Lest we forget: Four things that Bush did right

I sent this letter in to the Metro today; I've no idea if it will be published, so I thought I should post it on my blog for posterity.

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It's easy, in an era of sound bites, hyperbole, and hyper-partisanship, to get into a mode of all-or-nothing as we view the end of George W. Bush's presidency. Either he was among "the most abysmal failures of government" in our national history, as Elliott Kaplan claims, or he was the sole defender of American freedom in an era where we were constantly assailed from without (by terrorists) and within (by illegal immigrants).

I'd love to believe that, with the election of soon-to-be President Obama and his apparent goals of unity, openness and post-partisan thinking, we'll soon be able to take a more fair and balanced look at the world and the people around us, and be able to understand not only the weaknesses and errors but also the strengths and accomplishments of those who differ from us. In that vein, I'd like to recognize and applaud President Bush for four things I think he did very well during his time in office.

1. Women and Minorities in the Administration - Some may want to claim that Clinton was the first black president; but George W. Bush is the first president I've seen to bring significant numbers of women and minorities into high-level Cabinet and advisory positions throughout his administration. Off the top of my head, we saw both the first African-American man and the first African-American woman to serve as Secretary of State and the first Hispanic Attorney General. Much of the rest of the Cabinet was equally diverse, and many of Bush's top aides and advisors were also women. If you don't think people like Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice helped to pave the way for Barack Obama to be a viable Presidential candidate, think again.
2. President's Council on Service and Civic Participation - "In January of 2003, by Executive Order, President George W. Bush announced the formation of the President's Council on Service and Civic Participation. The Council was established to recognize the important contributions Americans of all ages are making within their communities through service and civic engagement." (http://www.usafreedomcorps.gov/council/about/index.asp) I'm the executive director of a non-profit that facilitates pro bono work by architects and other designers, and I know of this council because of the work they have done to encourage some of the largest corporations in the country across all industry sectors - including Target, UPS, Deloitte, Citi, IBM, Intel and GE - to pledge more than $100 million in pro bono service and skills-based volunteering by their employees.
3. Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives - While many people like to look down on this initiative as an inappropriate blending of church and state, I think what's not understood is that this office finally started to recognize and provide additional support for the many organizations of all creeds in our communities that were doing critical work to fill in the gaps of needs not being met by our numerous layers of government programs. Local community organizations, both faith-based and not, are often much more able to establish the direct relationships and deeper understanding of needs within their community than any public agency trying to deal with issues at the state or municipal level. Supporting such organizations and enabling them to do their work better is an exceptional idea, and more necessary than ever in such disastrous economic times.
4. Department of Energy's Solar Decathlon - In 2002, the DOE and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory held the first of their Solar Decathlon competitions, encouraging teams of architecture students from around the country to design and build attractive, energy-efficient solar powered housing. The results, displayed in a "solar village" on the National Mall every two years, attract more than 100,000 visitors for each competition to see how our next generation of designers envisions a sustainable housing future for our nation. In 2005, the program began attracting entries from architecture schools around the world, and work is in progress to bring the program to Europe in 2010.
   

I certainly don't support everything that President Bush has done, and I have high hopes that the Obama presidency will be an opportunity to deal with the terrible decision that have been made over the past 8 years in terms of our foreign policy, domestic civil liberties, and numerous other areas. But I'd like to keep the things from the last 8 years that were good - and that can't happen if we refuse to see that there was any good at all.