Reagan's Funeral

showed another glimpse of something I've always admired in George Bush (the Elder) - his ability to be overwhelmed by emotion. He chokes up in public less readily, but more easily, than any public figure I can think of. Here's a transcript from a Larry King interview, where he talks about his daughter Robin's death at age 3:

GEORGE H.W. BUSH: I don't know if I could read it. We're very emotional in our family, and this was a long time ago. I've gotten over being a sissy about it[emphasis mine], because that is very personal. And we hurt. But now, you know, a lot of families, Larry, when they have...

KING: Loss.

GEORGE H.W. BUSH: Yes, a loss, they go apart. In ours I think it's closer together.

50 years after his baby daughter died, he chokes up on Larry King Live, and calls himself a sissy, and says he's over it - and he knows he's not. And you know that if anyone broke down in that way in front of him, the word "sissy" would never enter his mind.

And he knows he's prone to emotionalism:

"I was in awe," says Bush. "President Reagan went to Normandy and gave those great speeches. When he came back, I asked him, 'How did you ever get through those speeches without breaking up?' He said, 'Here's what you do. You write it out yourself, and then you say it over and over again. And by doing that, it is still personal the way you say it, but you don't feel that you are apt to choke up.'"

That could be any experienced actor talking to any layman - but GHWB's father was a Senator, and Bush himself was a war hero, served in the House, had served as CIA Director and as U.N. Ambassador, and had been Vice President for four years at that point. He was no stranger to public speaking and grave events.

He knows his heart lives permanently on his sleeve, and he can't do anything about it - and at age 80, it still embarasses him just a bit. What a strange, lovely pair of men, Reagan and Bush I, that they both could retain a core innocence even after the hardening experience of the Presidency.
- posted by Scott @ 8:56 PM