George W. Bush is the latest (former) president to join the octogenarians club.
On Monday, July 5, the former president rang in his milestone 80th trip around the sun, just two days after the United States rang in its milestone 250th.
And in honor of his special day, his daughter Jenna Bush Hager shared a slew of family photos commemorating him.
Taking to Instagram, Jenna first shared a throwback photo of Bush with her daughter Mila, 13, in which he is reading her a book. “Happy 80th to this Jefe!” Jenna wrote. “Love you.”
She then shared a photo of her and twin sister Barbara Bush as kids, with their father outside of a Texas Rangers game, seemingly during a political campaign, and added: “Thanks for teaching me to love baseball.”
“And my kids, too,” she next shared along with a photo of her dad and Mila, also at a Texas Rangers game.
© InstagramJust two days before his birthday, Bush, commemorating America’s own milestone birthday, shared some reflections on social media on the past 250 years and the next 250.
“July Fourth is a chance to celebrate our independence, and our freedoms. We’ve celebrated a lot of July Fourths in our nation’s history, and yet the values that unite us are still as strong as ever,” he first shared.
Recalling the 200th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence in 1976, he said: “I remember the bicentennial in 1976. Gerald Ford was the president,” noting it was “a grand occasion during a difficult time in America,” which was reeling from the end of the Vietnam War. “It’s a time where Americans put aside their differences and united in realizing how fortunate we are to live in a country that heralds the freedoms that we uphold,” he emphasized.
© InstagramReflecting on what unites the country, he continued: “I view the freedoms that we cherish, to freedom to worship the way you want to worship, the freedom for the express to hold the powerful to account, the freedom to vote, the freedom to realize dreams as values that can unite us as we head for the next 250 years.”
© Getty“One of the facets of our society that is overlooked too often is the fact that there are many people, particularly the young, who are willing to help a neighbor in need, who man homeless shelters, or help with soup kitchens, without the government telling them to do so,” he added, noting it’s what makes him hopeful for the next 250 years.
“They’re motivated by love of their fellow citizens, it is what I call the armies of compassion. I’m pleased to report the armies of compassion remain strong today. And so long as they do remain strong, I’m very optimistic about the future of the next generation,” he maintained.
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