Happy birthday, Mr. President!
TIM SLOAN/AFP/Getty Images I just realized that today, July 6, is the 61st birthday of U.S. President George W. Bush. Passport is usually pretty critical of the Prez. So for a change of pace and out of respect for the man’s special day, here are the top ten things Bush and his team have gotten ...
TIM SLOAN/AFP/Getty Images
I just realized that today, July 6, is the 61st birthday of U.S. President George W. Bush.
Passport is usually pretty critical of the Prez. So for a change of pace and out of respect for the man’s special day, here are the top ten things Bush and his team have gotten right during his time in office. No wisecracks, I promise:
- Boosting aid to Africa threefold
- Preventing a nuclear war between India and Pakistan
- Taking down the A.Q. Khan nuclear proliferation network
- Getting Libya to give up its weapons of mass destruction programs and renounce terrorism
- Turning independent-minded India into a strategic ally
- After a rough start, sticking to a pragmatic China policy
- Getting North Korea to shut down its nuclear reactor … eventually
- Decapitating some two thirds of al Qaeda’s top leadership and not having a second 9/11
- Giving immigration reform the old college try
- Challenging his party over harmful agricultural subsidies while pushing free trade
And amid all this as well as the stress of his failures, he’s stayed physically fit.
Are there any significant achievements that you think should be on this list? Email Passport with your suggestions, and we’ll post the best ones.
Blake Hounshell is a former managing editor of Foreign Policy.
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