Public Official

Mikhail Gorbachev has been known to say that only then-President Ronald Reagan could have "won" the Cold War through the determination and strategy he used both in negotiating with the Soviet Union and the hard line he took against it. If so, it's probably also true that few, if any, people could have managed the actual collapse of the USSR and its satellites with as little bloodshed as Reagan's successor, George H.W. Bush. Bush passed away today at 94.

Bush's knowledge of foreign policy and his experience in both intelligence and diplomatic areas, plus his cool head in times of stress, outpaced just about everyone else who vied for the Republican presidential nomination in 1988. Senators Bob Dole and Jack Kemp probably had the leadership qualities needed, but neither of them could match Bush's foreign policy résumé. And neither they nor any of the rest of the "Why did you bother?" list had Reagan's endorsement.

Bush is sometimes considered a failed president because he only served one term before being defeated by Bill Clinton. Critics suggest his ability to step on his own tongue at any given moment, his failure to capture the national momentum he drew during Operation Desert Storm and his reversal of his clear pledge not to raise taxes weakened him against the younger, hipper and most definitely smoother Clinton. I don't know that any of those things were his greatest mistake. Nor, would I suggest to the snickers of many, was it the selection of Dan Quayle as his running mate. The list of other candidates he'd beaten in the primaries included men like Al Haig and Pat Robertson, so going way outside the box wasn't the worst idea.

Looking back at the 1992 election, it seems like Bush's biggest mistake was in not finding a way to quell or pacify quirky Texas businessman Ross Perot. Perot won no electoral votes but did rack up almost a fifth of the national popular vote, probably drawing more from Bush than from Clinton.

In any event, Bush wasted little time grieving his loss, staying active in public life in several areas of interest to him and partnering with Clinton to help raise funds for victims of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The last U.S. President to have fought in World War II and the last from the "Greatest Generation," his presidency and foreign policy achievements could be seen as following the path of that generation in handing off to their children the world they had carefully shaped and worked hard to improve.

And much like they did with everything else, those Baby Boomer children made a mess of things. Probably should have listened to their elders.