Even though former President Bush had not yet spoken with his son Monday afternoon, he was sure that the president would have a certain peace of mind — a quiet confidence before facing the country in a televised address last night.
“We have been blessed with a very close family, and my son gets his strength from family and his faith,” Bush said during Monday’s leadership forum at the George Bush Presidential Conference Center.
Alongside the former president, sitting on a panel discussing attributes of a successful leader and answering questions from the audience, were Diane Sawyer of ABC News, Tom Selleck, an actor and producer, Steve Lindsey, a NASA astronaut, and Steve Wynn, chairman of Wynn Resorts.
“Leadership can be put on a tripod of competence, integrity, and passion,” Sawyer said. “I am so honored anyone thinks there is such a thing as leadership in the press. It is the journalist’s job to every day be fresh, curious and faithful to fact.”
After sharing a story from her recent trip to Kuwait, Iraq and Jordan, Sawyer left the panel discussion early to return to New York, but not before leaving the full auditorium with a final thought:
“America is the only country with a national anthem that ends with a question,” Sawyer said. “Democracy is the choices we make every day.”
Selleck said public figures such as celebrities are role models whether or not they like it, so they should choose their words carefully.
“There is a problem in Hollywood with framing the war debate,” Selleck said. “Whether you agree with the president or not, the president deserves respect, which he is not getting from that community in Hollywood.”
The panelists were in agreement that change is the one constant in this world.
“Change is coming at NASA, and I feel pretty comfortable with safety,” Lindsey said. “There have have been so many successes from the space program, and small investments in space often have great results on earth.”
Before the February accident involving the space shuttle Columbia, NASA was building a space station and will continue to work on it, Lindsey said.
During a question and answer session with the audience, a 9 year-old boy who stood timidly behind his mother asked if it is OK for leaders to show that they are scared.
From an astronaut’s perspective, Lindsey said that even if you are not sure of a course, one must act like he is as a leader.
Wynn said, “There is nothing more refreshing than a leader who admits his own infallibility. Everything that I have ever learned in business came from the advice of my employees.”