Political cartoonist Marshall Ramsey has captured the spirit of America’s 41st president George Bush, as America prepares to say farewell.
When former first lady Barbara Bush died in April, Ramsey — the editorial cartoonist for the Mississippi Clarion Ledger — created a memorial illustration that went viral.
The tribute cartoon in April pictured Barbara Bush in heaven, being reunited with her daughter Pauline Robinson “Robin” Bush, who died of leukemia in 1953.
The Bush parents had called Robin’s death, at age 3, their greatest sorrow.
Days later, Ramsey began thinking about a companion cartoon to salute the former president.
“I drew it as quickly as I could and then posted” it on social media, Ramsey says of the tribute. “Since the last one was so well-received by the Bush family and by parents who had lost children, I wanted to make sure this one was right.”
This one was indeed right, based on swift public embrace of the work, which readers called “beautiful” and “touching.”
In the new cartoon, George H.W. Bush, the former Navy pilot and World War II hero, has flown a TBM Avenger to the pearly gates to be reunited with wife and daughter.
“I consider this cartoon and the Barbara Bush cartoon to be bookends,” says Ramsey, who was humbled by the praise that the cartoon drew — especially that of Jenna Bush Hager, the Bushes’ granddaughter.
“This brought me such comfort this morning,” Hager wrote Saturday on Facebook, with a shared image of the cartoon. “I had the opportunity to talk with my grandpa about the afterlife.”
“This is what he said: He answered without any hesitation. ‘Yes, I think about it. I used to be afraid. I used to be scared of dying. I used to worry about death. But now in some ways I look forward to it.’ And I started crying. I managed to choke out, ‘Well, why? What do you look forward to?’ And he said, ‘Well, when I die, I’m going to be reunited with these people that I’ve lost.’ ”
When Hager asked her grandfather whom he hoped to see when reunited, she wrote that he replied: “I hope I see Robin, and I hope I see” Barbara.
The former president added, she wrote, that he hoped that upon this reunion, Robin would still be age 3 — “the little girl he held tightly: who spoke the phrase I have heard Gampy repeat for my entire life, forever knitting Robin’s voice into the tightly woven fabric of our family. ‘I love you more than tongue can tell.’ ”
Hager’s Facebook update has been shared more than 80,000 times and has received more than 100,000 responses.
“To read what Jenna wrote — let’s just say I’m honored beyond words,” Ramsey told The Post.
“Let’s put politics aside for a moment — the Bush family is remarkably kind and gracious.”