Author Says Despite Critics, Bush Will Be Guided by Faith
by Allie Martin and Jenni Parker
August 4, 2004
(AgapePress) - A former correspondent for Time magazine says President George W. Bush is not stressed out about the upcoming election.In researching his latest book, A Man of Faith: The Spiritual Journey of George W. Bush (W Publishing Group, 2004), David Aikman was granted access to some of the president's closest friends. The former magazine journalist, who covered events in Russia, Eastern Europe, China, and the Middle East during his years with Time, gathered much of the material for his book on Bush by talking with people who knew and worked closely with him, including Commerce Secretary Don Evans, Advisor Karen Hughes, and some of the president's former pastors.
The Christian author says from those conversations it is clear that the president's faith in God provides him with peace about the upcoming election. "Here is a president who I think, perhaps more than any recent inhabitant of the White House, is comfortable with whatever Providence brings him," Aikman says, "whether it's re-election or defeat, he really is comfortable in his skin with what the Almighty has in store for him."
And although George W. Bush is often blasted by liberals for "wearing his religion on his sleeve," the author of his spiritual biography says Bush is not alone when it comes to his outspoken views. Aikman notes that the history of America's chief executive office has always had a concurrent tradition of faith running through it. He points out that, since the time of George Washington, U.S. presidents have been "either men of faith or men who strongly supported faith."
Of George W. Bush, the author adds, "the sense that we are a nation accountable to the Almighty is strong throughout the history of the American presidency -- and I think this president is very conscious of that."
Many church and community groups whose efforts have benefited from the Bush Administration's support for faith-based initiatives would tend to agree, perhaps especially after the president's August 3 announcement of nearly $43 million in grants to be provided to help grass-roots, faith, and community-based organizations increase their effectiveness in serving the needy.
New Grants for Faith-Based and Community-Based Initiatives
The federal funding will be come from the Compassion Capital Fund, which is in its third year of existence. Tommy G. Thompson, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), says the grants will continue the administration's goal of putting compassion into action by "further empowering organizations to perform works of mercy in their neighborhoods."
Yesterday's announcement consists of two sets of grants. Part of the first set, which totals $38 million, will go toward second- and third-year continuation awards from the Compassion Capital Fund Demonstration Program. The remaining grant funds in that set will be distributed among several intermediary organizations, including the Governor's Office for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives in Ohio, the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma, the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty in New York, and Mission West Virginia, Inc.
The second set of grants, which comes under the Compassion Capital Fund Targeted Capacity Building Program, totals $4.9 million. These will go to 100 organizations that work on priority issues such as homelessness, healthy marriages, at-risk youth, and services to needy people in rural communities. Some of the recipients include Prevent Child Abuse in Minnesota, EnFamilia in Florida, Lutheran Social Services of South Dakota, and Hope Partnership for Education in Pennsylvania.
Dr. Wade F. Horn, HHS assistant secretary for children and families, says these newly announced grants will equip what President Bush calls the "armies of compassion" with the means to help the poor, the hungry, the homeless, the addicted, and others in need in their areas.
"Faith-based and community-based groups know the problems and solutions in their neighborhoods," Horn says. "Now they will have more resources with which to improve the lives of children and families around the country."
