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Former President George H.W. Bush has died at the age of 94.

The sad announcement has been made by his son, former President George W. Bush.

George Bush Sr. served as the 41st US president between 1989 and 1993, his term defined by the end of the Cold War and the first Iraq war against Saddam Hussein.

While his health had been failing in recent years, the former president still managed to make public appearances.

George Bush Sr. died at 22:10 local time on November 30, a family spokesperson said.

In April, he was admitted to hospital with a blood infection but had since been discharged. George Bush Sr. was also being treated for a form of Parkinson’s disease.

The former Republican president died seven months after his wife, Barbara.

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His son George Bush Jr., who went on to serve as the 43rd US president, said in a statement: “Jeb, Neil, Marvin, Doro, and I are saddened to announce that after 94 remarkable years, our dear Dad has died.

“[He] was a man of the highest character and the best dad a son or daughter could ask for.”

The US flag has been lowered to half mast at the White House.

George Bush Sr.’s single presidential term in office was dominated by foreign policy – the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe and Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait in 1990.

He was instrumental in building the international military coalition that forced Iraq’s Saddam Hussein out of Kuwait.

He became president after serving two terms as vice-president to Ronald Reagan, but he suffered the ignominy of becoming a single-term president – defeated by Bill Clinton in the 1992 election amid a weakening economy.

George H.W. Bush’s famous 1988 campaign promise – “Read my lips. No new taxes” – came back to haunt him when he felt compelled to reverse policy.

He entered politics in 1964 after starting a Texan oil business and becoming a millionaire by the age of 40.

During World War Two, George H.W. Bush was an aviator before being shot down by the Japanese in September 1944 while on a bombing raid.

Following his honorable discharge from the navy in 1945, George H.W. Bush married then 18-year-old Barbara Pierce. Their marriage would last 73 years and they would have six children together.