The Texan was a powerful Republican fundraiser who served at the top echelons of Bush's presidential campaigns and most recently served as a general campaign chairman for 2008 GOP presidential nominee John McCain.
As commerce secretary, Mosbacher helped lay the foundation for the North American Free Trade Agreement.
"Together we shared a journey that led to the presidency, the mountaintop of American politics, and there we worked together to help America more fully embrace the world around us and compete in the newly emerging global markets that the waning Cold War made accessible," Bush said in a statement. "No doubt, he will be remembered as one the most effective commerce secretaries in our nation's history."
Mosbacher was born in Mount Vernon, N.Y. and grew up in White Plains. He graduated from the Choate School and earned his bachelor's degree in business administration from Washington and Lee University in 1947.
The following year, he moved to Houston and built a highly successful oil and gas company that would have interests in U.S. and international markets.
Mosbacher got into politics in the early 1960s, working as a fundraiser for various Republican candidates in southeast Texas and also managing then Vice President Richard Nixon's 1968 presidential campaign in Harris County, which includes Houston.
Mosbacher was chief fundraiser of Bush's 1998 presidential campaign, and after Bush's victory, was appointed commerce secretary. He was the main official responsible for promoting NAFTA, which was later signed into law during the Clinton administration.
In 1995, Mosbacher supported efforts to eliminate the Commerce Department, saying it was no longer necessary and a "prime example of how the federal bureaucracy has gotten too big and too expensive."
In his political career, Mosbacher managed the national fundraising operations of five different GOP presidential campaigns -- from Gerald Ford in 1976 to McCain.
Mosbacher was also an accomplished sailor, amassing numerous titles in New York and Texas.
He was married four times, including to Georgette Mosbacher, a flashy socialite and cosmetics entrepreneur whose animated personality and red hair made her a popular subject of gossip columnists when the couple was in Washington, D.C. The couple divorced in 1998.
On Sunday morning, former President Bush released the following statement.
- "Barbara and I feel a profound sense of personal grief over the death of our dear friend Bob Mosbacher, a close friend of some 50 years who helped us, and guided us, and lifted us up in so many different ways. As good as he was at political fundraising - as he was certainly the very best at that - Bob meant so much more to us.
Together we shared a journey that led to the presidency, the mountaintop of American politics, and there we worked together to help America more fully embrace the world around us and compete in the newly emerging global markets that the waning Cold War made accessible. No doubt, Bob will be remembered as one the most effective Commerce Secretaries in our Nation's history.
Bob Mosbacher was an honorable and a first-rate businessman, and perhaps the shrewdest dealmaker I ever knew. But more than that, Bob was a true Point of Light, someone who generously helped so many different causes - but never seeking the limelight. I think particularly of his spearheading the Odyssey Academy Charter School in Galveston as exemplary of Bob's penchant for helping others in need. And of course, we worked together with such joy to help support our beloved M.D. Anderson in the battle against cancer. Few, if any, ever did more for that groundbreaking institution than Bob.
Bob Mosbacher was a patriot, a lover of the sea, and a loving family man. Barbara and I have already sent our condolences to his wife Mica, his children, and his grandkids - and assured them of Bob's place of honor in our Nation's history. We loved him very much. He will be sorely and deeply missed. "
