“Every single day I was honored to be your president by bringing honor and dignity to the office,” Bush said in his first foray into motivational speaking at the day-long Get Motivated seminar.
Bush spoke in a relaxed tone about a few lessons he'd learned in his life including sticking to your principles and living each day to its fullest.
“It’s so simple in life to chase popularity but popularity is fleeting," Bush said. "It’s not real."
The former president also emphasized the importance of generosity, noting how many people were surprised when he promised billions in aid to Africa to fight the AIDS epidemic.
“Apparently Republicans aren’t supposed to be compassionate so it was a shock," Bush said.
Bush also spoke about his faith, promising everyone in the audience that those people who prayed for him and his wife while they lived in the Oval Office made the first couple's lives better.
“From a personal perspective, I don’t see how you can be president without relying upon an almighty," Bush said.
Bush’s speech sounded briefly like a Republican Party stump speech when he spoke about his economic outlook.
"Another principle I believe in is that you can spend your money better than the government can,” Bush said to huge applause. He added later, “The marketplace works. It is fair. It is equitable. It is a fair form of democracy.”
At the end of his speech, Bush received a standing ovation.
-Aman Batheja
It's easy to be compassionate when you are giving away someone else's money.
Posted by: Rufus | October 27, 2009 at 06:42 AM
I will say this about President Bush. I cannot recall a president in the recent history of this nation where he took over an economy that was going in a recession even though it had a surplus. We then had a major attack on our financial system which believe it or not brought this country to its knees. This attack affected the airline industry, tourist industry, and small business that supported those industries. I recall seeing United Airline’s stock drop to pennies. We then have a major hurricane wipe out New Orleans not to mention the oil refineries that produce our petroleum products. You can have all the oil in the world but without refineries it is just oil. We then have another hurricane come and wipe out towns on the Gulf Coast of Texas and the floods in the heartland of America. You can criticize his invasion of Iraq but as far as national interest is concerned we stopped the Russians and French from having under the table deals with Iraq on the Food for Oil Program. We were able to stabilize the world economy by controlling the equal disbursement of oil supply to all countries. You can truthfully say that government grew under his administration but then again we had to spend money on counter terrorism, federal emergencies throughout the country, rebuilding homes and infrastructure, and fighting an unconventional war in the Middle East. Say what you want about President Bush but as Collin Powell once said, Leadership is a lonely position! Thanks GW for your unwavering leadership that is based on principle not politics!!
Andrew “Cas” Castanuela
Republican Candidate for U.S. Senate
Posted by: Cas for Senate | October 27, 2009 at 08:39 PM
“From a personal perspective, I don’t see how you can be president without relying upon an almighty," Bush said.
This is what scared us rational thinking people of the world! Divine mission against Islam?
Regards from EU de S56A, N1YU
Posted by: Marijan M. Miletic | October 29, 2009 at 06:55 AM