Sen. Cruz Shares Memory, Honors Life of Former President George H.W. Bush With Texas Stations
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) on Tuesday sat down with several Texas stations to discuss the life and legacy of former President George H.W. Bush, calling him an extraordinary man who dedicated his life to public service and civility.
In interviews with Fox 26’s Kaitlin Monte and KXAS’ Julie Fine, Sen. Cruz shared a memory with former President George H.W. Bush at the family home in Kennebunkport, Maine.
“When I spoke to Senator Cruz, he recalled about a decade ago when he was considering a run for Texas attorney general. He got a personal invitation to meet our 41st president and what happened next really embodies why so many people are so touched by George H.W. Bush. ‘I didn't know George and Barbara Bush at the time,’ Sen. Cruz said to Monte. ‘So they’d invited me up there. And I spent the whole flight up there thinking about, okay, what am I going to ask him? I decided you know what; I’m not going to ask him for anything. I am simply going to go and ask for advice.’ When a young Ted Cruz arrived at the Bush family compound in Maine, he was humbled as soon as his conversation with former President George Herbert Walker Bush began. ‘He knew all of my background, which I was flabbergasted how he knew anything [about me].’ He had expected maybe 20 minutes of Bush seniors’ time. But when 20 minutes passed, ‘He said, “well can you stay and go out on the boat with Barbara and me?”’ Sen. Cruz recalled. ‘I said, Mr. President, plane reservations can be changed. I can stay here as long as you would like.’ Cruz was flabbergasted once again when the president noticed he’d only brought a suit. ‘He went into his and Barbara’s bedroom, opened up the closet, handed me a pair of jeans, handed me a shirt, handed me a belt with a buckle that said ‘President of the United States’ that was obviously his belt and said, “Here, put this on.”’ The former Navy Pilot took Cruz for the boat ride of a lifetime. ‘Has the throttle full speed crashing through the waves,’ Sen. Cruz recalled. ‘Barbara was in the boat with us and she’s sitting upfront being pelted by the rain and just glowing. She could not be happier.’ Four and a half hours later as Cruz prepared to depart, President Bush handed him a $1000 personal check for his campaign. ‘Look, I am rarely at loss for words and I just kind of stammered,’ Sen. Cruz said. ‘I think I got out the words thank you. But I – you could have knocked me out with a feather, I was so astonished. I got in the car, I called Heidi, and I said, “Heidi, I just had the most magical day.””
“‘George Herbert Walker Bush led a life of service. Led a life committed to principles and values larger than himself,’ Sen. Cruz said to KWTX’s Alana Austin. ‘And he has a legacy; his family has continued that service now for multiple generations. He was an extraordinary man, but I’ll tell you more than anything what was striking about both George and Barbara Bush was their fundamental sense of decency.’”
After he paid tribute to President Bush on the Senate floor, Sen. Cruz sat down with KTRK’s Tom Abrahams.
“Among the Texas politicians who really stand on the shoulders of George H.W. Bush is Ted Cruz. We talked to him this afternoon after Cruz was on the floor of the Senate. He took to the floor today to pay tribute to the former president. He called him a man who put country above party, and service above self. We spoke to him in his Capitol Hill office just after he gave that speech. ‘The biggest thing I think that President Bush brought to public service was a deep and profound sense of decency,” Sen. Cruz said. ‘A sense of civility, a sense of humility that I think many of us wish was more common today in politics. That we could get back to that spirit of serving a cause larger than yourself.’”
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