World leaders praise Bush as calm, vital statesman

Former President George H.W. Bush died Friday night. He was 94.

He's remembered by world leaders as a calm and vital statesman who helped end conflicts.

“Germany owes a lot to George H.W. Bush,” Chancellor Angela Merkel said. “It was a stroke of luck in German history that he was at the head of the United States of America when the Cold War came to an end and Germany’s reunification became possible.”

Mikhail Gorbachev, the former president of the Soviet Union, praised Bush's negotiations during the Cold War.

“We had a chance to work together during the years of tremendous changes. It was a dramatic time that demanded great responsibility from everyone,” Gorbachev said. “The result was an end to the Cold War and the nuclear arms race.”

Read more from The New York Times.