… If ever there was a moment when it was clear that Mr. Bush’s America has given way to Mr. Trump’s America, this is it. Mr. Bush’s death at age 94 is the end of an era, the passing of the last of the World War II and Cold War presidents and the fading of an approach to public life overtaken by the politics of anger, grievance and polarization. …
For all of the condolences and tributes pouring in to the Bush home in Houston from every corner of the world on Saturday, Mr. Trump’s very presidency stands as a rebuke to Mr. Bush. Never a proponent of “kinder and gentler” politics, Mr. Trump prefers a brawl, even with his own party. The “new world order” of free-trade, alliance-building internationalism that Mr. Bush championed has been replaced by Mr. Trump’s “America First” defiance of globalism. …
“What the hell was that, by the way, thousand points of light?” Mr. Trump asked scornfully at a campaign rally in Great Falls, Mont., in July. “What did that mean? Does anyone know? I know one thing: Make America great again, we understand. Putting America first, we understand. Thousand points of light, I never quite got that one.” CONT.
Peter Baker, New York Times