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In early 2001, George W. Bush, as the 43rd President of the United States, had his first encounter with top world leaders such as Tony Blair, then British prime minister. The political climate was chilly in the White House that day. In an awkward attempt at humor, President Bush said that the one thing the two had in common was Colgate toothpaste.

Later that year, following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, both leaders would discover that Christian values, not a consumer product, was what they most deeply shared. In the intervening years, both men drew on their Christian convictions to respond to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the HIV/AIDS pandemic, and many other challenges.

Following the presidential election of Barack Obama, Christianity Today spoke with Blair and dozens of other leaders to assess the Bush presidency. We wanted to examine his legacy in four areas of particular concern to evangelicals: health-based foreign aid, domestic faith-based initiatives, judicial appointments, and the war in Iraq.

Several themes popped up consistently in our interviews: faith, freedom, values, and engagement. In the month after 9/11, Blair delivered a major speech to Labor Party leaders in which he invoked the biblical mandate to care for the oppressed: "The starving, the wretched, the dispossessed, the ignorant, those living in want and squalor, from the deserts of northern Africa to the slums of Gaza, to the mountain ranges of Afghanistan: they too are our cause." Blair called on the Western powers to steer the world toward democracy and compassionate concern.

Critics mocked Blair as "Bush's poodle." But Blair told CT that he has always considered his and Bush's views on the role of faith in foreign policy to be "essentially the same approach."

"It is important that you follow through on the values you have," says Blair. "Spiritual capital is an important part of building human capital and a deep, thriving global system."

From the beginning, Bush faced the tough question of how to explain his values-based presidency to a skeptical global audience. Bush intimate Don Evans, who served as his Secretary of Commerce, says the President emphasized the dignity of all persons and their right to freedom from dictatorship, disease, and hunger, along with highlighting the Golden Rule. Some staff labeled it "foreign policy moralism." Bush once described what he wanted to accomplish this way: "to make the world not just safer, but better."

Bush's focus on international problems gained support from partners like Blair and others. Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin paid respect to it, as did leaders in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. In helping the sick, suffering, and poor, Bush focused on a short list: HIV, malaria, tuberculosis, and drug addiction. He emphasized measurable results, new partnerships, and financial support.

During his eight years in office, however, Bush's missteps in the global war on terrorism, the confusion following Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, and the collapsing national economy caused public confidence in the President to plummet. Bush left office in January with one of the lowest levels of public satisfaction since the Watergate era.

The criticism has been plentiful and, according to many evangelicals, deserved. But many also see Bush's positive accomplishments.

On December 1, World aids Day 2008, 400 leaders gathered at the Newseum, the museum of American journalism near the White House. Saddleback Church pastor Rick Warren awarded Bush the International Medal of PEACE, a new award from Warren's Global peace Coalition that recognizes outstanding personal effort in fighting spiritual emptiness, corruption, extreme poverty, pandemic diseases, and illiteracy.

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February 2009, Vol. 53, No. 2

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