Tomorrow would have been the 97th Birthday of former President George Herbert Walker Bush. Of course, the former President passed away in late 2018. A new book written by his former Chief of Staff Jean Becker has been released detailing his post Washington life.
Becker recently sat down with KTRH's Shara Fryer to talk about "The Man I Knew: The Amazing Story of George H. W. Bush's Post-Presidency," and talked about the decision the former President made in the summer of 2018 to come back home to Houston for his final days.
"He asked us if we were asking him where he wanted to die," Becker explained. "He said, without hesitation, I want to go home."
Becker says that on the day he died, Bush was more concerned about her than he was about himself.
"I coughed. His eyes flew open. He squeezed my hand. He said, 'Are you okay?' It's so classic President Bush. He's dying, and he's worried about me," Becker said.
Becker also talked about a Bush summer tradition; going to Maine. But even during those summers, if Texas needed him, Bush was there.
"The day Harvey hit we felt guilty that we weren't here. President Bush looked at me and said,' Jean, we gotta go to work.' So we gathered all the former Presidents, and they were off and running again," Becker recounted, adding that what Bush did four years ago was exactly what she expected he would do.
"He really walked the walk on his deep beliefs. This was his favorite quote about volunteerism, "Any definition of a successful life must include serving others," Becker explained.
You can buy the book online at Amazon or in any bookstore. You can listen to Shara Fryer's entire interview with Jean Becker below.
1 of 10 Bush jump from 1999
2 of 10 2004 Birthday lunch
3 of 10 Jean Becker's 'The Man I Knew'
4 of 10 Family photo
5 of 10 Funeral train to College Station
6 of 10 Backstage at a Hurricane Harvey event
7 of 10 8 of 10 9 of 10 10 of 10 Superman socks