President Bush checked another item off his list of “lasts” today, delivering his final commencement address as the 43rd president in an appearance at Texas A&M University at College Station.
Mr. Bush’s 20-minute speech was a stark contrast to one he gave this week to cadets at West Point, in which he defended his policy of pre-emptive military action. This morning, he offered mostly jokes and advice, urging graduates to consider public service and commiserating with the 3,700 graduates who are entering a shaky job market.
“To those of you who have jobs lined up, congratulations. To those of you who aren’t exactly sure what comes next, I know how you feel,” he said, just a month before he will end his eight years in the White House.
The speech was the president’s 23rd commencement address, and he was introduced by his mother and father. Texas A&M’s president, Elsa A. Murano, who also spoke, ended the proceedings with a less-than-subtle fund-raising hint.
“By the way, Mr. President, we still have that plot of land by your father’s library,” she said, referring to the 41st president’s museum and library on the university’s campus. The younger Mr. Bush’s presidential library and museum will be housed at Southern Methodist University. —Reeves Wiedeman
