AdChoices
Honor guard escorts body of former President George H.W. Bush to Texas burial
By Liz Hampton
29 mins ago
[url=/en-us/news/us/supreme-court%e2%80%99s-double-jeopardy-case-holds-mueller-probe-implications-kavanaugh-vote-key/ar-BBQB4lc][/url]
Supreme Court’s double-jeopardy case holds Mueller probe implications
[url=/en-us/news/us/supreme-court%e2%80%99s-double-jeopardy-case-holds-mueller-probe-implications-kavanaugh-vote-key/ar-BBQB4lc][/url]
[url=/en-us/money/healthcare/us-healthcare-spending-growth-slows-for-second-year-in-a-row/ar-BBQBgUN][/url]
US healthcare spending growth slows for second year in a row
[url=/en-us/money/healthcare/us-healthcare-spending-growth-slows-for-second-year-in-a-row/ar-BBQBgUN][/url]
Click to expand
Replay Video
UP NEXT
One last journey for the 41st President
The coffin carrying the body of former U.S. President George H.W. Bush made its final procession Thursday, via train from Houston to Texas A&M University in College Station - Bush's final resting place next to his wife, Barbara, at his presidential library. Rough Cut (no reporter narration).
Reuters - US Video Online
Wisconsin Republicans pass sweeping bill to strip power from Dems
Republicans in Wisconsin just passed legislation designed to strip power from incoming Democrats – including the governor-elect. Ali Velshi and State Politics Editor at the Wisconsin State Journal, Matthew DeFour break down what exactly this bill will do.
MSNBC
Cop tackles man threatening to jump off overpass
Raw video: Civilians stop to help officer who tackled man threatening to jump off overpass in Ohio.
FOX News
1
Cancel
00:21
01:21
United States (English)
SETTINGS
OFF
LO
HD
HQ
SD
LO
One last journey for the 41st President
One last journey for the 41st President
[url=/en-us/news/browse/reuters-us-video-online/vs-AA9VeTS][/url]
Reuters - US Video Online
[url=/en-us/video]See more videos[/url]
SHARE
SHARE
TWEET
SHARE
EMAIL
What to watch next
One last journey for the 41st President
Reuters - US Video Online1:21
Wisconsin Republicans pass sweeping bill to strip power from Dems
MSNBC4:20
Cop tackles man threatening to jump off overpass
FOX News0:46
Protesters flip car in central France
Reuters0:21
Is screen time affecting kids' brains?
CBS News0:38
Scientists geek out at sight of gorgeous 'dumbo octopus'
USA TODAY1:42
George P. Bush recounts memories with his grandfather
The Washington Post2:00
Excerpts From James Baker's Poignant Eulogy of George H.W. Bush
The Wall Street Journal.4:11
North Carolina GOP open to new election
CNN2:23
Father of tourist: She was killed in worst way
CNN0:39
Bush's casket leaves St. Martin's Cathedral in Houston
KHOU-TV Houston3:37
Lawmakers agree to 2-week funding deal to focus on George H.W. Bush tributes
CBS News1:15
In eulogy, grandson describes George H.W. Bush’s devotion to family
NBC News4:03
Bush's secretary of state gives tearful eulogy
CNN2:21
Family, friends mourn Bush in Houston service
Reuters1:53
George H.W. Bush's grandson, George Prescott Bush, gives eulogy at funeral in Houston
CBS News6:40
[url=ms-windows-store://collection/?CollectionId=TheNewsstand&ocid=msncommapppromo]The Newsstand[/url]
- [url=ms-windows-store://pdp/?PFN=USATODAY.USATODAY_wy7mw3214mat8&ocid=msncommapppromo][/url]
USA TODAY
Free
[url=ms-windows-store://pdp/?PFN=USATODAY.USATODAY_wy7mw3214mat8&ocid=msncommapppromo][/url]
UP NEXT
Video by Reuters HOUSTON, Dec 6 (Reuters) - The body of U.S. President George H.W. Bush arrived by train at his presidential library in College Station, Texas, on Thursday to be buried following a funeral at a Houston church where he was remembered by family members who knew him best as "Gampy."
Bush's casket was carried to his grave behind his presidential library by a military honor guard, while a squadron of Navy aircraft did a flyover, in a ceremony overseen by his son and former President George W. Bush.
Bush, the 41st U.S. president, died last week in Texas at 94. His remains were flown to Texas on Wednesday following a state funeral at the Washington National Cathedral attended by President Donald Trump, the four living former presidents and foreign leaders.
