Former president George H.W. Bush passed away November 30 at the age of 94, People reports. His death comes less than a year after the passing of Barbara Bush, his wife of more than 70 years, who died April 17.

The 41st president had been suffering from poor health for years, announcing in 2012 he had vascular parkinsonism.

Prior to entering politics, Bush Sr. served in the Navy during World War II. Following the war, he went into the oil business, eventually working his way up to chairman of Zapata Corporation (now HRG Group, Inc.). Bush served as a congressman from 1967 to 1971, becoming the first Republican to represent Houston in the House of Representatives. He unsuccessfully ran for Senate in 1970, at President Richard Nixon's urging.

He then went on to serve as Ambassador to the United Nations (1971-1973), chairman of the Republican National Committee (1973-1974), Chief of the U.S. Liaison Office in China (1974-1975), and Director of Central Intelligence (1976-1977). He was vice president during the eight years of the Reagan administration, from 1981-1989.

Though more moderate than his son, President George W. Bush, the elder Bush had a mixed record on LGBTQ rights. As President Ronald Reagan's vice president, he faced criticism for the administration's inaction during the height of the epidemic, and for not doing more to fight the crisis during his own presidency.

In 1990, Bush signed the Hate Crimes Statistics Act, requiring the Attorney General to collect data on crimes committed because of the victim's race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, or ethnicity.

It was, according to the National LGBTQ Task Force, the first federal statute to recognize LGBTQ victims, and the first time representatives from an LGBTQ organization were invited to a presidential signing ceremony. (The legislation was strengthened in 2009 under Barack Obama, with the signing of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act.)

Bush also signed a measure removing the phrase "sexual deviation" from the Immigration and Nationality Act, language that had been used to ban LGBTQ immigrants. However, he continued the policy of banning those living with HIV and AIDS from entering the United States.

During his 1988 presidential campaign, he wrote in his diary that Americans “didn’t want same-sex marriage codified.” And losing ground in the 1992 primary to the more conservative Pat Buchanan, Bush moved to the right, publicly denouncing marriage equality.

That same year, he signed an appropriations bill prohibiting Washington, D.C. from using government funds to established domestic partnerships.

In a TV interview while president, Bush said if he found out one of his grandchildren was gay, he would "love his child" but tell them homosexuality wasn't normal. He softened with time, though, or was just perhaps free of the constraints of office: In 2013, Bush acted as the official witness at the same-sex wedding of two longtime friends.

“Personally, I still believe in traditional marriage,” Bush wrote in a note to his biographer, Jon Meacham. “But people should be able to do what they want to do, without discrimination. People have a right to be happy. I guess you could say I have mellowed.”

At the time of his death, he is the nation's oldest living former president and vice president, as well as the longest-lived president in U.S. history. In addition to President George W. Bush, the president is survived by sons Jeb Bush, Neil Bush, and Marvin Bush, daughter Dorothy Bush Koch, as well as 14 grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. A daughter, Pauline Robinson “Robin” Bush, died of leukemia at age 3.