JANUARY 2019

it’s the LITTLE THINGS
MICHAEL G.
SARAFA
SPECIAL TO THE
CHALDEAN NEWS
This past December
5, mid-morning,
I made sure my
schedule was cleared. I
was intent to watch on
TV what was sure to be
a historic occasion—the
memorial service for President
George H.W. Bush at
the Washington National
Cathedral. It did not disappoint.
The service was precise,
elegant and grand but still very
moving. The eulogists included former
U.S. Senator Alan Simpson,
John Meacham, the senior Bush’s
biographer, former Canadian Prime
Minister Brian Mulroney and, of
course, President George W. Bush.
I was coming of political age during
the presidency of H.W. Bush. To
listen to stories from that era was
fascinating. They included small and
funny anecdotes as well as epic international
events. It was the elder
Bush who presided over the fall of
the Berlin Wall as the leader of the
free world. To hear the former Canadian
Prime Minister talk of
that era was a reminder of
a by-gone era of political
leadership. The leaders of
the western world included
President Francois Mitterand
of France, Chancellor
Helmut Kohl of
Germany, and Prime Minister
Margaret Thatcher of
Great Britain. With Presidents
Ronald Raegan and
his successor George H.W.
Bush, they stood down the Soviet
Empire and finessed the reunification
of Germany, closing the 20th century
in epic fashion.
President George H.W Bush’s
right-hand man and best friend during
those times, prior to them and
ever since was James A. Baker. Baker
was Secretary of State in the Bush
presidency but was present with the
elder Bush since the two men were
in their 30s. It was the preacher’s eulogy
that Wednesday afternoon that
caught my attention.
On the morning before President
Bush passed away, he had been
mostly unconscious. But his old
friend Jim Baker came by the hospital
as he had done almost every day
during the last week. President Bush
perked up. “Where are we going,
Bake’s,” H.W. asked.
“We’re going to heaven Mr. President,”
Baker replied.
“That’s where I want to go,” Bush
responded.
With President Bush barely conscious
throughout the remainder of
the day, Baker stood at the foot of
his bed rubbing his feet. This was
not a mother and child. It was not a
husband and wife. One was the Ambassador
to China and to the United
Nations and Director of the CIA. He
went on to become Vice President
of the United States for eight years
and President for four. The other was
Ronald Reagan’s Chief of Staff and
Treasury Secretary and one of the
most successful Secretaries of State
in modern times.
But there he was, rubbing the former
President’s feet on his death bed.
It was a little thing.
I was coming of political age during the
presidency of H.W. Bush. To listen to stories
from that era was fascinating. They included
small and funny anecdotes as well as epic
international events.
But it was a powerful gesture of
compassion; a true moment of tenderness;
and a simple act of genuine
love between two buddies in the twilight
of their lives.
Even amongst two political giants
of their time, it’s the little things that
matter in the end.
JANUARY 2019 CHALDEAN NEWS 7