Bush keys on Africa relief
In visit, he extols U.S. funding for AIDS fight
WINDHOEK, Namibia — In a hospital waiting room, a half-dozen women infected with HIV described how they were able to deliver healthy babies because of drugs purchased with money from the United States.
One of the mothers wanted to know if she could continue to rely on U.S. compassion, a question that one visitor, former President George W. Bush, was eager to answer.
“One reason we’ve come is because we want the people in our country to understand how effective this program is,” Bush replied through a translator. “Eleven million people now live who wouldn’t have.”
As Congress heads for a showdown over funding this month, Bush was in Africa this past week to publicize a $6.8 billion assistance program that has done much to save the continent’s future.
In visits to clinics and schools in Botswana and Namibia, Bush argued that the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, which he established in 2004, should not only continue to fight the AIDS crisis in Africa but also expand to tackle the deadly and preventable epidemic of cervical cancer.
“It’s in our national interest to help these governments,” he said.
President Donald Trump’s budget, released last month, promised to preserve the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, but proposed such deep overall reductions in foreign aid that many of the program’s defenders fear for its future, particularly under an administration that has advocated an explicitly transactional approach to international affairs.
For Bush, a threat to the AIDS relief program imperils not only a population the size of Ohio’s, but also a key part of his legacy.
“What President Bush did in saving millions of lives in Africa is one of the greatest accomplishments of any American president ever,” said James Glassman, former executive director of the George W. Bush Institute. “And, in my opinion, it outweighs what many see as his deficiencies in Iraq and with the economy.”
Bush has largely kept out of the public eye since his administration ended in an economic meltdown with his approval ratings near record lows. But he has recently edged back onto the public stage, campaigning in 2015 and early 2016 for his brother Jeb Bush’s unsuccessful presidential bid and doing a round of interviews in recent weeks to promote a book of his paintings.
But even with a new book to market, Bush has stayed away from reporters. Other than in his own books, he has avoided discussing decisions he made as president, and he has never publicly expressed doubts about his decision to invade Iraq.
During his visit to Africa, Bush was a disease prevention advocate — a path worn smooth by celebrities who agree to talk about themselves with the understanding that the resulting stories will mention the malady they have chosen to fight. Bush and his wife, Laura, however, kept their distance; no news conferences or interviews were allowed. Aides were at pains to keep press contingents small, often shooing them away from the Bushes after brief photograph opportunities and remarks.
But the former president was relaxed and self-effacing. Touring Windhoek Central State Hospital, he picked up a baby, but when the infant started coughing, he rolled his eyes and said, “Oh, no,” and then quickly gave the child back to the mother.