Editorial: George H.W. Bush, America's consummate public servant

When George H.W. Bush left the White House, he was enveloped in an aura of failure. The economy had been through a recession, Saddam Hussein was still defying the world and the president was the clueless patrician who strained to convince voters that he understood their economic problems. More than 62 percent of Americans voted against him in his 1992 bid for re-election.

He was seen as out of touch by Democrats, who decried his alleged inaction on the economy, and untrustworthy by many Republicans, who never forgave him for reversing himself