George H.W. Bush, a patrician New Englander whose presidency soared with the coalition victory over Iraq in Kuwait and who presided during the collapse of the Soviet Union but then lost his re-election bid amid a weak economy, died at age 94 late Friday night.
Bush survived the downing of his torpedo bomber by the Japanese military over the Ogasawara island chain in September 1944.
During his visit to Tokyo as president in January 1992, he fell ill during a banquet at the prime minister’s office while suffering from a bout of intestinal flu.