Sold-Out Crowd Gives Former President Bush Three Standing Ovations During Speech

[웃 910]

Sold-Out Crowd Gives Former President Bush Three Standing Ovations During SpeechBy EMILY GUEVARA

Staff Writer

Former President George W. Bush pulled back the curtain of the Oval Office and gave East Texans a picture of what his job was like during the high and low points.

With trademark humor and conviction, he said he sought to lead with vision and optimism and to leave the office equal to or better than it was when he arrived.

“Here's what you learn,” he said. “You realize you're not it. You're a part of something bigger than yourself.”

Bush spoke Tuesday before a sold-out crowd of 2,000 people during the 76th lecture as part of The University of Texas at Tyler's Distinguished Lecture Series.

He walked on the stage to a standing ovation. People in the audience were pumping their fists and whistling. One audience member shouted, “Bring back Bush,” at one point during the presentation.

He would receive at least two more standing ovations before the end of his speech.

The former president thanked East Texans for their role in electing him to office both as governor and president.

He also touted his book “Decision Points” which is set to be released in November.

“This will come as a shock to some people in our country who didn't think I could read a book, much less write one,” he quipped.

Bush said he misses certain aspects of the presidency.

“I miss being pampered; I miss Air Force 1; I miss being commander in chief of an awesome group of (people),” he said.

But one thing he doesn't miss is the limelight.

Bush said during his first days out of office, he took his dog Barney on a walk around his new neighborhood in Dallas. He hadn't been on a walk in a neighborhood for almost a decade, he said, and it was a liberating feeling.

The experience also was new to Barney too who saw a neighbor's yard and took the opportunity to relieve himself.

“Ten days out of the presidency, there I was with a plastic bag in my hand, picking up that which I had been dodging for eight years,” he said to many laughs.

Bush said it has been his faith, family and friends that have sustained him throughout his time in public office.

He talked about how his relationship with his father, former President George H.W. Bush, is one of love and respect. He said his father never criticized him during his presidency. In fact, he said, he often had to encourage his father who grew frustrated with what he saw as mass media critical of his son.

Bush shared about the principles that formed the foundation for much of his foreign and domestic policies.

He said he believes there is a God and one of the gifts of that God is for everyone to know freedom.

It is in part because of this belief that he stayed the course in Iraq and believes that country is a better place because of the fall of Saddam Hussein. But the battle continues, he said.

“I believe this country is engaged in an ideological struggle of a kind we have never seen before,” he said.

He said it was amazing to him that in the aftermath of Sept. 11, the Japanese Prime Minister called to express his willingness to work with the U.S. to enhance security. This came from a country that 60 years before was this nation's enemy.

“I firmly believe the same thing is going to happen in the Middle East,” he said.

During several points in his speech, he addressed the decisions he made in his life and jokingly said he was subconsciously touting his book, which is to be released next month.

“It's not a judgmental book,” he said. “It's not a Bush is cool (book).”

Bush said he sat in the White House with his economic advisors Henry Paulson and Ben Bernanke three weeks into the economic downturn.

He said Bernanke told him, “If you don't do something significant, you're likely to see a depression greater than the Great Depression.”

“Depression, no depression,” Bush said. “It wasn't that hard for me, just so you know. I made the decision to use your money to prevent the collapse from happening.”

Bush talked about the influence that President Abraham Lincoln had on his presidency. He said he made a point to watch little television and instead to read quite often.

He read 12 biographies about Lincoln during his time in office.

“It's interesting to be making history and reading history,” he said. “I think he's the country's greatest president.”

He said Lincoln was a man of vision, a man who wanted to see a unified country. He also was a man of principle, who said all men are created equal under God, Bush said.

Bush, who pointed out that he does not compare himself to Lincoln, said he did try to emulate him in the way he treated soldiers. He called it a “paramount” duty to meet with the loved ones of troops who die in service.

He talked about one man, who after his relative had died in war, asked to receive a waiver so he could serve in his country despite his older age.

“Instead of letting the grief overwhelm him, this man stood to serve our country,” Bush said. “We are blessed with people like that.”

UT Tyler President Rodney H. Mabry called Bush the “most determined, principled, compassionate and successful” president this country has had.

Mabry presented Bush with a UT Tyler Patriots baseball jersey with his name and the No. 43 on the back as a gift of appreciation. He also said the university raised more than $200,000 for scholarships through a dinner that preceded the lecture.

The lecture and a dinner that preceded it were presented through the donations of numerous community members including Joseph and Louise Ornelas, Harold and Rosemary Beaird, Herb and Melvina Buie, Bill and Billie Hartley and the A.W. Riter Jr. Family Foundation, among others.

http://www.tylerpaper.com/article/20101020/NEWS08/101029998

[mawilson 2,133]

Three ovulations... ouch.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

With trademark humor and conviction, he said he sought to lead with vision and optimism and to leave the office equal to or better than it was when he arrived.

He didn't quite make the mark on the latter, did he?

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

Why isn't Bush, Cheney, and Rove doing time in prison ? If there were ever three human beings that should be locked up for their crimes, it's those three.

