Politics
Disregarding rigid diplomatic decorum, Rawlings took off his own heavy overcoat and wrapped it around the American leader.
Related Content
TOKYO — In February 1989, world leaders gathered in the biting winter of Tokyo for the state funeral of Emperor Hirohito. Amid the strict confines of international diplomatic protocol, an unexpected act of human kindness would fundamentally alter Ghana–U.S. relations.
As the outdoor ceremony progressed, then-U.S. Vice President George H.W. Bush, who had arrived without a heavy overcoat, began shivering violently from the freezing cold and was on the verge of fainting. Disregarding rigid diplomatic decorum, Rawlings took off his own heavy overcoat and wrapped it around the American leader.
The spontaneous gesture deeply moved Bush’s wife, Barbara Bush. According to Baffour, the future First Lady was so taken by Rawlings' raw humanity that it shattered standard geopolitical barriers. When Rawlings later embarked on an official state visit to the United States, he received an exclusive, highly personal invitation to the Bush family’s private ranch in Texas—a rare honor seldom extended to foreign dignitaries.
"Barbara Bush just looked at the humanity of this man, the way he had gone against protocol to do something for her husband," Baffour revealed. "When he told me this, I was completely fascinated."
More Stories
By Dorothy Nkansah Agyapomaa
"I used him as material," Baffour chuckled, recalling how he distilled complex, tense national politics into accessible, sharp-witted commentary for ordinary Ghanaians.
By Dorothy Nkansah Agyapomaa
He told me the man had a brain—a fascinating brain—and a deep belief in his energy
By Dorothy Nkansah Agyapomaa
"When they withdrew the privileges, he’d carry his own bags, get on the plane, and go. He wasn't a possessive person into material things. He’d say, 'I'm a soldier man, I can carry my stuff and move.'"
