In tonight’s primetime address, President Bush said "Like all who have held this office before me, I have experienced setbacks. There are things I would do differently if given the chance. Yet I have always acted with the best interests of our country in mind.”
As the nation prepares for what is being billed as the most historic presidential inauguration in recent history, I’m going where few choose to go, saying goodbye and thank you to a leader I look to as a man of unbelievable faith and courage, the 43rd president of the United States of America, George W. Bush.
Over the past 8 years there have been many issues, decisions, and actions made by our government that I don’t agree with, but there have been just as many triumphs by the Bush administration and that comes with the territory. I would challenge you to find any perfect leader in the history of the world, no such person exists. A concept that I have come to grips with during my time in college leadership positions is that you are only able to please some of the people all of the time, all of the people some of the time, but you will never be able to please all of the people all of the time.
I feel that in the final days of his presidency, President Bush is blamed for everything and anything that involves the American people, the economy; even events of nature are blamed on the Bush administration. All of this while Barack Obama is hailed as the greatest President ever, before he has even taken office, signed a single piece of legislation into action, or vetoed a bill. I don’t know why Americans, the media, and naysayers are unable to come to grips that current problems may have been embedded in America long before President Bush ever entered the Oval Office or might have been beyond the control of his administration. Perhaps if Americans stopped being so divisive and elected officials worked together with the President on some of our nation’s most immediate problems, we would actually have a chance at solving a few of them in an orderly manner.
At the end of President Bush’s second victorious campaign in 2004, he said, "Today, I want to speak to every person who voted for my opponent. To make this nation stronger and better, I will need your support, and I will work to earn it. I will do all I can do to deserve your trust." Obama made a similar cry during his Election Day victory speech in November and hopefully the American people hear his call, because it seems as though the Bush doctrine was abandoned by many Americans before it was ever written.
President Bush lead us with his head held high and set a standard for patriotism in the wake of the September 11th attacks and has since protected our country from other terrorist action. He successfully revamped our entire defense system, created Homeland Security, and secured our nation’s airports, borders, and waterways. Not to mention the president lowered taxes, worked to reform the US education system, and nominated Supreme Court justices. He was faced with difficult decisions and made them with what I believe to be a clear mind, the facts that were presented to him, and used morals and integrity built with a foundation of Christianity and for that I give him the utmost respect.
I may have voted Republican in the last election, but it is in my nature to support leaders and work with them rather than against them. Few get anything accomplished by working alone and I will support President-elect Obama in any way that I can. Unless something is evil, corrupt, or simply wrong why is fighting against our elected officials in America’s best interest, especially in this time of economic distress? Yes, our country needs healthy debate and without two sides of a story the best decision can’t be made. This isn’t to say that I don’t believe in democracy and some things aren’t worth the inevitable fight, but the treatment of President Bush has been bottom line, embarrassing.
Jeffrey Scott Shapiro from the Wall Street Journal agrees with my perspective, he notes “Our failure to stand by the one person who continued to stand by us has not gone unnoticed by our enemies. It has shown to the world how disloyal we can be when our president needed loyalty -- a shameful display of arrogance and weakness that will haunt this nation long after Mr. Bush has left the White House.”
During my college career I was challenged to view, respect, and understand the view of the other side of the aisle by David L. Boren, President of the University of Oklahoma and former US Senator. He challenges his students and colleagues to believe in, understand and work with a bipartisan President. If you have even the slightest interest in politics and the future of America’s place in the world, I encourage you to read his book, A Letter to America; it is incredibly insightful, timely, and thought-provoking.
I believe in America and most certainly believe in the greatness of the American people. Now is the time to come together and I hope that we not only join forces now, but that both sides of the aisle see the importance of bipartisanship in the future.
"We have one country, one Constitution and one future that binds us. And when we come together and work together, there is no limit to the greatness of America."
-President George W. Bush
Thank you President Bush and may God Bless America.
O yea and welcome to the neighborhood President Bush, I can’t wait for you to settle down at home in Dallas!
Oklahoma Sooners 