[SuperDuper! 230]

Are you trying to give Steve competition for posting provocative articles?

[ready4ONE 5,400]

While not a huge fan, I liked Bush Sr. better, I think history will be kinder to W than he got while in office or now. But even where I differed with W I always found it difficult to understand how so many disliked him. A beer summit with W would likely be pretty damn cool.

[sly_wolf 199]

Some people have very short memories.

[웃 910]

Why isn't Bush, Cheney, and Rove doing time in prison ? If there were ever three human beings that should be locked up for their crimes, it's those three.

And what crimes would you charge them with? There was a vote that a few hundred people participated in to decide if we should go to war (the decision wasn't made by Bush/Cheney/Rove alone), here were the results:

In a major victory for the White House, the Senate early Friday voted 77-23 to authorize President Bush to attack Iraq if Saddam Hussein refuses to give up weapons of mass destruction as required by U.N. resolutions.

Hours earlier, the House approved an identical resolution, 296-133.

The president praised the congressional action, declaring "America speaks with one voice."

"The Congress has spoken clearly to the international community and the United Nations Security Council," Bush said in a statement. "Saddam Hussein and his outlaw regime pose a grave threat to the region, the world and the United States. Inaction is not an option, disarmament is a must."

While the outcome of the vote was never in doubt, its passage followed several days of spirited debate in which a small but vocal group of lawmakers charged the resolution was too broad and premature.

The resolution requires Bush to declare to Congress either before or within 48 hours after beginning military action that diplomatic efforts to enforce the U.N. resolutions have failed.

Bush also must certify that action against Iraq would not hinder efforts to pursue the al Qaeda terrorist network that attacked New York and Washington last year. And it requires the administration to report to Congress on the progress of any war with Iraq every 60 days.

The measure passed the Senate and House by wider margins than the 1991 resolution that empowered the current president's father to go to war to expel Iraq from Kuwait. That measure passed 250-183 in the House and 52-47 in the Senate.

http://articles.cnn....=PM:ALLPOLITICS

Edited October 22, 2010 by Lord Infamous

[ready4ONE 5,400]

As to your chart LI which I am sure you believe indicates Obama is at fault for the rising unemployment rate, take a closer look at where the upward trajectory began and the steepness and rapidity. The chart shows the rate of job losses was twice as rapid when it began and started a year before Obama without a single downward deviation.

[웃 910]

As to your chart LI which I am sure you believe indicates Obama is at fault for the rising unemployment rate, take a closer look at where the upward trajectory began and the steepness and rapidity. The chart shows the rate of job losses was twice as rapid when it began and started a year before Obama without a single downward deviation.

Congress went majority Democrat in '06.....PRECISELY in what year did it "all begin"? I mean in which exact year can we pin the blame? I am assuming you believe it is "Bush's fault" so is the current recession because of what occurred in '02, '03, '04, '05, '06 (Dem Congress), '07 (DC), or '08 (DC), or '09 (DC), or '10 (DC)?

The American citizen is as much to blame, as the large corporations, and I'd say Congress/President had little to do to with thwarting off the recession. Here is how I would point the blame:

Large Investment Firms/Banks > American citizen > Congress > President

[Dan J 277]

Congress went majority Democrat in '06.....PRECISELY in what year did it "all begin"? I mean in which exact year can we pin the blame? I am assuming you believe it is "Bush's fault" so is the current recession because of what occurred in '02, '03, '04, '05, '06 (Dem Congress), '07 (DC), or '08 (DC), or '09 (DC), or '10 (DC)?

The American citizen is as much to blame, as the large corporations, and I'd say Congress/President had little to do to with thwarting off the recession. Here is how I would point the blame:

Large Investment Firms/Banks > American citizen > Congress > President

Housing market which was one of the largest components of this recession, peaked in 2005. We are still feeling the effect of that bubble 5 years later.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Congress went majority Democrat in '067.....PRECISELY in what year did it "all begin"? I mean in which exact year can we pin the blame? I am assuming you believe it is "Bush's fault" so is the current recession because of what occurred in '02, '03, '04, '05, '06 (Dem GOP Congress), '07 (DC), or '08 (DC), or '09 (DC), or '10 (DC)?

The American citizen is as much to blame, as the large corporations, and I'd say Congress/President had little to do to with thwarting off the recession. Here is how I would point the blame:

Large Investment Firms/Banks > American citizen > Congress > President

Correction as to the year in which the Dems took control of Congress. That happened in 2007 rather than 2006. The election where the GOP lost their majorities took place in Nov 2006 but the new Congress did not convene until Jan 2007. Just to keep the record straight.

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

If there is a h*ll...Bush, Cheney and Rove will surely end up there.

[luckytxn 2,264]

Very deserved ovations. After a couple years of Obama the Socialists and his handlers in Congress makes everyone realize how a real man used to occupy the white house.

[Danno 1,228]

I would bet if this same audience were assembled two years ago there would have been no ovations for Bush.

These Ovations speak more about Obama... than Bush.