In 2009, Jon Meacham won the Pulitzer Prize for his biography of President Andrew Jackson. Now, he has turned to a president of more recent record: George H.W. Bush. In “Destiny and Power: The American Odyssey of George Herbert Walker Bush,” Meacham utilizes Bush’s audio diaries and extensive interviews to reach into the decision-making around the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Gulf War and the president’s private life.
There’s also another interesting component of the book that Meacham discusses at length: Bush’s many connections to St. Louis.
“Without the Walker connection, there is no Bush connection,” Meacham said on Thursday’s “St. Louis on the Air.” “George Bush’s mother was born in Maine but grew up here on Vandeventer Place.”
G.H. Walker, Bush’s maternal grandfather, was an important influence in his life—as were D.D. Walker, who came to St. Louis from Beloit, and G.H. Walker III, known as Bert Walker, still lives here. Walker III was the U.S. Ambassador to Hungary from 2003 to 2006.
William H.T. Bush, also known as “Bucky Bush,” is President George H.W. Bush’s youngest brother and he lives in St. Louis to this day. He has worked on the election campaigns of George H.W. and his sons George W., and Jeb Bush and also has served on the boards of the Muny and the Missouri Botanical Garden. He is currently the chairman of Bush O’Donnell Investment Advisors.
“Without St. Louis, without Gilded Age-St. Louis, the Walker fortune wouldn’t exist,” said Meacham. “It came out of the dry goods business and became an investment fortune under G.H. Walker who in 1920-21, moved to New York. St. Louis is absolutely at the heart of the Bush story.”
Many people may not know this, but George H.W.’s nickname “Poppy” also has St. Louis roots. His maternal grandfather, the famous St. Louis investment banker, was who he was named after went by “Pop.” When Bush was born, he was known as “Little Pop” which devolved into “Poppy” and stuck to him through college.
“Within the family now, even unto this hour, occasionally Mrs. Bush slips and calls him Pop or Poppy,” Meacham said. “It was a casualty of war; He became George after World War II. I think Poppy Bush as a name in Texas politics would have been a harder sell.”
Meacham first met Bush in 1998 and said he realized “almost immediately that he was a more complicated and interesting figure” than he thought.
“What was it about this person that convinced others to entrust their lives to him?” was the driving question that moved Meacham’s research forward. The extensive use of Bush’s audio diaries, which Meacham was granted unlimited access to, exposed a different side of the president that was never seen by the public—even his closest lieutenants and family members were surprised when Meacham shared some of Bush’s thoughts with them.
“He’s very comfortable with what he did,” Meacham said. “He knows he got some things wrong. He knows he got a lot of things right. And he knows that you can’t really control the story particularly well. Letting the record be out there was part of this.”
Related Event
What: Jon Meacham Discussion and Signing
When: Thursday, Dec. 3 at 7:00 p.m.
Where: St. Charles City-County Library - Spencer Road Branch, 427 Spencer Road, St. Peters, MO 63376
More information.
"St. Louis on the Air" discusses issues and concerns facing the St. Louis area. The show is produced by Mary Edwards, Alex Heuer and Kelly Moffitt and hosted by veteran journalist Don Marsh. Follow us on Twitter and join the conversation at @STLonAir.