[ad_1]
To this day, three American presidents have public statues in the Hungarian capital.
Washington, Reagan and now Bush. The latter was the first American president to visit us.
If you are Hungarian, you can only choose between two options: the occupiers or your defense … Hungarians have always thought of America as the home of freedom … George Bush was a great blessing
– said today the statue of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, George Bush Sr., at the inauguration of the work of the sculptor István Máté, citing his mentor, former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl. It reminded me that in addition to freedom, in this central square you can also see a monument to the German and Soviet occupation. The 41st President of the United States (1989-93) lived to be 94 years old and died in 2018.
Freedom, happiness and long life
– quoted Prime Minister George Bush, whom he met in 1989 as leader of the opposition in Budapest. The Republican politician said these words to a six-year-old girl as a traveler.
Our countries are more united than ever
– emphasized at the event David Davidstein, the US ambassador who had just left Budapest, who added to President Bush, “As waves of uncertainty continue, including the coronavirus pandemic, freedom serves as a reference.”
Bush’s eldest son, President George W. Bush (2001-09), thanked him for unveiling a statue of his father in Budapest.
The arrival of freedom may be delayed, but it cannot be denied
– Young President Bush sent a message to Hungarians, remembering his visit to Budapest in 2006 on the 50th anniversary of the 1956 revolution. His brother, former Governor Jeb Bush, sent a video message.
The Hungarians were the first to open a hole in the Iron Curtain
– recalled Dan Quayle, a former Bush vice president. Also in attendance were George Pataki, a former Republican Governor of New York State of Hungarian descent, and former US Ambassador April Foley.
The most famous is torn paper.
The politician arrived in Hungary in July 1989, a week after the death of János Kádár, as the first sitting US president. He ran down Vasas Track, and when he had to give a speech at Kossuth Square in the rain, he tore up his soggy papers and began talking head-to-head, greeting the celebrating crowd with “pure hearts” in the pouring rain. He also handed his coat to a cold woman.
George Bush Sr.’s visit to Hungary in 1989 was deeply ingrained in the Hungarian public consciousness. He was the first sitting American president to visit our country, but he caught his attention mainly by spectacularly tearing up the text of his previously written speech and making an impromptu speech.
Frank Tibor told the Index. Emeritus Professor of the Department of American Studies at Eötvös Loránd BTK University recalled: The statue of George Washington in the city park, erected in 1906, was the first to be erected as American president by Hungarian citizens in Budapest.
This was followed by the unveiling of the statue of President Ronald Reagan (1981–89), also the work of István Máté, in 2011 at the corner of Szabadság Square and Zoltán Street, near the US Embassy. Elder Bush was Reagan’s vice president in the 1980s.
Both became known for their strong and powerful anti-Soviet policies. The inauguration of the Bush statue is also a symbol of the end of the Cold War, the American victory over the Soviet Union and a change of era.
Said academic Frank Tibor.
(Top Image: Prime Minister Viktor Orbán (j) and US Ambassador David Cornstein (b) at the statue unveiling ceremony honoring the late 41st President of the United States, George HW Bush, in Freedom Square in Budapest on October 27, 2020.
MTI / Zoltán Máthé)
[ad_2]
