Former US president, George H W Bush dies at 94

Washington, Dec 1: Former President of the United States of America, George H W Bush has passed away . He was 94.

He served as the 41st president of the United States from 1989 to 1993. His death comes in less than 8 months of his wife Barbara's demise. They had been married for 73 years.

Bush had vascular parkinsonism, a form of Parkinson's disease, and used a wheelchair or motorised scooter for the last six years.

He had been admitted to the hospital in April 23, one day after the funeral of wife and former First Lady, Barbara Bush. He was in hospital for 13 days.

He was once again hospitalised in May for low blood pressure and fatigue a week after arriving Maine to spend the simmer. He was released a few days later and celebrated his birthday on June 12. He made history by becoming the first former president to reach the age of 94.

Statement by George W Bush on passing away of his father:

Bush senior as he was often referred to as had spent a lot of time in public service before becoming president. He was a Navy pilot in the World War II, Texas congressman, CIA director and also the Vice President to Ronald Reagan.

While Regan is credited with winning the Cold War, Bush successfully navigated the aftermath.

Bush will also be remembered for the Gulf War. Following the August 1990 invasion of Kuwait by Saddam Hussein, Bush had condemned the act. Early on the morning of January 17, 1991, allied forces launched the first attack, which included more than 4,000 bombing runs by coalition aircraft.

This pace would continue for the next four weeks, until a ground invasion was launched on February 24, 1991. Allied forces penetrated Iraqi lines and pushed toward Kuwait City while on the west side of the country, forces were intercepting the retreating Iraqi army.

Bush made the decision to stop the offensive after a mere 100 hours.

Bush's approval ratings skyrocketed after the successful offensive. Additionally, President Bush and Secretary of State Baker felt the coalition victory had increased US prestige abroad and believed there was a window of opportunity to use the political capital generated by the coalition victory to revitalize the Arab-Israeli peace process.