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Cokie Roberts, journalist, 75
Heidi Gutman
(Dec. 27, 1943 — Sept. 17, 2019) The journalist and political commentator — and daughter of Hale Boggs and Lindy Boggs, who each served in the U.S. Congress — won three Emmy awards during her long career with National Public Radio and ABC News. She was inducted into the Broadcasting and Cable Hall of Fame, and in 2008 the Library of Congress dubbed her a Living Legend.
Toni Morrison, novelist, 88
Leonardo Cendamo / Getty Images
(Feb. 18, 1931 — Aug. 5, 2019) The winner of the Nobel Prize and author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Beloved (1987) — among other great works — was beloved herself. “Time is no match for Toni Morrison,” said Barack Obama, who awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2012. He called her “a national treasure.”
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John Paul Stevens, Supreme Court justice, 99
William Thomas Cain / Stringer / Getty Images
(April 20, 1920 — July 16, 2019) The high court justice served for almost 35 years before retiring in June 2010 at age 90. President Gerald Ford nominated Stevens in 1975, and Stevens began his work that December, when he was 55. Although he was chosen by a Republican president, Stevens often agreed with the liberal side of the bench on issues such as the death penalty, affirmative action and Bush v. Gore.
George H.W. Bush, U.S. president, 94
Cynthia Johnson / Getty Images
(June 12, 1924 — Nov. 30, 2018) The 41st president was a decorated World War II Navy pilot, U.S. congressman, director of the CIA, ambassador to China and two-term vice president for President Ronald Reagan. In later years, he embraced active aging, celebrating several birthdays by skydiving, and spent time with his large family, including oldest son and 43rd President George W. Bush.
John McCain, U.S. senator, 81
Win McNamee / Getty Images
(Aug. 29, 1936 — Aug. 25, 2018) A 1958 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, he was a prisoner of war in North Vietnam from 1967 until his release in 1973. McCain was elected from Arizona to the U.S. House in 1982 and the Senate in 1986. During the 2000s he ran twice unsuccessfully for president, earning the Republican nomination in 2008. Known as a maverick, McCain got back to work as a senator, a job he continued — even through brain cancer — until the day he died.
Barbara Bush, first lady, 92
Scott Olson
(June 8, 1925 — April 17, 2018) First lady Barbara Bush and her husband, George H.W. Bush, the 41st president of the United States, were married longer than any previous presidential couple — 73 years. (Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter have since passed that mark.) She also was the mother of the 43rd president, George W. Bush, and a Florida governor, Jeb Bush. While serving as first lady, she founded the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family.
