{"id":17742,"date":"2026-02-16T18:52:20","date_gmt":"2026-02-17T02:52:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/?p=17742"},"modified":"2026-02-16T20:46:53","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T04:46:53","slug":"issue-of-the-week-human-rights-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/?p=17742","title":{"rendered":"Issue of the Week: Human Rights"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Back to News<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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John Trumbull, General George Washington Resigning His Commission <\/em>(1824) United States Capitol<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The New York Times features an article today, on the President’s Day holiday in the U.S., about a new unique project, In Pursuit<\/em>, to honor the 250th anniversary of American independence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was launched today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To begin with, it will focus on essays on presidents of the U.S.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first, released today, is by former President George W. Bush on George Washington. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFew qualities have inspired me more than Washington\u2019s humility,\u201d former President George W. Bush writes in the essay, released as part of a new nonpartisan history project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Its non-partisan range is impressive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Starting with Bush is a masterstroke in some ways. Polarization around him went from heroic on 9\/11 to foolish at best in Iraq–yet he looks the picture of moderation today. He had already been moving in that direction before Trump, with his deep friendship with Michelle Obama; Barack Obama, running against the war, ending up agreeing with Bush on the surge in Iraq in a 2008 debate (because it was working); reassesments since that the opinions and welfare of younger Iraqis about the war were more multi-dimensional than predicted and that measuring national security strictly in Machiavelian self-interest served neither morality nor self-interest. Many mistakes were made but the whole story is a much longer and still unfolding one. Events since have gobsmacked: Recently deceased former Vice President Dick Cheney, perhaps chief promoter of Iraq intervention, came out full-throated supporting Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris against Donald Trump because of his attempts to dismantle American democracy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most recently to the point, and most impactful in the legacy of Bush, were his and Obama’s joining USAID workers on the last day of the dismantling of the agency a few months ago, in tears, saying thank you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The creation of PEPFAR (The\u00a0U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief<\/a>\u00a0is the largest commitment by any nation to address a single disease) by Bush (kept in place by Obama, Trump’s 1st administration and Biden, until gutted by Trump’s hatchet man Musk last year to save a pittance while increasing tax cuts in the trillions for himelf and fellow billionaires), in case anyone needs reminding, saved milions of lives from AIDS mainly in Africa, set the course for eliminating this plague, lifted America’s credibility throughout the continent and the world, was mainly funded through USAID, was promised to be in the main left in place after Bush pleaded for this–and wasn’t in many respects. The BBC World Service just aired the most wrenching report yet on the results, babies with lesions and skin falling off and screaming while dying who a few months before would have been treated with anti-viral drugs and saved at clinics minutes away funded by PEPFAR. Meanwhile, infections are increasing again, and back to the global march of the plague we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bush, winner of two consecutive terms of the presidency (the first contested, the second soundly) was a conservative Republican and still is, if becoming more moderate over time, who is one of many who the party of Ronald Reagan would no longer recognize, any more than Reagan would be by his own party. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The point here is not to evade the reality we are in and to set the stage for the man who released the first essay today in the In Pursuit<\/em> series.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The series features commentators to the right and the left of Bush.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The New York Times reports:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Pursuit<\/em> will\u00a0post new offerings weekly<\/a>. They will include chronological essays on each American president up to Barack Obama (and some first ladies) by a bipartisan mix of prominent public figures and scholars, including three former presidents and seven Pulitzer-winning historians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Future installments will include Mr. Obama on Abraham Lincoln, Bill Clinton on Theodore Roosevelt, the Fox News host Bret Baier on Dwight D. Eisenhower, and Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. on William Howard Taft, the only person to have served both as president and a Supreme Court justice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here’s the article, then the essay by former President George Bush on President George Washington.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From One President to Another, a Love Letter With an Edge<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

To open a series of essays about U.S. presidents, George W. Bush pays tribute to George Washington, who \u201censured America wouldn\u2019t become a monarchy, or worse.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Listen to this article\u00a0\u00b7 7:13 min\u00a0Learn more<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n