Thursday's funeral service was held at St. Martin's Episcopal Church in Houston, where Bush and former first lady Barbara Bush worshipped for more five decades, and took on a more personal tone with remarks by family members.
George W. Bush, who followed his father to the White House, sat in a front pew near the flag-draped casket and joined in as some 1,000 mourners sang "America the Beautiful."
George P. Bush, son of former Florida Governor Jeb Bush and one of the former president's 17 grandchildren, remembered fly fishing and sharing ice cream with the man he called "Gampy."
James Baker, a longtime friend who served as Bush's secretary of state, eulogized the former president as a peacemaker and "a truly beautiful human being."
"He was not considered a skilled speaker, but his deeds were quite eloquent and he demonstrated their eloquence by carving them into the hard granite of history," Baker said.
Mourners laughed as Baker recalled how Bush would let him know a conversation was over: "'Baker, if you're so smart, why am I president and you're not?'" His voice cracking at moments, Baker said he was at his friend's deathbed last week.
Raised in an Episcopalian family in Massachusetts, Bush fused his preppy New England background with the more free-wheeling traits of his adoptive state of Texas, where he moved as a young man to work in the oil industry.
That mix was reflected in the music heard at his funeral: the St. Martin's Parish Choir sang "The Battle Hymn of the Republic," country music star Reba McEntire performed "The Lord's Prayer," and the casket was carried out of the church to the thunderous strains of "Onward Christian Soldiers."
Slide 1 of 36: KENNEBUNKPORT, ME - JUNE 12: Film Subject President George H.W. Bush celebrates his 88th birthday following the HBO Documentary special screening of "41" on June 12, 2012 in Kennebunkport, Maine. (Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images for HBO)
Previous Slide
Next Slide
Full screen
1/36 SLIDES
Michael Loccisano/Getty Images for HBO
George H.W. Bush, the 41st President of the United States passed away on Nov. 30. Here's a look back on his life and careers in pictures.
2/36 SLIDES
Brooks Kraft LLC/Sygma/Getty Images
George H. W. Bush, Andover Philips Academy Year Book circa 1941.
3/36 SLIDES
Frances McLaughlin-Gill/Condé Nast/Getty Images
George H. W. Bush with his wife, Barbara, and their children Pauline and George W. in the yard of their Midlands, Texas, ranch, circa 1950.
4/36 SLIDES
White House/CNP/MediaPunch/IPX
The Bush Family in Houston, Texas, 1964, prior to George H.W. Bush's victorious race for United States Congress.
5/36 SLIDES
AP Photo
Republican senatorial candidate George Bush shows a victory sign as he and his wife Barbara stand in front of a vote machine Nov. 3, 1964 in Houston, Tex., just before casting their ballot. The candidate waited an hour and a half in a long line of voters that circled the Pilgrim Elementary School.
6/36 SLIDES
Dave Pickoff/AP Photo
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations George Bush raises his hand signaling a veto vote to block a call on Israel to stop reprisal raids in the Middle East following the murder of Israeli Olympic athletes, Sept. 10, 1972. It was only the second veto by the United States in UN history.
7/36 SLIDES
Henry Burroughs/AP Photo
Republican National Committee chairman George Bush, left, sizes up his opponent, Democratic National Committee chairman Robert S. Strauss, during the Circus Saints and Sinners Club luncheon in Washington, March 7, 1974. "Killer" Bush and "Slugger" Strauss donned the gloves for what was billed as the "Battle of the Century."
8/36 SLIDES
AP Photos
George H.W. Bush is sworn in as director of the Central Intelligence Agency by Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart, left, as Barbara Bush and President Ford, right, look on at CIA headquarters in Langley, Va., on Jan. 30, 1976.
9/36 SLIDES
Bettmann/Getty Images
With tears in her eyes Dorothy Bush of Greenwich, Conn., widow of former Senator Prescott Bush, applauds her son, George Bush, during a campaign luncheon on May 1, 1979 in Hartford. The former CIA chief announced his candidacy for the GOP presidential nomination in Washington earlier in the day.
10/36 SLIDES
ABC Photo Archives/Getty Images
(L-R) Barbara Bush, George H.W. Bush, Ronald Reagan and Nancy Reagan at the 1980 Republican National Convention held in Joe Louis Arena, in Detroit, Mich., from July 14-27, 1980. While a number of Republicans sought the nomination, Reagan captured it on the first ballot.
