On April 6, 2019, the USPS announced that it would issue a commemorative Forever stamp honoring former President George H.W. Bush, who died Nov. 30, 2019, at the age of 94.
Bush served as the 43rd vice president under President Ronald W. Reagan from 1981 to 1989. A member of the Republican Party, he held posts that included those of congressman (1967-71), ambassador to the United Nations (1971-73) and China (1974-75), Chairman of the Republican National Committee (1973-74) and Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA, 1976-77).
As 41st president during 1989-93, Bush guided the United States through the end of the Cold War, helped reunify Germany and drove the unprecedented creation of a multinational coalition that successfully forced Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait in the Persian Gulf War (1990–91).
On the domestic front, President Bush signed historic civil rights legislation to integrate Americans with disabilities more fully into society. His Clean Air Act tightened air pollution standards and dramatically reduced urban smog and acid rain. An advocate for public service, Bush explained his vision of a nation of volunteers as “a brilliant diversity spread like stars, like a thousand points of light in a broad and peaceful sky.”
George H.W. Bush was the first sitting vice president elected president since Martin van Buren in 1836, and one of only two presidents to have a son who also served as Commander-in-Chief.
The stamp art is a portrait of Bush painted by award-winning artist Michael J. Deas. It is based on a 1997 photograph taken by Timothy Greenfield-Sanders. Phil Jordan was the art director and stamp designer. The stamp is being issued as a Forever stamp and will always be equal in value to the current First-Class Mail 1-ounce price, which was 55¢ at the date of issue.
The first-day-of-issue ceremony was scheduled to have been held on June 12, which would have been the president’s 95th birthday, at the Annenberg Presidential Conference Center’s Frymire Auditorium next door to the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum, 1000 George Bush Drive West, College Station, Texas.
The dedicating official was U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors Chairman Robert M. Duncan, with participation by George’s grandson and CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters Lone Star Pierce Bush, George & Barbara Bush Foundation President and CEO David B. Jones, George H.W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum Director Warren Finch, Qatar-America Institute Founding Chairman Chase Untermeyer and George H.W. Bush’s Former Chief of Staff Jean Becker.
Customers have 120 days to obtain the first-day-of-issue postmark by mail. They may purchase new stamps at their post office or at usps.com/shop. They must affix the stamps to envelopes of their choice, address the envelopes to themselves or others, and place them in a larger envelope bearing sufficient postage and addressed to:
FDOI — George H.W. Bush Stamp
USPS Stamp Fulfillment Services
8300 NE Underground Drive, Suite 300
Kansas City, MO 64144-9900
After applying the first-day-of-issue postmark, the USPS will return the envelopes through the mail. There is no charge for up to 50 postmarks, but there is a 5¢ charge for each additional postmark over 50. All orders must be postmarked by October 12, 2019.
The April 6 unveiling of the George H.W. Bush Forever stamp at his Presidential Library, where the commemorative was issued on what would have been his 95th birthday, June 12.
The stamp’s portrait of Bush painted by award-winning artist Michael J. Deas is based on a 1997 photo by Timothy Greenfield-Sanders.
55 Years of U.S. Presidential Memorial Issues: 1964–2019
1964 John F. Kennedy (1917–1963)
1965 Herbert Hoover (1874–1964)
1969 Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969)
1973 Lyndon B. Johnson (1908–1973)
1995 Richard Nixon (1913–1994)
2005 Ronald Reagan (1911–2004)
2007 Gerald R. Ford (1913–2006)
2019 George H.W. Bush (1924–2018)
