W: The President and Unsung Hero

I found this excerpt from an article and I thought it was pretty interesting. With everybody dogging Bush these days and all of the horrible opinions people have about Bush, you rarely hear anything about the positive things he did. I appreciate especially what is talked about in this article. He may not have done everything right economically and what not, but as far as this article is concerned, he is a hero in my book. He's got my respect.

Recently, I was reminded of one of the most significant untold stories of our generation, and it happens to center on our outgoing president.

December 1, 2008, marked the 20th anniversary of World AIDS Day. To commemorate it, Pastor Rick Warren hosted a Saddleback Civil Forum on Global Health in Washington D.C., gathering non-profit and faith leaders in the fight against AIDS. The guest of honor was President Bush, to whom Warren presented the International Medal of PEACE from the Global PEACE Coalition in recognition of his contribution to the fight against HIV/AIDS and other diseases.

“No man in history, no world leader, has done more for global health than George W. Bush,” Warren said when giving him the award.

For many people, that’s not what first comes to mind whey they think about President Bush’s administration, but the long-term ramifications of his global health efforts cannot be understated.

It was at the 2003 State of the Union address that Bush announced the formation of thePresident’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). At the time, only 50,000 people living with AIDS in Africa were able to receive anti-retroviral (ARV) drugs. PEPFAR’s ambitious goal was to increase that number to 2 million in five years - a milestone that they’ve actually now surpassed.

Those people getting treatment and education have actually led to another 8 million people not contracting the disease who otherwise would have. Ten million lives saved. And of those 4 million are orphans, the majority of whom where orphaned because both parents died of AIDS.

As we look at these closing weeks of the Bush administration, it’s easy to see the challenges our country is facing and forget monumental, positive initiatives like PEPFAR. I want to publicly applaud President Bush for taking a stand when others hadn’t, and doing so without the motive of political benefit. He has stood up for those who have no voice, and he did so because it was the right thing to do.