It is a good thing that former first lady Barbara Bush is not around. After all, she refused to let Donald Trump show up at her own funeral. Unlike his wife, President George H.W. Bush, 94, thought it was important for the sitting president to come — with this caveat.
President George W. Bush will give the eulogy at the Washington National Cathedral, along with other family and friends. These include former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, former U.S. Senator Alan Simpson (R-WY), and presidential historian Jon Meacham, who was Bush Sr.’s biographer. Donald Trump will not speak.
‘What the hell was that, by the way, thousand points of light? What did that mean? Does anyone know. I know one thing: Make America Great Again, we understand. Putting America first, we understand. Thousand points of light, I never quite got that one.’
“Thousand points of light” is a phrase 45 coined during his presidential campaign. It was how the late president referred to community volunteer organizations that “spread like stars” across America. Given Trump’s temperament, his lacking of empathy, of course, he would not have “got that one.”
Maybe, some of the late president’s class has rubbed off on Trump, because the current president in office has only spoken well of George H.W. Bush, since he died. At the G20 Summit, when the president was informed of Bush’s passing, Trump said, according to CNN:
‘We’ll be spending three days of mourning and three days of celebrating a really great man’s life. So, we look forward to doing that, and he certainly deserves it. He really does. He was a very special person.’
It was curious that 41 wanted 45 at his funeral. Trump made a condolence call on the family during the events surrounding the elder Bush’s funeral.
It appears that even in death, Bush Sr. wanted to unite the country. He and his family believed how important it was to see all of the nation’s living presidents together.
After the week of funeral events’ conclusion, President George H.W. Bush will go back to Texas and be laid to rest on his presidential library grounds. He will be next to his wife of 73 years, Barbara Bush, who died earlier this year, and their three-year-old daughter, who died of leukemia in 1953.
Featured image is a screenshot via YouTube.
