Reflecting on George W Bush

If you are a longtime reader of this blog you will know I am no big fan of President George Bush but that was not always the case. As we come to the end of another Presidency I will take some time to reflect on the outgoing President. I may not always agree with each and every decision that he has made but I can honestly say I respect him for the job that he has. He deserves our respect for taking on a job that most of us would not want to do. Although I have to admit flying in Air Force One would be kind of cool.

When George W Bush first announced his run for President I thought it was great. I even shook his hand one time and it was a great thrill for me. Shortly after his election the events of 9/11 transpired. No one could have predicted this and it consumed his life and will continue to consume his life. No one has any idea of what he went through on that day to see his country attacked. I often joke that when Andrew Card whispered in his ear what had happened that he was thinking he wished Al Gore had won.

Being President of the United States is a difficult job when the country is not being attacked and although I do not agree with every decision he made after that I have to respect him for the position that he holds. He is part of a very small club and he deserves our respect and our thanks. We all have regrets in our life and the President is no different. We will have to wait and see how history treats him.

George W Bush did the best job he could do and I believe he always had the best interests, as he defined them, of our country in mind when making decisions. Not always the most popular person in our country or in others he was the guy in the seat and as Harry Truman once said, “The Buck Stops Here.” George W. Bush is a good and faithful man and I do not think for a moment that the decisions he made or the things he said had any malice in them. He showed himself to be a true gentleman and statesman in the way he has handled the transition.

I wonder what his presidency would have been like if the events of 9/11 did not happen or if Hurricane Katrina stayed out to sea or the economy had not gone down the shoot. Would he have been one of the greats? I guess we shall ever know.

As he leaves office tomorrow, and as he watches his successor take the oath of office, I wish him and Laura well. We have not heard the last of him in any way and I am sure that he will have a full life ahead of him. I will continue to pray for him and his family that they remain safe and healthy.

Mr. Bush, thank you for all your years of public service. Thanks you for leading our Country during a very difficult time. Thank you for being a man of faith.

3 Comments

  1. Father Peter, a very classy entry. Although you and I may disagree on some issues politically, this is one thing that we have in common: the ability to set aside our differences and give credit where it’s due. That’s why I wish Barack Obama nothing but the best. Peace.

  2. I wonder what his presidency would have been like if the events of 9/11 did not happen or if Hurricane Katrina stayed out to sea or the economy had not gone down the shoot. Would he have been one of the greats?

    It’s interesting. I believe that he is one of the greats precisely because of these issues. If President Bush has one great failure, it is his unwillingness to enter into the PR war against a biased left wing press which sought revenge even before he took office.

    President Bush liberated 50 million people, and kept us safe for 7 years. Those are no small accomplishments for a president.

  3. We all have presidents we like and those we put up with but no matter who they are,how well or how bad they were in office any one who is willing to take on such a role deserves to be treated with respect.every person who goes into office ages twice as fast as the rest of us and ends up with emotional scars,how can you make monumental decisions and not wonder if what you did was right.Harry Truman said “the buck stops here” and he would know on the day Eisenhower was to be inagurated,Ike refused to have the traditional tea with the Trumans and when Harry left that afternoon to go back home very few people showed up to say goodbye.linda
    linda

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