President George Bush, No. 43 authored his memoirs, and then read them aloud to produce one view of his Presidency by Mark Vogl
(conservative)
Thursday, March 24, 2011
I have read the memoirs of other Presidents, but I have never heard the President himself, read his own words. It was an interesting and enjoyable way to learn what the man himself thought of his Presidency, administration and history.
I am of a mixed mind when it comes to President No. 43. I did not vote for him in his first Presidential campaign in 2000. I voted for Pat Buchanan. I did vote for him in his re-election campaign. Bush was a likeable man, with a Texas drawl and a way of speaking which made me feel easy. But, like his father, this Bush was no conservative. One of his hallmarks, when Governor of Texas, was his ability to work with Democrats to govern the state. For me, that's a warning sign. In the early days of my life there had been conservative Democrats, especially from the South. But these days, and in the days of 43's Presidency those conservative Democrats were rare indeed. So if he could get along with Democrats there was a certainty that he was too liberal for me.
Still young George had many personal characteristics, including courage, simplicity, frankness, and a self-depreciating style which made him unique as a candidate.
President Bush opens his memoirs talking about his personal battle with alcohol. He admits his weakness, his refusal to initially see it as a problem. He talks about his awakening, linked to Christianity, and his final victory. This is not the type of story you expect to hear when reading the auto biography of a President of the United States. But it is important. It demonstrates that he was not above the rest of us, that he did know challenges and personal problems and that he overcame them.
Towards the end of the book, Bush talks about the Freedom Agenda. The essence of this concept is that freedom is a gift from God to all mankind, and that as President he pursued a policy of bringing freedom to the world. Sometimes this policy was actuated by our Armed forces, as in Iraq and Afghanistan. But, in other places America would use covert operations, diplomacy, foreign aid, and other means in an attempt to forward individual liberty and freedom across the world.
In this case, God's influence led the President to a nation building and world policeman policy that Bush had said he opposed when he was running as a candidate. Bush addresses this and admits that "he changed his mind."
This is a self-admitted example of how a man's faith can influence both his policy and actions as President of the United States. Its common sense, but some politicians, particularly many progressives make a strident attempt to push God out of governance.
The memoirs are too long, with too many issues for me remark on all of them. But one area the President touched on, which others might not write about it, I would like to comment on here.
Later in the memoirs, when talking about Illegal Immigration, the President is critical of conservative talk radio for their barrage of negative commentary about border security, and the illegal immigration problem. By virtue of the President's comments, Limbaugh and his legions of conservative talk show hosts are recognized as a powerful political force. Yet, when the President spoke about the wars in the Middle East, he did not credit Limbaugh and others with sustaining the national will, when public opinion seemed to be turning against US involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan. I believe President Bush did a disservice to the nation, and to historians here.
Had President Bush attempted to continue the war in a "Vietnam era" America where all the media had turned against the war, we might have lost the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. I would assert that Limbaugh, Hannity and others were the necessary cheer leaders to keep sufficient public support for the war. There were other factors. In the background, many corporations and other people and organizations worked to build up the reputation of America's soldiers and break up the constant attack by the main stream media.
If you are a person who takes long road trips, possibly a long haul truck driver, or some kind of sales person, I recommend to you the audio version of Decision Points on CD. It will give you a look at the President, through his own story telling ability, which will enlighten and may change your point of view of him and his presidency.
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The views expressed
in this article are those of Mark Vogl only and
do not represent the views of Nolan Chart, LLC or its affiliates.
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