Up Close and Personal with the President

On April 10, President George W. Bush marked the third anniversary of the fall of Baghdad by speaking at the Johns Hopkins Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies. During the days before, SAIS staff worked around the clock to meet all the logistic and security requirements necessary to host their special guest. SAIS students entered a random ticket lottery to attend the event, and a number of them signed a memo to the president that both welcomed him to SAIS and respectfully criticized his foreign policy in several areas.

"The president responded to the keen student interest by offering short prepared remarks about the global war on terror and then engaging them for more than 50 minutes in a 'seminar' of questions and answers that covered the waterfront of SAIS studies," SAIS Dean Jessica A. Einhorn says, "including the development of nuclear weapons in Iran, human trafficking, foreign aid, and leadership in the Middle East."

"As young policymakers," Bush said toward the conclusion of the dialogue, "you need to seriously consider whether or not this country of ours is going to be confident enough to continue to lead." — Felisa Neuringer Klubes

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