Magazine content is available exclusively for TIME subscribers.BUSH'S FINAL SALUTE
George Bush, 72, gave up martinis for a month to get in shape for his parachute jump, endured countless gibes from his loving but irreverent kids ("Next you'll tell us you have an 18-year-old girlfriend"), shouted "Arch!" (yes, as in arch your back) as he leaped into the blue instead of "Geronimo!" like John Wayne, bumped his head against the fuselage, but then floated exuberantly into the record books as the only parachuting former President.
Back at his desk in Houston after the jump, he was rummaging for the names and addresses of all his new skydiving buddies so he could...
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