I'll give you 5.
1) Under Bush’s leadership, America has increased development and humanitarian aid to Africa from $1.4 billion in 2001 to more than $4 billion per year now. He has doubled U.S. trade with Africa, and has launched the largest siege against AIDS and malaria there ever. Even though the challenge is never-ending, more than 800,000 Africans are currently receiving anti-AIDS medication thanks to George Bush’s priorities.
2) He has increased by millions efforts to clean America’s forests to reduce the threat of wildfires, and to restore those lost or damaged. He has further enhanced his environmental legacy by designating more than 190 million square miles of ocean as national preserves, including Hawaii’s Northwestern Islands. With few exceptions, America’s air, water and land are cleaner today than at any time since our industrial revolution.
4) The President literally doubled funding for community health care centers, expanding or creating 1,300 centers across the nation.
5) Although in some ways, pre-9-11 policies of both Clinton and Bush may have made us more vulnerable, Bush’s post-9-11 anti-terror policies - for better or worse - have kept us safe from another attack.
The Department of Homeland Security, the provisions of the Patriot Act, reforming the relationships between our intelligence agencies, the handling of captured enemy combatants at Guantanamo and - yes - the war in Iraq.
Whether intended or not, the Iraq war - besides liberating Iraqis from a despot and planting the seeds of a democratic ally in the most dangerous part of the world - distracted Al Qaida from plotting more attacks on the U.S. It drew them into a losing commitment, showing their darkest side to the people of Iraq and the world.
Their power and stature have been significantly diminished. Bin Laden is withering away in a dark Wiziristan cave, emitting an occasional feeble message to his wandering followers.
Thanks, Mr. Bush, for almost everything, but especially for the simple “cowboy” determination that has kept us and our homeland safe. http://www.midweek.com/content/columns/coffeebreak_article/the_good_things_bush_did_for_us/