Although he catches a lot of flak for numerous things like speech errors, whether or not he made the right choices while in office, or any other object of anger or disapproval, I love George. I am not versed enough on his political choices to make a well educated judgement of him as a politician, although my uneducated one is positive. Politics aside, I really think he is a great guy. He's the kind of guy that would whip you up one side of the street and down the other, but would hug you when you're at your worst. He isn't afraid to stand for what's right and most of the time is a great orator, delivering his unwavering opinion. Overall, he is just a cool guy to me. Some are serious, and some funny; these are a few reasons I love George W. Bush:
He has always shown extreme reverence for our military.
Of course each POTUS thanks soldiers, shakes hands and exchanges pleasantries in front of cameras. Bush does way more than this. There exists a picture that I cannot help but tear up at every time.
He also hosts an annual Warrior Open for men and women that have been injured in combat. According to his website, "The event honors U.S. service members who serve and sacrifice to defend the United States of America and heralds the many effective organizations that give their time, talents and resources to support the men and women of our military and their families... Veterans do not accidentally turn to golf. The game often becomes a way to help them recover from the physical and mental traumas they experienced on the battlefield."
He even spent his 70th birthday biking on his beloved Prairie Chapel Ranch outside of Waco, Texas, with wounded vets. I love that he can celebrate his birthday with the people that help him have the freedom to do what he wants on his birthday.
Heck, he might even give you a chest bump in uniform. That's pretty dope.
He's a man's man.
Bush was known to spend his vacations in office working on his ranch. Instead of laying around and having some scotch like other presidents may have, he chooses to clear brush. I'm sorry, Mr. Obama, but I would respect you a lot more if you could work your tail off like a lot of us normal Americans do. Here he is sporting his best Stetson and cowboy boots.
He also looks like he could've been the model for Marlboro cigarettes in the '90s in this great picture.
Some of his speeches give great comic relief.
When it came time to pick my senior quote to put in the yearbook in high school, I thought of all of the wisest people to have walked the earth. Shakespeare, MLK Jr., Abraham Lincoln and Aristotle all came to mind. that was until I found this gem of a quote from Bush that comes from a speech he delivered in Arkansas in 2000.
"They misunderestimated me."
Ya know, George, I feel the same. I was often misunderestimated in high school. This is just one of many pronunciation blunders he had while in office. He was a good politician, but not the greatest at not making blunders.
He owned the Texas Rangers for a period of time.
What screams being an American more than the national pastime, baseball? From 1989 to 1998, Bush was the head of the ownership group of his beloved Rangers. He even looks like he could've smacked a few dingers in his day.
He's compassionate.
As serious as this is, I am going to use a more silly example. Of course his compassion for underprivileged children and veterans is the real reason why I say this, but there exists a story that is much funnier for the sake of this article. Anyone who watches football remembers the 2013 Iron Bowl, where Alabama was defeated by Auburn returning a shanked field goal for a touchdown as time expired. Bush sent an encouraging letter to the Alabama kicker who lost the game for them. As silly as it may sound, I am sure that this very small gesture meant more to that college kid than anything had in his life at that point. It's just a game, but classy move by Bush.
Although this list was mostly funny, my respect for GW is real. I tip my hat to you, George. You're a great man and a good one to look up to.
