Post-presidency of George H. W. Bush

This article is part of a series about George H. W. Bush
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On January 20, 1993, following the first inauguration of his successor Bill Clinton, George H. W. Bush and his wife Barbara Bush built a retirement house in the community of West Oaks, Houston. He established a presidential office within the Park Laureate Building on Memorial Drive in Houston. He also frequently spent time at his vacation home in Kennebunkport, took annual cruises in Greece, went on fishing trips in Florida, and visited the Bohemian Club in Northern California. He declined to serve on corporate boards, but delivered numerous paid speeches and served as an adviser to The Carlyle Group, a private equity firm. He never published his memoirs, but he and Brent Scowcroft co-wrote A World Transformed, a 1998 work on foreign policy. Portions of his letters and his diary were later published as The China Diary of George H. W. Bush and All the Best, George Bush.

During his post-presidency, his sons George and Jeb became governors of Texas and Florida, respectively. With the victory of George in the 2000 presidential election, the two became the second father–son pair to serve as the nation's president, following John Adams and John Quincy Adams. In his retirement, Bush used the public spotlight to support various charities. Despite earlier political differences with Bill Clinton, the two former presidents eventually became friends. They appeared together in television ads, encouraging aid for victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami and Hurricane Katrina. However, when interviewed by Jon Meacham, Bush criticized Donald Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney, and even his own son George W. Bush for their handling of foreign policy after the September 11 attacks. George H. W. Bush remained active in charity works and as a speaker on political issues, and represented the United States in delegations to inaugurations and funerals around the world. Barbara Bush died on April 17, 2018, after 73 years of marriage. Bush's post-presidency ended when he died on November 30, 2018.