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The reason President Bush was in San Diego last week:

BUSH SETS RECORD STRAIGHT

I spent last week in San Diego at my firm’s national convention. This year our speakers ranged from Bill Poole, the 11th chief executive of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, to the 43rd President of the United States, George W. Bush.

All the speakers were interesting, but it was President Bush we turned out to see.

And yes, I understand writing about Mr. Bush is like throwing red meat to a liberal lion like Joe. Simply mentioning Bush is enough to fire up toxic left-wing boo-birds; still, listening to any former president is interesting and thought-provoking.

It was clear from the start that Mr. Bush had a few things he wanted clarified. He was careful to make the point that he would not say anything negative about President Obama as a person.

That said, he was very clear in his demarcation between himself and Mr. Obama.

For instance when Mr. Bush said, “The office is more important than the person who holds the office,” I felt he was making a not-so-veiled point.

He also said his “temporary measures” to stimulate the economy were never meant to become a “permanent” way of conducting the government’s business. The role of government, he said, is to create an environment where people will risk capital. “Raising taxes kills small business.”

“Polls are not for decision-making.” If a president pays attention to polls it can only compromise his principles.

“I never watched the news or polls. I felt it would add nothing to my ability to make hard decisions.”

On leadership: “Leaders don’t bear grudges. Leaders set clear, optimistic goals.”

And, “even though my candidate did not win, Obama’s election speaks well of America.”

Bush said he understands that harsh rhetoric is “nothing new,” pointing out that many of the same kind of things were said about Abraham Lincoln during his time in office as were said about him.

As for his much-maligned reaction to the initial 9/11 attacks, Bush said he knew instinctively that “the eyes of the world were on me.”

He said that sitting with the kids in that class that day his first reaction was to “do nothing to create panic.”

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What was his initial reaction to the planes flying into buildings? “We felt the first plane was an accident. The second was an attack on the U.S. When the third plane hit the Pentagon, well, that was a declaration of war.”

He believes the biggest risk to the U.S. is another attack. “They are a patient enemy.

“Time has numbed our emotions about 9/11. Try and remember how you felt during those days. I was mad as hell.”

“Democracy,” he said, “is hard work.”

“Presidents must look over the horizon while Congress is on a two-year schedule. They are always asking themselves, ‘What will this decision do to my chances for re-election?’ Presidents cannot operate that way.”

“There is no such thing as ‘short-term’ history when viewing the presidency. Historians will draw their own conclusions about me, but that will be years in the future.”

“I hope it will be said of me that he never lost faith.”

“In spite of what you might believe, I had a joyous presidency.”

Tom Fife is an investment broker who writes from a conservative perspective. E-mail him at Tom.Fife@Comcast.Net.
http://www.visaliatimesdelta.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090825/OPINION/908250303