“My parents were my most important role models . . . my dad stood for something and believed in giving something back. My mother taught fundamental things: ‘Don’t brag.’ ‘Think of the other guy.’ ‘Be kind to people.’ The things they taught me served me in good stead all the way through my presidency.”
“My father and mother believed in an old-fashioned way of bringing up a family — generous measures of both love and discipline.”
“My father was a remarkable man who not only believed in public service, but embodied the spirit of it.”
“Dad didn’t spoil us by giving us a lot of stuff. We were never conscious of his wealth. We were always conscious of his achievement and respect.”
And at the beginning of the section about President Bush’s family of origin was this quote from Jesus Christ.
