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Alan Simpson is a former U.S. Senator from Wyoming who was a very close personal friend of former President George H.W. Bush. Their connection dated back decades.
Simpson has been chosen to give a tribute at the funeral of George H.W. Bush. Bush died at age 94 on November 30, 2018. Simpson is known for his blunt sense of humor.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. Simpson Remembers Bush as Having a Lightness of Spirit
Spotted boarding a flight together in Denver: @JoeBiden and former Sen. Alan Simpson, who will eulogize former President George HW Bush tomorrow
Alan Simpson has very fond memories of Bush. He remembered President H. W. Bush as a person who “was always in a hurry” and “not out of touch about anything,” according to CNN. He also remembered him as having a “lightness of spirit,” CNN reports.
He agreed to eulogize Bush, calling it a “great honor” back in 2012, when Bush landed in intensive care, The Washington Post reports. Bush recovered that day, however, and lived another six years.
2. Alan Simpson Is a Former Senator From Wyoming
Simpson served in the U.S. Senate for the State of Wyoming. According to a UWYO biography, Simpson represented Park County, Wyoming.
“Simpson was elected to the Wyoming Legislature in 1964 and served in the Wyoming House of Representatives until 1977. In 1978 he was elected to the U.S. Senate as a Republican and was re-elected twice, once in 1984 and again in 1990,” the bio reads.
“He retired from the U.S. Senate in 1997 and wrote his book, Right in the Old Gazoo: A Lifetime of Scrapping with the Press. In 1999, he served as the director of the Institute of Politics at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.”
3. Simpson & Bush Were Friends Since the 1960s
Why would Bush want Simpson to speak at his funeral? Their friendship went back to the 1960s. According to The Washington Post, Simpson’s father, Milward, took over the office of Bush’s dad, Prescott Bush, who was retiring as a Connecticut Senator, when Milward took office as a Senator for Wyoming.
His father, former Wyoming Sen. Milward Simpson, “sold his Washington, D.C. home to the Bushes with a ‘handshake,'” Simpson told KTVQ-TV.
Simpson told KTVQ that he and his wife, Anne, asked the Bushes to go camping in Glacier Park. “We had some great times, one of them in Glacier Park with George & Barbara, just the four of us,” Simpson said to the television station. “Boy we boogied around there when he was vice president. He was a decent, wonderful, civilized man, good common sense, manners.”
Simpson knew Bush as a father not just as a politician.
4. Alan Simpson Cried While Writing the Eulogy
Simpson had so many feelings about Bush that he cried while writing the eulogy for the former president, according to The Washington Post. However, the newspaper reports, that was so he wouldn’t c cry while he gave it at the national memorial.
Both Simpson and Bush were military veterans.
“Retired U.S. Senator Alan Simpson started his career serving as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army from 1954 to 1958 in Germany,” the UW bio reads. “After earning his law degree from the University of Wyoming, he was admitted to the Wyoming Bar and the U.S. District Court in 1958. He practiced law in his hometown of Cody, Wyoming, from 1958 until 1977.”
5. Simpson Has Been Involved in Charitable Activities in Retirement
Although he is no longer a Senator, Alan Simpson is still involved in the community.
“Simpson is a current member of UW Allied Professional Board, Campus Advisory Board, and W.D. Ruckelhaus IENR Board. He has earned honorary doctorates from American University, Notre Dame University, Colorado College, and California Western School of Law,” the UW bio reads.
“He started the library Fund and helped fund capital improvements, memorial funds, scholarships, and several cultural programs, including the American Heritage Center, theatre and dance, and museums.”