Most of us would be content to have one great accomplishment in our lives—one action or event that would cause ripples to spread throughout our family, our friends, our city, our country, or even the world. On November 30, the world lost a man whose small ripples eventually became great waves, impacting millions of people through a lifetime of integrity and decency.

Born in Milton, Massachusetts, in 1924, George H. W. Bush lived a truly remarkable life. He was a heroic World War II fighter pilot. Then, after the war, he moved to West Texas, where he made his fortune in the oil business. Bush’s public service began when he was elected as a congressman in 1967. Four years later, he was chosen to be the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. This led to future roles as chief of the liaison office to the People’s Republic of China and director of the CIA. Then, after a four-year break from politics, he spent two terms as vice president alongside Ronald Reagan before he himself was elected to become the president of the United States. It was in this role that he accomplished two of his greatest feats—overseeing the collapse of the USSR and liberating the nation of Kuwait from Saddam Hussein’s Iraq.

It wasn’t only on the national and international stages that George H. W. Bush showed he was a special man. Some of his most impressive work was done at home. After enduring the leukemia death of their three-year-old daughter, Robin, George and Barbara went on to rear five other children—two of whom became state governors, and one of these two following his father’s footsteps into the presidency. But his greatest triumph of all may have been remaining happily married to the same woman for more than seven decades.

In an age when this nation is so divided, we are drawn together as we honor a man who modeled the qualities we all desire to have associated with us—integrity, humility, and love and respect for his fellow man. Men and women from both sides of the aisle can recognize quality when they see it. I certainly don’t agree with every decision that made in both his public and his private life, but there are very few people whose every decision I would agree with. The legacy that George H. W. Bush leaves for us is seen in the impact that one man can have when he takes his eyes off himself and puts them instead on his family, his country, and his God. It’s a legacy that I will strive to live up to.

-Joel