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Former NC Gov. McCrory, other politicians reflect on former President Bush's death

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Former North Carolina governor and Charlotte mayor Pat McCrory met former President George H.W. Bush when he was in his 30s.

McCrory was a city councilman when he said he snuck into a room at Charlotte Douglas airport where Bush and Jesse Helms, then North Carolina senator, were in a private meeting.

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(Pat McCrory)

McCrory told Channel 9 in a one-on-one interview that the politicians welcomed him.

“I will never forget being able to sneak my way into a room to see both Jesse Helms and George Bush, the president,” McCrory said. “They said, ‘Welcome, City Councilman.’ It was a real pleasure for me to be with two people, who we’ve now lost, that had a big impact on our state and our nation.”

Bush, who died late Friday at age 94 - nearly eight months after his wife of 73 years died at their Houston home - was a congressman, an ambassador to the United Nations and envoy to China, chairman of the Republican National Committee, director of the CIA, two-term vice president and, finally, president.

McCrory described the leadership he noticed from Bush.

“I think he was a mediator,” McCrory said. “He was always looking for angles to find solutions. We must commend him for the Iraqi War. He stopped the war at a certain point when a lot of people wanted him to go further. That took a lot of courage, to stop a war that he started, because he didn’t want to see unneeded killings. He had been in war himself.”

Air Force One was being sent to Texas to transport Bush's casket to Washington, where his body will lie in state at the Capitol Rotunda after an arrival ceremony Monday. The public is invited and can pay their respects from Monday evening through Wednesday morning. The Bush family is still arranging funeral services, but the White House said President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump plan to attend.

The Persian Gulf War - dubbed "Operation Desert Storm" - was one of Bush's greatest marks on history. In a January 2011 interview marking the war's 20th anniversary, he said the mission sent a message that "the United States was willing to use force way across the world, even in that part of the world where those countries over there thought we never would intervene."

"I think it was a signature historical event," he added. "And I think it will always be."

After Iraq invaded Kuwait in August 1990, Bush quickly began building an international military coalition that included other Arab states. After freeing Kuwait , he rejected suggestions that the U.S. carry the offensive to Baghdad, choosing to end the hostilities a mere 100 hours after the start of the ground offensive.

Unlike his son, who joined the Texas Air National Guard during the Vietnam era but served only in the U.S., the elder Bush was a bona fide war hero. He joined the Navy on his 18th birthday in 1942 over the objections of his father, Prescott, who wanted him to stay in school. At one point the youngest pilot in the Navy, he flew 58 missions off the carrier USS San Jacinto.

"He was not just a successful politician, from president to the CIA director, he was also a war hero," McCrory said. "It’s another loss of the greatest generation. He was my dad’s age, who was also a Navy pilot. It’s a reminder that we are losing members of the greatest generation that had seen a lot in their early 20s, and it influenced them into their 90s."

Bush defeated Michael Dukakis in the 1988 election to become the United States' 41st president. He lost his re-election to Bill Clinton in 1992.

“He was a statesman. He was a man of tremendous class and courtesy. That was his strength,” McCrory said. “He was a nice, gentle, class act. He was an expert on international relations, from China to the CIA. He always treated people with dignity and respect, both in victory and defeat. He took defeat with class and actually became friends with Bill Clinton, and that’s tough to do.”

President Bush and the first family made multiple visits to Charlotte.

He joined former presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton in helping dedicate the Billy Graham Library in 2007.

in 1999, the Bushes visited Charlotte for a book festival as part of his former First Lady Barbara Bush's campaign for literacy

Her national foundation helped teach thousands in the Carolinas how to read.

The governors of both North Carolina and South Carolina ordered flags throughout the states to fly at half-staff in honor of the president.

Politicians across the world also reacted to the president's death:

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