Join the Bush Center in resolving to practice civility in 2024

A Note from Ken Hersh, President and CEO of the George W. Bush Presidential Center

Dear John,

The United States has long been the beacon of the free world during difficult times, and U.S. leadership is needed more than ever right now.

Our established institutions are being tested, impacting both domestic and global politics and our economy. New technology poses uniquely 21st century challenges, as does an evolving coalition of adversaries including Russia, Iran, North Korea, and a complicit China.

Ensuring the future success of the great American experiment requires us to consider some serious questions: Will isolationism or globalism win? Will there be a rules-based order, or will it be everyone for themselves? And will freedom and democracy flourish or not? Obviously, if these questions are answered in ways that tear down the foundations of the global order, the future will be rocky at best.

At the George W. Bush Presidential Center, we believe that our future can be shaped by pursuing the values of freedom, opportunity, accountability, and compassion. Doing so will enable us to reinforce the institutions that the world needs to flourish. But making sure we have the tools to tackle the coming challenges starts at home.

Our democracy can thrive, but we need to guard it, invest in it, protect it. When people are free, societies thrive. To that end, the George W. Bush Institute is working tirelessly to ensure opportunity for all, strengthen democracy, and advance free societies.

President Bush said in his first inaugural address that we are “citizens, not spectators.” And it’s time to act.

We must shift our national mindset by recommitting to civility and trust. Only then can we rebuild our common humanity, tackle the challenges before us, and achieve our goals. We must look for solutions that balance competing priorities – and do so by looking for the and not the or when confronting challenges.

We can disagree with our fellow citizens with respect and do so without challenging their patriotism or belittling their humanity. Our Presidential Leadership Scholars show us how this can be done, meeting initially as strangers of different political stripes and ideologies but coming together to form a cohesive whole, as 2020 Presidential Leadership Scholar Michael Cooper wrote ([link removed]) recently.

As we work to rebuild trust at home, we must remain engaged globally to keep our economy strong and be a champion for lovers of freedom around the world. We can find resolutions to problems while staying true to our guiding principles.

We can diversify our supply chains, maintain our strength, press on human rights, and continue to trade with China in markets that are open to us and them. We can enjoy the benefits of technological advances and regulate them sensibly to avoid runaway AI issues. We can adapt our institutions to the speed with which the world is changing and preserve our fundamental values of checks and balances.

We can denounce the heinous attack on Israel by Hamas terrorists who use innocents as human shields and differentiate them from Palestinians who want a better future for themselves and their children.

We need to avoid overinflating every risk to our nation as existential. Instead, think about each as an opportunity to understand and commit to the pluralism that has made our country thrive, something we explored this year in our series, The Pluralism Challenge ([link removed]) .

Our government draws its authority from the “consent of the governed.” That means it’s our job as Americans to insist that our leaders favor tolerance instead of discrimination, unity instead of division, accountability instead of deception, decency instead of corruption, and give instead of take. This year, the Bush Center led 12 other presidential foundations and centers across the United States in recommitting to the founding principles of our nation, reminding us ([link removed]) that “democracy holds us together.”

Approaching the world with an open hand and an open mind instead of a clenched fist produces communication, cooperation, and compromise and has enormous benefits – to mental health, to relationships, to finding solutions. The President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR ([link removed]) ) is a reminder of the goodness of our country and what can happen when we don’t let hopelessness reign.

Our great nation has significant challenges ahead – as the speed of change and forces pulling us apart may appear stronger than those connecting us. However, we remain optimistic at the Bush Center.

While the mechanics of our lives may work to separate us, the principles by which we lead our lives actually connect us more than we think. So, ask yourself: Am I doing my part to increase trust?

President Bush made that challenge personal in his first inaugural when he said, “We must live up to the calling we share. Civility is not a tactic or a sentiment. It is the determined choice of trust over cynicism, of community over chaos.”

I, too, choose community over chaos. At the Bush Center, we are committed to this call for civility as we work on finding solutions to today’s most pressing challenges.

Your support demonstrates that you share this commitment. Thank you for your investment and generosity.

All the best,

Ken Hersh
President and CEO, George W. Bush Presidential Center




About the George W. Bush Presidential Center

Located on the SMU campus in Dallas, Texas, the George W. Bush Presidential Center is a nonpartisan institution advancing the timeless values of freedom, opportunity, accountability, and compassion. The Bush Center comprises the George W. Bush Presidential Museum and the George W. Bush Institute, a solution-oriented policy organization focused on ensuring opportunity for all, strengthening democracy, and advancing free societies through policy solutions and public engagement. The Bush Center also houses the George W. Bush Presidential Library, operated by the National Archives and Records Administration, which provides access to official documents and artifacts from the George W. Bush Administration. Learn more about the Bush Center at www.bushcenter.org

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