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Former President George W. Bush will be in Cedar Rapids Friday. Here’s why he’s here

cigaretteman

HR King
May 29, 2001
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Former President George W. Bush will receive a humanitarian award and headline a fundraiser Friday for the Herbert Hoover Presdential Library and Museum at the DoubleTree Hotel by Hilton in downtown Cedar Rapids.


But mum is the word.


As part of an agreement with Bush’s staff, media coverage of the event is not allowed, said Brad Reiners, communications director for the Hoover Presidential Foundation.


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Ticket sales for the fundraising banquet are closed. Proceeds will go toward a $20 million capital campaign to renovate the museum, which opened in 1962.


The museum will present Bush and former first lady Laura Bush, who is not expected to attend, its first Hoover Humanitarian Award for their work in Africa.


The award was created to recognize those who have shown and provided “meritorious and altruistic support to those in need,” according to a news release from the Hoover Presidential Foundation, and is offered in the spirit of Hoover’s efforts to save millions of Western Europeans from starvation starting in 1914 during World War I. Hoover, who was elected president in 1928, is the only U.S. president born in Iowa, where he grew up in West Branch.


The former president and former first lady have worked to combat HIV/AIDS across Africa through the President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief. The effort has saved at least 18 million lives through critical care and treatment since 2003 when then-President Bush authorized it, according to the George W. Bush Presidential Center.


“It is our honor to recognize the relief and humanitarian efforts George and Laura Bush propagated throughout the world through the President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (PEPFAR), in addition to Laura’s health care initiatives for women, including breast cancer screening advocacy,” according to the Hoover Presidential Foundation’s website. “Together, their efforts to continue the humanitarian work begun at the White House, support for women’s health, serving more than 13.3 million people with lifesaving antiretroviral treatment tell an amazing story.”


The former president also will participate here in an “armchair discussion” with Margaret Hoover, the great-granddaughter of Hoover and host of “Firing Line” on PBS.

 
As someone who was about as anti-Bush as it gets….I do believe at his core he is a good person….and honestly an afternoon around a bar with him, Obama and Clinton would probably be one of the most entertaining ways on earth you could spend a day. (Yes I know W no longer drinks…but still would be so interesting to talk with)

I think he just got sort of co-opted by some folks who were a little less…altruistic…
 
Anyone else remember when he’d have been considered a Republican?
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If I got to have a beer with W I'd tell him about what I remember about 9/11 and the only thing I'd ask him is if his dad ever told him where he was and what he was doing when he found out about the JFK assassination. Always love hearing those stories.
 
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Regardless of what you think about his politics and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, one thing that most Democrats and Republicans agree on is that his work to fight HIV/AIDS in Africa was a commendable humanitarian effort.


Yep. And malaria prevention.

Small group of living men who understand what a great and shit job President really is and can compare notes.
 
Regardless of what you think about his politics and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, one thing that most Democrats and Republicans agree on is that his work to fight HIV/AIDS in Africa was a commendable humanitarian effort.
I also give him a small amount of credit for being open to environmental concerns.
 
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Never was a big fan but he has done some great things in Africa so it seems fitting.

I understand your confusion as you've only achieved being an anonymous message board's resident dumb F.

Look at you defend Bush. Wish we had your posts from the 2000s.
 
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