Former Bush national security adviser Brent Scowcroft dies at 95

Former national security adviser Brent Scowcroft died Thursday of natural causes, the Scowcroft Group announced Friday. 

The former Air Force general was 95 years old. 

Scowcroft served as national security adviser under Presidents George H.W. Bush and Gerald Ford. Before that, he was a military aide to President Richard Nixon. He was a key figure during the Gulf War and the last days of the Cold War.

Current national security adviser Robert O’Brien said in a statement that he “admired General Scowcroft long before I came to hold this office,” and his goal “has been to follow the ‘Scowcroft Model’ for President Trump’s” National Security Council.

Born on March 19, 1925, in Ogden, Utah, Scowcroft graduated from West Point in 1947 and immediately joined the Air Force.

In 1991 Bush presented Scowcroft with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor. He was awarded an honorary knighthood — a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire — by Queen Elizabeth II in 1993. 

After his retirement he established the Scowcroft Group, an international business consulting firm, and worked with various think tanks, including the Atlantic Council. 

Multiple political figures said Scowcroft will be remembered for his bipartisan approach to foreign policy matters.

“The example he set of objectivity, non-partisanship, honesty, and humility while in public service he continued in the private sector, establishing a firm that has provided non-partisan advice for over twenty-five years in understanding challenging international issues,” his foundation said in a statement.

The George and Barbara Bush Foundation issued a statement saying Scowcroft was “respected on both sides of the political aisle for his wisdom & decency, he was surely one of the great US statesmen of the 20th Century.”

We join our fellow Americans & friends of freedom around the world in saluting the remarkable life of service of General Brent Scowcroft. Respected on both sides of the political aisle for his wisdom & decency, he was surely one of the great US statesmen of the 20th Century. #RIP pic.twitter.com/SVbo63EupO

— George & Barbara Bush Foundation (@BushFdn) August 7, 2020

Former Vice President Dick Cheney released a statement saying Scowcroft was “one of the most capable and effective national security experts I ever worked with.”

“As the key national security advisor to President Bush, he was a lynchpin in facilitating the operation of our entire national security team,” Cheney said.

Former Obama national security adviser Susan Rice, who is considered a potential vice presidential candidate, said Scowcroft was “kind, wise, generous, and brilliant.” 

“The gold standard for national security advisors, a valued mentor and peerless public servant,” Rice said on Twitter.

Brent Scowcroft was kind, wise, generous, and brilliant. The gold standard for national security advisors, a valued mentor and peerless public servant. My deepest condolences to his family. May he RIP.

Brent Scowcroft…Dies at 95 – The New York Times https://t.co/93yE99ivTJ

— Susan Rice (@AmbassadorRice) August 7, 2020

In 2016, Scowcroft gained attention when he became one of several Bush alumni to endorse Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton over President Trump.

He said at the time that Clinton “shares my belief that America must remain the world’s indispensable leader.”

— Updated at 3:24 p.m.