George W. Bush

At the Premier conference, I had the opportunity to listen to former President George W. Bush.  Wow!  Now in all honesty, I have been and continue to be a big supporter of his.  What is interesting is that there were those in our group who really disliked W before yesterday.  You ask how someone can go from not liking the man to now liking the man.  We all found him funny, engaging, honest, and able to make fun of himself and he came across as a regular person.  He evoked laughter, empathy and sympathy. 

He used his recent autobiography as the content of his speech and the follow up Q&A.  He spoke of leadership, the institution of the Presidency and the current work the both he, as a former President, and Laura are doing (freedom for women in the Middle East, eradicating cervical cancer in African women, raising money for veterans injured in the wars and training school principals to be better leaders).  He spoke of consciously not criticizing President Obama and his administration.  He talked about his legacy and the mistakes that he made.  He said that a President has to know what he doesn't know and must count on his appointed experts.  He still believes that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were the right thing to do in protecting our children, their families and their communities.  He also believes that TARP was necessary to avoid the second Great Depression.  He said that the toughest part of the President's job is putting young men and women in harm’s way due to war.  All in all, it was a most enjoyable hour.  I am now going to read his book, Decision Points, with a much better perspective.