As the nation celebrates the historic inauguration of President Barack Obama and looks forward to what is hoped to be an administration of positive progress for America it is easy to allow the past eight years to fade from recent memory. All the same it is America’s responsibility to remember and respect the presidency of George W. Bush. He may not be our president anymore and he may not be history’s favorite American leader but Bush should be a recipient of esteem and gratitude as a virtue of the time and role in which he served the American people. All the well-deserved fanfare of President Obama’s election has somewhat overshadowed the last months of Bush’s term in office and the American people are already looking forward to the next four years with little to no regard for the past eight. What might be worse than forgetting the Bush administration though is discounting the progress that had been made during former President Bush’s time in office. We cannot compare his past as president with the bright future of Obama’s administration. Not only is ignoring the high points of Bush’s terms of office ignorant and unfair it is disrespectful to the institution of the presidency. His policies may not all have been the most popular or particularly wise in the long run but they were made by a man that the American electorate voted into office. We trusted him with the fate of our nation. Because of the loftiness of that goal Bush deserves our respect. To his credit Bush’s two terms landed during times of incredible international and domestic difficulty. Within his first 10 months in the White House America suffered one of the greatest attacks on its national security in its history. During his past 10 months the nation has witnessed a particularly harsh cyclical economic downturn. In between Bush faced the difficulties of two wars in the Middle East Sudanese genocide Hurricane Katrina and a world climate in crisis. To borrow from his own rhetoric these quandaries forced former President Bush to make some “tough decisions.” However the adversity he faced in leading the nation through these issues does not excuse the fact that some of his decisions were the wrong ones. Any president would have found difficulty in negotiating these issues and it is necessary to take them into consideration when looking back on the Bush White House. Placing these difficulties aside former President Bush played a unique and singularly difficult role for our nation. The president of the United States truly is the essential leader of the free world and it is not a task that Bush or any other president takes lightly. When he was voted into office he joined the ranks of a select few men who were elected as worthy leaders of the United States. The dignified and demanding nature of that position calls for appreciation. Bush’s low approval ratings and his trouble with the media did not prevent him from making progress with the United Nations in the battle against genocide and AIDS from improving ties with increasingly powerful India and maintaining positive relations with Israel. In these respects President Bush was a credit to America’s domestic and foreign policy. If nothing else this time of transition between presidents should be viewed as one of the virtues of American democracy. Bush’s peaceful passing of the presidential torch to Obama signifies the 44th transition of power from one administration to another. This is a time to celebrate the democratic institution of the presidency – an institution of which George W. Bush has been a part since 2000. He contributed to the democratic process in which we all participate and we owe him our thanks. Former President Bush was the figurehead of the nation for nearly a decade – a decade in which iGeneration grew up and found its political bearings. We may not agree with the policies of Bush’s administration or identify with his social or economic visions for America but we should certainly appreciate the effort he put forth and the sacrifices he made for the country’s sake. Looking back on Bush’s presidency with gratitude will deliver him the respect he deserves regardless of one’s personal opinion and it will be a credit to American democracy.