Who knew that leaving the U.S. presidency could be so liberating? Actually, probably all presidents knew that, though one in particular may beg to differ. But that’s another story.
Many tend to retreat to where they’re most comfortable — Jimmy Carter to the home he’s owned in Georgia for more than six decades with his wife, Barack Obama to Chicago, though he maintains a posh pad in Washington, D.C., and Donald Trump to his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
Former President George W. Bush is no exception, returning to his Texas ranch after his second term ended in 2009.
“It takes a lot to get me back to Washington,” he said at the Dec. 2 U.S. Global Leadership Coalition Tribute Dinner held at the Ritz-Carlton.
It wasn’t a fancy hotel that enticed him back, but rather the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, the landmark global health initiative Bush helped to establish in 2003.
At its annual dinner, USGLC paid tribute to Bush, who gave a wide-ranging talk on PEPFAR, the future of U.S. foreign policy, and his own legacy.
Of course, it’s difficult to talk about that legacy without mentioning what tarnished it: the Iraq War, which killed hundreds of thousands of people and cost trillions of dollars.
PEPFAR is in many ways the antithesis to Iraq, having saved millions of lives. The over $100 billion that the U.S. has invested in the program so far — the largest commitment by any nation to address a single disease in history — marked a fundamental shift in how the world looked at the HIV/AIDS crisis.
It’s for that reason why Bush, who probably would not have received such a warm welcome at the height of the Iraq debacle, received a standing ovation among the hundreds of guests.
And he delighted the crowd with a mix of folksy candor and solemn reflections that broke the monotony of the typically staged award presentations of Washington, D.C.
Here are a few highlights of his speech:
On how PEPFAR came about:
[Former National Security Advisor] Condoleezza Rice tells me that there is a pandemic, destroying an entire generation on the continent of Africa. When you’re the president, there’s a lot of hyperbole. You know, in order to get something done, people exaggerate. I said prove it. And she did. She brought in the experts and sure enough, I had a campaign that we’re all God’s children. And the fact that an entire generation was being wiped out, broke my heart … and so, I said let’s do something about it.
On why he didn’t brief the U.S. Congress initially:
I didn’t want to spring it on the Congress because I didn’t want people to say it’s better to spend money on bridges … or highways in my district. I wanted people to focus on the task at hand. And then I didn’t want to get into the debate — do we use condoms or abstinence? I was just interested in solving the problem.
On why U.S. taxpayers should care about PEPFAR and helping people overseas:
The answer is, what’s the role of a great country in the world? Is it to look inward? Is it to think about how to solve big problems? People here at this table right here and elsewhere, we all decided to work together to solve big problems. And that’s uniquely American. I gotta get to my point here. I’m 76 years old. I tend to ramble. … I’m here to say as loud and clear as I can: Congress must fund PEPFAR. It [produces] verifiable results and few government programs can’t say that.
On how 80% of the members of Congress present for PEPFAR’s creation are no longer in office:
Hell, 80% of Congress has never heard of me.
On what to tell new members wondering why Africa and PEPFAR reauthorization matter:
Well, if you care about human life, it matters. This is a life issue. Every life is precious, whether they live in Texas or in Africa, and you can tell those new congressmen, to whom much is given, much is required.
On painting:
I read Winston Churchill’s essay “Painting as a Pastime” — I strongly recommend it — and I went and got home to Laura and told her if Churchill can paint, I can paint. That sounds cocky, doesn’t it? You gotta be pretty cocky to run for president. Anyway, so I got painting and it’s changed my life. Yeah, I love to paint [but] don’t ever paint your wife.
On helping Ukraine:
So, Americans are hurting at home, but not nearly as much as Ukrainians are hurting in their home. And this is the fundamental question. This is the question of PEPFAR. It’s the question that confronts every administration in every Congress on a regular basis: Do we care about the human condition elsewhere? On 9/11, we learned that the human condition elsewhere can jeopardize the security of the United States, and therefore the isolationist tendencies have got huge national security implications at home.
Meanwhile, on the subject of Ukraine — and foreign aid in general — Senate minority leader Sen. Mitch McConnell, a Republican from Kentucky, another honoree, took a clear jab at the “America first” mentality of the Republican Party’s de facto leader, Donald Trump.
“History has proven over and over again that America does well when America does good. Here’s a shining example of it: 11 of our top 15 trading partners were once recipients of U.S. foreign assistance,” McConnell said.
“Yet there is growing resistance from some parts of the political right to foreign assistance, despite the fact that such programs do not just represent powerful philanthropy, but dramatically expand our strategic influence and advance our core interests — really at bargain rates,” he added.
On providing financial aid to Ukraine, McConnell said it “is not just some altruistic project. This passes every cold, hard, realistic calculation with flying colors.”
There’s probably not much McConnell and USAID Administrator Samantha Power — also featured at the dinner — have in common, but their full-throated support for Ukraine is a rare area of convergence. Power also seemed to take a page out of Bush’s blunt style while rattling off examples of U.S. compassion abroad when she declared, “We’re kick-ass.” That’s one way to wake up the crowd after a long night of speeches.