The death of former president George H W Bush sent ripples across the United States.
While many will remember him for his involvement in the Gulf War, or the famous line, “read my lips- no new taxes”. But one of the most important things for Canadians was a simple friendship.
Photo taken by Mike Sprague/AFP/Getty Images- April 28, 1988
Bush was very close with former Brian Mulroney. Many photos show the two of them together or sharing a laugh. In Mulroney’s eulogy at the funeral- he refers to Bush as “a very big friend.”
Glen Morgan is a politics professor at Fanshawe, and says that this friendship is a powerful representation of the relationship between Canada and the US,
“Mulroney’s eulogy showed what Canada/US relations had been, and despite differences that pop up on occasion, there’s a pretty decent relationship between the two countries.”
Another large part of the Bush presidency was the introduction of the NAFTA deal, which Morgan believes many people will remember him for,
“We can look back at George Bush senior, and kinda starting that legacy that put it all into place.”
A number of former presidents were in attendance at the funeral, including George W Bush, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama. Donald Trump also stayed for the service. Bush’s remains were taken back to his home state of Texas, where his body will be laid to rest.
