Photo courtesy of the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library Then Vice-President George H.W. Bush speaking on the steps of the Warren County Courthouse on December 5, 1985.

The story reprinted here may be the county’s clearest connection to a President of the United States:

Today – December 5, 2018 – has been designated as a day of national mourning as we remember the life of former President George H.W. Bush.

At 11 a.m. this morning, a memorial service will be held to commemorate his life at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C.

On December 5, 1985 – 33 years ago today – Bush, then vice president to Ronald Reagan, became the first vice president to visit Warren.

Photo by David Valdez and courtesy of the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library Center George H.W. Bush, right, speaks during a reception held at the Woman’s Club in Warren during his December 1985 visit. Next to Bush are Representative Bill Clinger and Clinger’s wife, Judy.

“The eyes of the world are on President Bush, particularly tomorrow,” David Jones, CEO of the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library Foundation in College Station, Tx. said on Tuesday. “Everybody is going to be watching.”

Jones knows the late president and his wife, Barbara, who passed earlier this year, better than anyone from Warren.

He is a 1963 graduate of Warren Area High School who first started working with the late president in the 1970s doing advance work around the country. He was appointed as CEO of the Library Center in 2016.

“33 years ago, he was here in Warren,” Jones said, “and spoke on the courthouse steps. It wasn’t important but it was there. It was the first time a vice-president had ever visited Warren…. It’s a unique thing for our small town.”

Bush was born on June 12, 1924. He served in the Navy as a pilot during World War II and, according to a biography from the Associated Press, represented Texas in the US House in the late 1960s prior to a string of appointments – Ambassador to the UN, Chairman of the RNC, Chief U.S. liaison officer to China and CIA Director, all prior to his election as vice-president in 1980 and to the presidency in 1988.

Jones – like many others in the last few days – praised Bush’s “extraordinary career.”

But as many have done in the days since his passing, it was Bush’s character and dedication to service that is being remembered by the people who knew him.

“He was a person, when people got to know him, (there was an) extraordinary depth of character,”Jones said.

“I know I’m biased. It’s not me, when you look at what people are saying from both sides of the political aisle.”

The Bush Library was founded 25 years ago and Jones explained that the former president “hated fundraising. He said to me and my predecessor, the first director of the Foundation, ‘Know I don’t ask for money.'” But he did provide a list of 90 people that would and the list included “seven or eight prominent Democrats” including former Speaker of the House Tip O’Neill.

“You wouldn’t find that today,” Jones said, explaining that Bush developed “deep relationships” from his time in Congress and in his various appointments. “Those relationships became increasingly important to him.”

He noted that some suggest Bush had the most effective one-term presidency in our nation’s history, highlighting that he presided over the end of the Cold War and the war in Kuwait.

“He was prepared for what happened,” Jones said, indicating there is “no question” Bush had the best pre-presidency resume. His experience “prepared him for what came about in his time in office.”

But for Jones, Bush wasn’t just a president or some relatively abstract political figure.

“I did know him and Mrs. Bush,” he recalled, describing them as “two of the most down to earth people I would ever meet (that were) in public office at that level. (You) will hear that from almost everybody they encountered. He was so approachable. So down to earth. So caring. It permeated everything he did. It was just natural.”

President Bush died on Friday night in Houston.

His remains were flown back to Washington D.C. on Monday and he has been lying in state in the Capitol Rotunda, a privilege afforded to only 29 other Americans, including Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy.

Hundreds of articles have been written by people remembering the impact Bush had on their life in the last couple days.

What has Jones been reflecting on?

“How fortunate I was, how honored I was to have known him.” he said. To play a “very small role in his life. (I’ve) just been blown away by the press coverage, the outpouring of affection.”

Jones said there are “lots of different stories” he could share but offered a couple related to the Bush Library.

“His mother impressed on him over the years that he should never brag on himself,” he said. “He used to talk about how that really shaped his life. The first time he ever toured the Presidential Library… he went through the exhibits.”

Jones said the president was “kind of quiet as he was going through it. One of his staff members asked him what he thought.”

His response?

“There’s too much about me in here.”

Jones said the response was “just so him and how he would react.”

He also said that at the end of the Library’s exhibits there is a kiosk where visitors can print a letter to themselves from President Bush.

“Both of them (George and Barbara) spent a lot of time at the Library,” Jones said, indicating the president “loved” to lecture at The Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M that was founded in conjunction with the Library.

“They were there a lot. He loved to go into the Library and would walk up behind people” as the letters were printing and would offer to sign them “and then he would get to know them. There are so many stories like that. That was him. He knew restaurant waiters by name. It was so genuine. They never worked at it. It was just who they were. He’ll be missed.”

Jones is cognizant of the role the Library now plays as “keepers” of the Bush legacy.

“What a legacy they left behind.”