Are always important, but never more so important than the time that were living in. We heard former president bill clinton use the words total class. And we heard former president barack obama, a democrat, say a gentleman. And i think civility, his graciousness, the way he handled himself is a role model we all will miss. Jamie, dana, thank you. This is cnn breaking news. Im don lemon. It is the top of the hour. Here is our breaking news. The 41st president of the United States, george h. W. Bush has died at the age of 94. The flag at the white house flying at halfstaff right now as flowers pile up outside the bush home in houston, texas. Tributes are pouring in from President Trump and former president S Barack Obama and bill clinton. As well as former Vice President al gore and condoleezza rice, james baker, and so many more. The nation mourning the man who devoted his life to service to his country and to his family. Cnns john king now with the story of george h. W. Bush, the polit
includes lessons for all of us. so here s a guy who runs for senator of texas twice and lose and runs for the president of the united states in a primary against ronald reagan in the state of texas and loses and ends up being president. and all the time was still a great father. in other words, defeat didn t define george bush. there is something greater in life than chalking up political victories or political losses. it taught me and i m confident it taught jeb that you don t need to fear failure. reporter: george h.w. bush not only lived to see one son in the white house, he also watched another son seek the same office. my brothers and sister are different than me, but i m not going to go out of my way to say that my brother did this wrong or my dad did this wrong. it s just not going to happen. i have a hard time with that. i love my family a lot. reporter: life, love, loyalty, and one family s unique contribution to the history of the united states.
revealing behind-the-scenes portrait of life in the white house. it mattered to be able to get, you know, these notes from dad or phone calls from dad, because in that he was president, he knew what the pressures of the job were like, and he knew moments can be very trying. and to have him interject some humor and/or a love note really made a huge difference during my presidency. reporter: the bushes books, letters and interviews give us personal glimpses of the most dramatic days of their presidency, including a family visit that ended on september 11th, 2001, the day terrorists hijacked four u.s. airliners. flying to minneapolis, they grounded the plane i was on. it was a private plane, landed there. the next thing i know, there was that little town outside of milwaukee. about eight hours later, the president called up and said where are you, dad? i said where your people made me land. reporter: the relationship between bush 41 and bush 43
treated him in 1992. john king, cnn. let s bring in now mary-kate kerry. she was a speech writer for george h.w. bush and a continuing op-ed writer at the new york times who served in the george h.w. bush administration. good evening to both of you. it s so good to have you on. mary, if i may start with you, and i may say my condolences since you worked with this president. you re a speech writer from 1989 to 1992. what do you feel like tonight? i am actually full of joy in a weird way for a tremendous american life. and as president bush said it many times, he led a life of meaning and adventure through service to others. and i talk about him all the time to young people across this nation, and i say to them, you know, you re 16 years old. what do you think you could
republican national committee, vice president, president, and then afterwards as a great humanitarian, a sportsman, father and a grandfather, just a tremendous life that affected so many people in this country. that s a great lesson for young people that one person really can make a tremendous difference. it s a great loss for our country, but i prefer to think about all the things we gained because of him. peter, you served in the administration as well. you were the deputy speech writer, am i correct in the administration? i was deputy speech writer for his son, and then i worked in the office of national drug control policy for 41. talk to me about 41 is who we re here to celebrate the life of and remember and his legacy. what do you remember most about? i think what i remember most about him is he was a man of so