Now that George W. Bush has left office, history can officially begin its work of judging his presidency. Whatever the final word, it cannot be denied that he did some good things, that he left a positive impact in certain areas. For all the charges leveled at Bush as a "murderer" for leading America into war in Iraq, little attention has been given to the lives he has helped save through aid to Africans with HIV/AIDS and malaria.
With regard to AIDS, Bush's PEPFAR (President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief) program has introduced some 2 million people to life-saving antiretroviral (ARV) drugs. Having worked with one of the organizations on the receiving end of this initiave (Living Hope, http://www.livinghope.co.za/), I've seen first-hand the good that is being done to restore health and rebuild lives in Africa. Millions of Americans may have said "good riddance" when Bush returned to Texas yesterday, but I met a lot of Africans in the healthcare arena who aren't so sure about that.
This past December 1, Bush was interviewed by Pastor Rick Warren at a World AIDS Day forum in Washington, D.C. The discussion revealed some things that weren't always reported in the mainstream media, and certainly not focused on by the Bush-haters. Here's a link to highlights of the interview:
http://relevantmagazine.com/releblog/cameronsqa/president-bushs-unexpected-legacy/
1 comment:
Presidents and artists: sometimes you don't appreciate either until they are gone and/or dead. Good article: we should be fair in our assessment and look further than just the downturn in the economy. Clinton got the credit for a good economic environment he never created. Bush will get the blame for this one, but oh well.
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