We are living in the turning point in history; we are living in the time when Americans have forgotten how to let their leader, be the one voice of America. In a time when the voices that are heard in America sound more and more like the voices of those who stand on the outside, of America. I fear to say that the likes of President George W. Bush will be absent for a while, or at least until the time comes when America finds itself in clear and unmistakable jeopardy.  

The freedoms afforded in this country have led Americans down the road of self-defacement, to a time when we prefer to embrace outside atypical influences and ideas, in the name of betterment. We now live in a time where American values, once the envy of the world are no longer desired, particularly here at home. 

We live in a time when our leaders are vowing to sit down at the table with our enemies and are willing to bring a knife to an obvious gunfight in the name of peace bespeaks the troubled times in which we live.

President Bush is a plain and simple man who, in my point of view, as President cared more about America than any President in recent history. He reminds me of the quiet man who never spoke until he had something to say and when he spoke, he said what he meant, right or wrong. I watched the video of the man in Iraq throwing a shoe at him and saw in him what I believed all along, there was a man with courage, he didn’t run and hide. After the first shoe had been thrown he stood back up and looked the man in the eyes. And what I saw next was a man with the ability to control himself, because I feel with all my heart that if he were not on camera, he would have jumped down off that stage and whipped that guys butt. John Wayne could not have shown a more unyielding execution of the duties of the President than our President did that day.

            I’ve watched him stand as President against odds that would have a made a lesser President buckle, and give in to the will of the naysayers, but not President George Walker Bush. Although he has been blamed for everything wrong in our country or even the world for the past eight years, I felt that no jihadist or any foreign or domestic adversary would have an opportunity to bring harm upon me or my family, I felt safe with him at the helm. I’ve been able to lay my head down each night after 9/11, assured that no ruinous thing would happen again as long as he stood watch.

There is strength in the quiet Texan that history will record as one of the greatest Presidents who ever lived, but not because those writing it will want to be kind, but because his actions spoke louder than any words could have, and because all those who follow him will pale in comparison. Though they will try hard to be the action hero President Bush was naturally, they will fail. The policies he enacted in relation to keeping America safe from financial upheaval in the midst of the dotcom bubble bursting, 9-11 terroristic attack, corporate corruption and a DNC housing market scandal, did all they could to keep America from falling into a recession or just falling period.

I have not always agreed with his decisions, but my trust in President Bush outweighs any disagreement I might have. Anyone who knows me knows I strongly disapproved of giving money to bailout failing companies, but accepting what the President decided to do goes back to my belief in him. He is no doubt a student of history, and has done what he has done concerning our economic situation because of those historic essentials, so for me to doubt him and those around him for what they have done, would be imprudent.

Now when it comes to having faith in one appointed to lead me, I am reminded of my article ‘Obamas Content of Character’, I spoke of a man’s deeds as opposed to his words and without a doubt, Obama has the ability to (tinkle) down your back and tell you it’s raining and make many believe it. But anyone who has listened to President Bush in the past eight years knows well that he is not the great orator, but his deeds, his actions, have said plenty that anyone looking for truth without question need only take a look at what he has accomplished, as President. For eight years while there were those who spoke of how down the economy had gone and dangerous the world had become, my family and I have done all right in spite of all the afore mentioned near-disasters.

The American people, for the most part, have ignored the greatness of our President and have placed their hope in an untested man whose only claim to fame is that of a community organizer out of a city where corruption is basically expected from their leaders. I have heard of late how Obama reminds people of Abraham Lincoln, though I am not sure where they might be getting that comparison from, unless President Lincoln was a community organizer as well. However, I do not remember reading anything about that of President Lincoln’s life. Do you? However, I tell you who reminds me of President Abraham Lincoln; you guessed it, President George W. Bush.

Allow me to indulge myself for a moment and make a quick point that has little relevance to why I believe President Bush reminds me of President Lincoln, but more to the point of why I think he has been a great benefit to black Americans. In a relevant and overlooked fact, President Bush appointed the first black Secretary of State and then the first black female Secretary of State, which should have been a historical moment in American history, but went virtually unrecognized as far as its significance in the uplifting of black America or America as a whole.

Whereas Obama has been hailed as the great black hope, the grace and dignity by which Secretary Rice has conducted herself blazed a path for women and minorities that tie directly into an Obama win and President Bush’s legacy.

But, I digress.

As for President Bush and his place in history and the comparison that should be made to President Lincoln, President Bush and President Lincoln, both embarked upon an unpopular war in a divided nation; both narrowly won a second term in office and both liberated a great many people in the midst of economic amendment. Moreover, who can overlook the bête-noir (hatred) of President Bush as that of President Lincoln? After all, someone shot President Lincoln because they disliked him so much, while President Bush’s Presidency has been murdered over and over again by character assassins.

History will have no choice but to label President George W. Bush as one of our nation’s great Presidents. In a time when those who have plotted the destruction of our way of life, and have all but gained a foothold in this attempt, where aided by the American people and their mindset. Yet, in spite of all that has been said of him, in spite of all that has been done to him I am reminded of words the quiet one once spoke that matched his deeds. President Bush said on the fifth anniversary of 9/11 in his address to the nation. “Our nation has endured trials, and we face a difficult road ahead. Winning this war will require the determined effort of a unified country, and we must put aside our differences and work together to meet the test that history has given us. We will defeat our enemies. We will protect our people. And we will lead the 21^st century into a shining age of human liberty.”

            These words are the words that, to me, described what he spent his Presidency attempting to do and to reflect back on such words from someone who had done nothing more than make eloquent speeches, someone whose words were constantly framed in a pretext format where deeds were always around the next bend, such words would mean nothing. But from a President unafraid to make the hard calls needed to lead, a President unafraid of the history books, a President who finds it effortless, should the occasion call for it, laugh at himself in a lightened moment at the day-to-day rigors of the Chief Executive, those words mean everything.

            President George W. Bush is my President, and that I might have a moment in this time to witness these historic events is an honor bestowed upon me, which I do not take lightly. Here I am, an American, a black American who has witnessed a good man, become a great one. I will miss his leadership and the comfort of having him at the helm in these troubled waters and pray that those who follow him will seek his guidance as they attempt to assume his role as…

My Commander and Chief, my President of the United States.