11/36 SLIDES
David Hume Kennerly/Getty Images
George H.W. Bush and Mrs. Barbara Bush at the vice president's residence circa 1983 in Washington.
12/36 SLIDES
Mary McLoughlin/New York Post Archives /(c) NYP Holdings, Inc./Getty Images
Vice President George H.W. Bush inspects a new plane. August 27, 1984.
13/36 SLIDES
Bob Olen/New York Post Archives /(c) NYP Holdings, Inc./Getty Images
George H.W. Bush, wearing a New York Mets jacket, throws out the first pitch at the New York Mets vs. San Diego Padres game on April 9, 1985.
14/36 SLIDES
Newsmakers/Getty Images
Portrait of the Bush family in front of their Kennebunkport, Maine on Aug. 24, 1986. BACK ROW: Margaret holding daughter Marshall, Marvin Bush, Bill LeBlond. FRONT ROW: Neil Bush holding son Pierce, Sharon, George W. Bush holding daughter Barbara, Laura Bush holding daughter Jenna, Barbara Bush, George Bush, Sam LeBlond, Doro Bush Lebond, George P. (Jeb's son), Jeb Bush holding son Jebby, Columba Bush, and Noelle Bush.
15/36 SLIDES
Central Archive of Photography/AP Photo
U.S. Vice President George Bush unveils the emblem of the U.S. Consulate in Krakow, Poland on Sept. 29, 1987.
16/36 SLIDES
Michael Norcia/New York Post Archives /(c) NYP Holdings, Inc./Getty Images
Donald Trump with Vice President George H.W. Bush at Republican Party fundraiser at the Plaza Hotel on April 12, 1988.
17/36 SLIDES
David Hume Kennerly/Getty Images
(L-R) First Lady Nancy Reagan, President-Elect George H.W. Bush, President Ronald Reagan, Mrs. Barbara Bush, Vice President-Elect Dan Quayle, and Mrs. Marilyn Quayle at a welcoming ceremony at the Rose Garden on Nov. 9, 1988 in Washington, DC. Bush had won the presidential election the day before.
18/36 SLIDES
Bob Daugherty, File/AP Photo
In this Jan. 20, 1989, file photo, George H.W. Bush raises his right hand as he is sworn into office as the 41st president of the United States by Chief Justice William Rehnquist outside the west front of the Capitol on Jan. 20, 1989. First lady Barbara Bush holds the bible for her husband.
19/36 SLIDES
Pete Souza/ABC via Getty Images
President George H.W. Bush and First Lady Barbara Bush at the Bush/Gorbachev Summit at the White House in 1990.
20/36 SLIDES
David Ake/AFP/Getty Images
Bush (R) listens to Mother Teresa (L) during a meeting in the White House Oval Office on Dec. 9, 1991 in Washington, DC. Mother Teresa is in Washington to attend the initiation ceremony of new nuns into her order.
21/36 SLIDES
Visions of America/UIG/Getty Images
Bill Clinton being welcomed as 42nd president, on Inauguration Day in 1993 in Washington, DC.
22/36 SLIDES
Hoang Dinh Nam/AFP/Getty Images
The former president walks through a sweet potato field with the unidentified chief (L) of the search team looking for US soldiers missing in action (MIA) during his visit Sept. 7, 1995 at a MIA search site at Dien Hoa, Dien Ban district, Quang Nam-Da Nang province in central Vietnam. Some 50 Vietnamese and a 13-member US team worked on the site looking for the remains of US serviceman killed during the Vietnam War. Bush was on a four-day private visit to Vietnam.
23/36 SLIDES
David Hume Kennerly/Getty Images
(L-R) Lady Bird Johnson, President George H.W. Bush, Barbara Bush, President Gerald R. Ford, Betty Ford, President Jimmy Carter, and Rosalyn Carter pose for a formal group portrait at the Gerald R. Ford Library re-dedication on April 16, 1997 in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
24/36 SLIDES
Paul Buck/AFP/Getty Images
George Bush parachutes onto the grounds of his presidential library at the campus of Texas A & M University in College Station, Texas on June 9, 1999. Bush made the jump in celebration of his 75th birthday.
25/36 SLIDES
Brooks Kraft LLC/Sygma/Getty Images
Former president George Bush, Sr., and his son George W. Bush speak to the press in Kennebunkport, Maine. This June 13, 1999, press conference is early in George W. Bush's campaign for the 2000 United States presidential election.
