George H.W. Bush’s Wartime Experience Shaped His Approach To Politics

President George H. Bush is surrounded by soldiers as he walks by the stands at Ft. Stewart, Ga., after he addressed family members of the 24th Infantry Division stationed in Saudi Arabia and personnel at the facility on Friday, Feb. 1, 1991 outside of Hinesville, Ga.

Dennis Cook / Associated Press

George Herbert Walker Bush was the 41st president of the United States, but in many ways, he was the last of his kind.

Bush, who died Friday at 94, was the last World War II veteran to serve in the Oval Office, and he presided over the end of the long Cold War with the Soviets. He was also the last person raised within the confines of the once politically dominant “Eastern Establishment” to attain the presidency.

“A real transition, one might say, came with the conclusion of Bush’s term,” says presidential historian Robert Dallek.