but just like his father, bush was attracted to public service and politics. after losing his first political race for a senate seat in 1964, he was elected to the house of representatives two years later, serving two terms, encouraged by richard nixon to run again for the senate in 1970, he was defeated a second time. he moved on to high government positions. in 1971, richard nixon appointed him ambassador to the united nations, and in 1973, he became chairman of the republican national committee at the height of the watergate scandal. in that role, bush urged nixon to resign for the good of the party. i shall resign the presidency effective at noon tomorrow. bret: president gerald ford sent bush to china as chief of the u.s. liaison office. a short time later, he called him home to be director of the cia, and bush was credited with bringing morale back to that agency. bush left in 1977, when president carter entered the
bush, the youngest fighter pilot in the navy. taking part in 58 combat missions in the pacific theater, bush was flying his plane on a special bombing mission over china when he was shot down by the japanese and was forced to bail out at sea. he survived, though his crew did not. i m floating around in his raft, paddling, and then all of a sudden, saw this tower come up and saw the submarine service. bret: by the end of the war inside, bush set his sights on barbara peers. the two wed in 1945 while bush was still in the navy. they would have six children, including our 43rd president, george w. bush, and popular florida governor, jeb. bush left the navy and graduated yale before he and barbara moved to texas to find his dreams on an oil field. by the age of 30, he was cofounder and president of zapata offshore, which pioneered experimental drilling equipment. but just like his father, bush
i don t think we see, if you look at it in historical terms, anybody with that level of public service commitment, experience, and, as i said to you, the greatest measure would be his personal connection to people, especially republicans come across the country. people in the party, hardworking, to build party structure throughout. he really had that kind of personal connection, that kind of political connection that i think is extraordinary in these times. people just loved him. one of the things that happen for me tonight as i heard about president bush s death as i just went to the wall, and i don t know if you can see this, but i brought with me a picture of a young version of me, and a fairly young version of president bush. and here we are on what was then air force two, traveling around the country, as i said, going to
crossed for a short time when he lost in 1992 to bill clinton. but he had a sense of the community that this country is, and there is much more that unites us than divides us, and boy, if we can have more of that conversation over the next few days as we celebrate his life and observe his death, that will be a very his last contribution to this country. i wanted to mention, shannon, there was a lot of talk today amongst people that president bush might be in trouble. we have heard this a variety of crimes, that he might be near death. he was a tough bird, and a number of times, he was hospitalized. things seemed serious. i wrote to a couple of his top staff people, one of them, jim mcgrath, his press spokesman, and i said, i hate to ask this
your coverage so much that i had the tv turned up too loud and didn t hear the call. [laughter] these tributes are just wonderful and wholesome. did you ask me a specific question? shannon: i was talking about the statement from the clintons, talking about the joy that president trump took from his service every day, and all the positions that he served in, and that really strikes me, these are difficult jobs, he was forced into difficult situations, as any president as, and he did seem like a joyful person. dana: one of the things that he said to president bush president bush 43 after he lost in that 92 raise, 43 ask him, dad, where did you get the strength to be so gracious after that loss, it was so excruciating, the family is so heartbroken. he said, i had no choice. and i think that what he learned as a young boy growing up with a mother who apparently was one of the angels that walked the earth, she basically said, every