26/36 SLIDES
John Mottern/AFP/Getty Images
The Bush family, --(L-R) Texas governor and presidential candidate George W., Florida Gov. Jeb, former U.S. president George and his wife Barbara -- watch play during the Foursomes matches on Sept. 25,1999 in Brookline, Massachusetts, the site of the 33rd Ryder Cup Matches.
27/36 SLIDES
Herbert Knosowski/AP Photos
Former President George Bush, left, chats with former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, right, as Barbara Bush looks on before Bush was awarded honorary citizenship of Berlin on Nov. 8, 1999. The city of Berlin is celebrating the 10th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, where Bush and Gorbachev played major roles.
28/36 SLIDES
Jason Hirschfeld/Getty Images
Former president George H. W. Bush addresses a crowd of hundreds at the Keel Laying ceremony in his honor on Sept. 6, 2003 in Newport News, Virginia. Bush laid the keel to the aircraft carrier which is named after him.
29/36 SLIDES
Tom Ervin/Getty Images
Chris Evert lifts former President George H.W. Bush's arm after a match during the annual Chris Evert celebrity event at the Delray Beach Tennis Center Dec. 6, 2003 in Delray Beach, Florida.
30/36 SLIDES
Evan Vucci/AP Photos
From left: first lady Laura Bush, President Bush, Queen Elizabeth II, former first lady Barbara Bush, former President George H.W. Bush, and Prince Philip pose for photographs before the start of a dinner on May 8, 2007 in Washington.
31/36 SLIDES
Brooks Kraft LLC/Corbis/Getty Images
President Barack Obama awards former President George H.W. Bush the 2010 Medal of Freedom during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House in Washington.
32/36 SLIDES
Tom Pennington/Getty Images
Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (L) meets with Former President George H.W. Bush and Barbara Bush at Bush's office on March 29, 2012 in Houston, Texas. Mitt Romney received an endorsement from Former President George H.W. Bush and Barbara Bush during the meeting.
33/36 SLIDES
Paul Marotta/Getty Images
Former New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg looks on as President George H.W. Bush receives an Honorary Doctor of Laws Degree at the Harvard University 363rd Commencement Exercises Ceremony on May 29, 2014 in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
34/36 SLIDES
Bob Levey/Getty Images
Houston Astros star George Springer holds the 2017 World Series Championship trophy as he takes a photograph with former President George H.W. Bush on Nov. 5, 2017 in Houston, Texas.
35/36 SLIDES
Gabe Souza/Portland Press Herald/Getty Images
Former President George H.W. Bush and first lady Barbara Bush hold hands and talk before the dedication of the Mathew J. Lanigan bridge that connects Kennebunk and Kennebunkport, Maine on May 19, 2017.
36/36 SLIDES
Paul Morse/Office of George H.W. Bush/Handout/Reuters
(L-R) Laura Bush, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, and U.S. first lady Melania Trump pose with former U.S. President George H.W. Bush at the funeral of former first lady Barbara Bush in Houston on April 21, 2018.
36/36 SLIDES
Slideshow by photo servicesLOCOMOTIVE 4141
Following the funeral service, Bush's remains were taken by train some 80 miles (130 km) northwest to his presidential library in College Station, Texas, where he will be buried alongside his wife, Barbara, who died in April, and their daughter Robin, who died of leukemia at age 3 in 1953.
Residents of small towns along the route gathered to wave at the train, a Union Pacific Corp locomotive numbered 4141 and bearing the name "George Bush 41" on the side, as it passed.
Bush, a U.S. Navy aviator who narrowly escaped death when he was shot down by Japanese forces over the Pacific Ocean during World War Two, will be buried with military honors, including a flyover by 21 Navy aircraft.
Bush was president from 1989 to 1993, navigating the collapse of the Soviet Union and expelling former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's forces from oil-rich Kuwait.
He supported the passage of the American with Disabilities Act, a major civil rights law protecting disabled people from discrimination.
A patrician figure who served as vice president to Ronald Reagan, Bush lost re-election to a second term in part for failing to connect with ordinary Americans during an economic recession.
He has also been criticized for supporting tough drug laws that led to the disproportionate incarceration of black people, as well as what activists call an insufficient response to the AIDS epidemic.
But tributes in recent days have focused on the former Republican president as a man of integrity and kindness who represented an earlier era of civility in American politics.