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Final Eulogies Set for Former US President George HW Bush

by Steve Herman

   WASHINGTON --

   The family of George Herbert Walker Bush will say their final goodbyes
   to the nation's 41st president in a private funeral service Thursday in
   his adopted hometown of Houston, Texas.

   A plane carrying the late president from Washington arrived in Houston
   Wednesday evening and his flag-draped casket was taken to St. Martin's
   Episcopal Church, where his body was to lie in repose overnight so the
   public could file past and pay their respects.

   After Thursday's private services, the former president will be taken
   by a train, pulled by an engine commissioned in his honor, 120
   kilometers north to the city of College Station for burial at his
   presidential library on the grounds of Texas A&M University. He will be
   laid to rest alongside his wife of 73 years, Barbara, who died earlier
   this year, and their daughter, Robin, who succumbed to leukemia in
   childhood.

   Five U.S. presidents assembled at the Washington National Cathedral for
   Wednesday's state funeral for George H.W. Bush, who died last Friday in
   Texas at the age of 94.

   "He taught us public service was noble and necessary," his son and the
   43rd president, George W. Bush, told the invited guests at Washington
   National Cathedral. "He had an enormous capacity to give of himself."

   President Donald Trump had no speaking role during the Episcopalian
   service, a break from recent tradition and in accordance with George
   H.W. Bush's wishes.

   Trump had tweeted before the service:

   The current president, who has had a contentious public feud with the
   Bush family, earlier had declared Wednesday a national day of mourning,
   closing federal agencies, suspending regular mail delivery and closing
   stock markets.

   Trump, the day before, spent 20 minutes visiting Bush family members,
   who were staying at Blair House, across the street from the White
   House. Blair House is also known as the President's Guest House.

   Trump, accompanied by first lady Melania Trump, shook hands inside the
   cathedral with his immediate two-term predecessor, Barack Obama, and
   wife Michelle, but the tension between the Trumps and Obama was
   palpable in the pews, epitomizing the nation's political divide.

   WATCH: US Bids Farewell to President George HW Bush

   Also, in the front row was Democrat Bill Clinton, who defeated the
   elder incumbent Bush in 1992 to become president, and his wife, former
   Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, whom Trump defeated in the 2016
   election. Sitting next to the Clintons was fellow Democrat Jimmy Carter
   and his wife, Rosalynn.

   George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton eventually became close friends and
   traveled together internationally.

   Steve Herman is VOA's White House Bureau Chief.