In December 1989, the Times of Malta published a supplement marking the Bush-Gorbachev summit held off the coast of Marsaxlokk. Beneath the photos of both leaders, a quote from the Book of Isaiah read: “They shall beat their swords into ploughshares.”
The verse continues: “Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.” This echoed the widespread and palpable hope for a lasting peace. While that proved to be illusory and short-lived, it was much needed after decades of Cold War. It is still a hope we need to cherish.
One of the people who shaped the transition is President George H. W. Bush, who died at the age of 94 on November 30.
Born in 1924, Bush came from a family of entrepreneurs and oil dealers and he had business interests in the petroleum industry. His family was also political and his father was elected senator in 1952 and served until he retired a decade later.
Bush’s long and fruitful life is marked by a sense of duty and public service, which is all but extinct in contemporary politics. On the day of his 19th birthday, he enlisted in the US navy and, a year later, he was commissioned as a pilot in the naval air service. In January 1945, he married Barbara and, in September of the same year, he was discharged honourably from the navy. They shared a 73-year love story. She predeceased him by a mere seven months.
He unsuccessfully ran for the senate on two occasions, in 1964 and 1970. After a brief stint in Congress, he was appointed US ambassador to the United Nations by President Richard Nixon. His meteoric rise through the ranks of the US government took off; in 1974 he was appointed chief of the US Liaison Office in China by President Gerald Ford and, in 1976, he was named as director of the CIA.
He failed to win the nomination for the Republican Party in 1980. Nonetheless, the eventual nominee, Ronald Reagan, picked him as his vice presidential candidate. The Republican ticket carried 50.7 per cent of the popular vote and 44 states. It was a landslide that came at a convenient time.
By the mid-1980s, several leaders had the moral authority and the will to take the necessary steps to put an end to the ‘Evil Empire’. Pope John Paul II provided the required moral authority; Margaret Thatcher and Reagan provided much-needed political leadership. They were joined by allies, freedom fighters and visionaries such as Vaclav Havel, Helmut Kohl and Lech Wałęsa.
Bush built on this legacy when he was sworn in as the 41st President of the United States in 1989.
There were some controversial decisions. Barely a year into his presidency, Operation Just Cause deposed the Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega. The United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution condemning this invasion and the Organisation of American States called for a withdrawal of troops.
George Bush was not merely a hawk who desired regime change at all costs
Noriega, an ally-turned-foe, was responsible for turning Panama into a centre of racketeering, drug smuggling and money laundering. He himself was the beneficiary of income generated from drug trafficking. The lives of over 30,000 US citizens were in danger. Nonetheless, the circumstances of the invasion raise some painful questions, which remain unanswered almost 29 years to the day of the invasion.
During that same month, Bush met with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev off the coast of Malta. Some dismiss this meeting as inconsequential. However, the visuals of the summit were much needed. It was the first joint conference which both leaders addressed.
Bush acknowledged that the summit helped both sides gain “a deeper understanding of each other’s views”. He also pledged to use economic means to help Gorbachev’s policies of glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring). Gorbachev insisted that “we are leaving one epoch, the cold war, and entering another epoch”.
The ‘New world order’ theme was one which Bush often returned to. After the Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein invaded and occupied the small country of Kuwait, the United States and its allies launched Operation Desert Storm to liberate the small Middle Eastern state. The rationale is best outlined in the 1991 State of the Union address:
“What is at stake is more than one small country; it is a big idea: a new world order, where diverse nations are drawn together in common cause to achieve the universal aspirations of mankind — peace and security, freedom and the rule of law. Such is a world worthy of our struggle and worthy of our children’s future.”
He recognised the changes that were taking place all around him: “The end of the Cold War has been a victory for all humanity. A year and a half ago, in Germany, I said that our goal was a Europe whole and free. Tonight, Germany is united. Europe has become whole and free and America’s leadership was instrumental in making it possible.”
Bush was not merely a hawk who desired regime change at all costs. His vision was holistic and principled: “We have before us the opportunity to forge for ourselves and for future generations a new world order, a world where the rule of law, not the rule of the jungle, governs the conduct of nations.”
Alas, the hopes of new world order were dashed. In the decades following the collapse of the Berlin War, disgruntlement with the adverse effects of capitalism and the usurpation of the free market by oligarchs are leading to a rediscovery of more authoritarian styles of politics.
Bush was not able to persuade the US electorate to give him a second mandate. Marred by the third-party candidature of Ross Perot and the charismatic Bill Clinton, Bush had to relinquish the presidency in January 1993. His first letter to President Clinton sums up the character of this great man:
“There will be very tough times, made even more difficult by criticism you may not think is fair. I’m not a very good one to give advice but just don’t let the critics discourage you or push you off course.
“You will be our President when you read this note. I wish you well. I wish your family well. Your success now is our country’s success. I am rooting hard for you.”
Bush lived to attend his son’s inauguration in 2001 and 2005. He had the pleasure of going to parachute jumps on three milestone birthdays – his 80th , his 85th and his 90th.
President Barack Obama chose to award him the highest civilian honour of the United States: the Presidential Medal of Honour. It was a truly well-deserved reward.
André DeBattista is an independent researcher in politics and international relations.
This is a Times of Malta print opinion piece