George H. W. Bush – President, war hero, skydiver

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Former U.S. President George Herbert Walker Bush, who died on Friday aged 94, spent only one term in the White House but oversaw a swift military victory in the 1991 Gulf War and the end of the Cold War.

A World War Two hero and U.S. envoy to China, he also headed one of the country's most prominent political dynasties and famously skydived on his 90th birthday.

George H. W. Bush was born on June 12, 1924, in Milton, Massachusetts, the son of a steel magnate, who also served as a senator.

On his 18th birthday, he enlisted in the Navy and flew 58 missions as a Navy pilot during World War Two. Shot down over the Pacific in September 1944, he was rescued by an American submarine and later received the Distinguished Flying Cross for bravery.

Undated file picture of former U.S. President George H.W. Bush visiting children in a Beijing hospital. /VCG Photo

After a stint in business after the war, he quickly turned to politics and was elected to Congress in 1966, where he served two terms.

Ambassador to the United Nations under President Richard Nixon, he was then named chairman of the Republican National Committee, before President Gerald Ford made him U.S. envoy to China and CIA chief in the 1970s.

41st U.S. President

Vice-president to Ronald Reagan during the full eight years of his presidency in 1981-1989, Bush finally reached the top of his political career and replaced his former boss after winning the 1988 presidential election.

He was part of a generation of leaders that included Mikhail Gorbachev, Germany's Helmut Kohl and France's Francois Miterrand.

U.S. President George H.W. Bush (L) shakes hands with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev during a joint press conference, December 3, 1989. /VCG Photo

The first year of his presidency saw the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet Union.

He ordered the invasion of Panama, declared a New World Order in 1990 and signed the Americans with Disabilities Act, banning workplace discrimination and improving access for people with disabilities.

But probably the most memorable event of Bush's presidency was the 1991 Gulf War.

Iraq's invasion of Kuwait was swiftly defeated by a U.S.-led coalition with UN backing, although Saddam Hussein remained in power. In a case of history repeating itself, Hussein was eventually captured in 2003 and executed following a new Iraq war, this time launched by Bush's son, George W. Bush.

The 1991 military victory made Bush Sr. hugely popular, but U.S. economic woes – including a massive deficit and a reversal on his promise not to impose new taxes – proved his downfall and he failed to get re-elected for a second term in 1992 against a younger and more charismatic Bill Clinton.

U.S. President George H. W. Bush and his wife Barbara wave to U.S. and British troops during a Thanksgiving Day visit in the Saudi desert, November 22, 1990. /VCG Photo

In his own words - Bush Sr. on China

One of Bush's first official trips abroad, barely a month after taking office, was to China in February 1989. "Returning to Beijing is a homecoming," he said in an interview with CCTV on the occasion, recalling the year he and his family had lived in the Chinese capital in 1974-1975. He also described the Chinese people as "old friends who, while out of sight, have never, never been out of heart and mind."

We rode bicycles down the hutongs of Beijing and came to have a general feeling of affection for the Chinese people. And we knew then that the relationship that we would establish between our two nations would be a special one indeed.

- George H. W. Bush, U.S. President, 1989

Personal life

Bush Sr. was married to his wife Barbara for over 70 years before she passed away in April this year.

Former U.S. President George H.W. Bush celebrates his 85th birthday with a tandem parachute jump in Kennebunkport, Maine, June 12, 2009. /VCG Photo

Not only were they the longest-married presidential couple in U.S. history, they headed one of the country's most prominent political families.

One son, George W. Bush, succeeded his father in the White House in 2000-2008 – the only other father-son presidents in U.S. history were John Adams and John Quincy Adams, 200 years earlier.

Another son, Jeb, was Florida governor from 1999 to 2007 before running unsuccessfully for president in 2008.

Although he withdrew from the limelight after leaving the White House, Bush Sr. remained widely respected across the political aisle and forged a strong relationship with his Democratic successor Bill Clinton. He also engaged extensively in humanitarian work, raising funds for hurricane victims in the U.S. and those hit by the 2004 Asian tsunami and the 2010 Haiti earthquake.

Former U.S. President George H.W. Bush reads a Christmas story to his grandchildren at Camp David, Maryland, December 24, 1991. /VCG Photo

A leader who was often described as humble and down-to-earth, and who had appealed for a "kinder, gentler nation" at his 1989 inauguration, Bush also knew how to have fun however: a fan of the outdoors, he famously celebrated his 75th, 80th, 85th and 90th birthdays by going skydiving.

(With input from agencies)

(Top picture: Former U.S. President George H. W. Bush speaks during the dedication ceremony of the new U.S. embassy in Beijing, August 7, 2008. VCG Photo)