While the country mourns the passing of a president, his death prompted the memory of George H.W. Bush’s visit to Concordia’s campus in 1979.
“When I was a student at Concordia, I was the student body president my senior year and we organized a Political Awareness Week,” said Dan Hofrenning '80. "We were trying to get the student body more interested in politics and other major social issues. At the time, George Bush was a leading presidential candidate.”
Bush’s presidency was still in the future in 1979. He ran for president in 1980 but was defeated in the Republican primary by Ronald Reagan, who then chose him as his running mate. After two terms as Reagan’s vice president, Bush was elected president in 1988.
Bush and former Texas governor and U.S. Secretary of the Treasury John Connally spoke for Arlan Stangeland, a Republican congressman seeking re-election in 1980, at fundraising dinners in the Centrum during Political Awareness Week, according to the 1980 Cobber yearbook.
It went on to say the week’s events included a “mix of local and national media sprinkled with a few polite political protesters.”
After his speech, Bush, who had most recently been the director of the Central Intelligence Agency, discussed his campaign, the free press, SALT II (Strategic Arms Limitation Talks) and the Iranian crisis with about 150 students who turned out for a question and answer session following his speech.*
“It was exciting to hear him,” Hofrenning said. “He was viewed as a moderate alternative to Reagan. It was exciting to have him on campus.”
It is believed that Bush is the only person to eventually become president of the U.S. to make a stop at Concordia’s campus in Moorhead, but a future president and his wife visited Concordia Language Villages in Bemidji, Minn., when Bill and Hillary Clinton came to the German Language Village, Waldsee, when their daughter, Chelsea, was winding up a two-week stay.
Dr. Paul Dovre, president of Concordia College at the time, and his wife, Mardi, welcomed the Clintons to the Language Villages in the summer of 1992.
“He made a few remarks at the closing ceremony, we did a walking tour with them and shared lunch,” Dovre said. “It was a warm and friendly occasion.”
Dovre was also able to visit with Bush during Political Awareness Week.
“I visited with H.W. following the event,” Dovre said. “He was very upbeat and friendly.”
A few days later, Dovre was one of those fortunate enough to receive a note from Bush, who was a prolific letter writer. Many stories have surfaced of Bush's treasured letters since his passing.
*Source: 1980 Cobber Yearbook