Commencement Address Presented by Former President George H.W. Bush

May 21st, 2008

George H.W. Bush, the 41st president of the United States, received an honorary doctor of humane letters from Bryant University on Saturday, May 17. A transcript of his Commencement address follows. Video is available here.

Thank you all for that very warm Bryant welcome. The only thing wrong is I would have liked Barbara to have been here to hear that citation about me. Things would be going a lot smoother at home after 63 years of marriage. You're too kind and too generous, and I am so proud to be standing here.

I want to thank Brendan Doherty, who sang the Anthem - I didn't hear him, but they told me he did a good job; the invocation by Reverend Pescatello [the Rev. Joseph Pescatello, Bryant University Catholic chaplain]; and of course, to be introduced and be on the platform with my old friend, your president, Ron Machtley, makes me very, very happy. When I was in the White House when he was a member of the U.S. Congress, we saw a good deal of him, and I was very pleased that he and his wife, Kati, were here to greet me today, and more pleased to see what a positive impact he has had on this university.

I would like to salute the board chairman, Tom Taylor, and indeed all the trustees for their stewardship at this terrific institution, and I don't want to overlook trustee David Beirne for the marvelous - he's got a hell of an airplane, I tell you - I'm thrilled that he picked me up today at our home up the coast of Maine and will be delivering me back. That's a very generous and wonderful thing and I appreciate it.

I want to congratulate Fan Jianchuan, developer of China's largest private museum; and of course Roxanne's [Roxanne Spillett, president and CEO of Boys & Girls Clubs of America] citation said it all, but what a wonderful life she's lived. Service to others: There can be no definition of a successful life that does not include service to others, and both she and Jianchuan exemplify that.

I might add a word of thanks and praise for your teachers and administrative members in this audience who do the hard work day in and day out of making sure the students here get the best possible education. A lot of people don't know this, but some 30 years ago, for a brief period of time, I was an adjunct professor at Rice University - a wonderful school in Houston - and I said, "What does adjunct mean?" It means you don't get paid. (Some thought I was overcompensated even as it was.) But nevertheless, I was able to touch lives in that meaningful way that your professors and teaching assistants all understand - and that is giving something to someone else, giving some young person a shot at the American dream

I do have something to say for our students, but - you acknowledged the students earlier, but I didn't see the broke parents stand up. Would all the parents of these kids that are graduating please stand up? And give them a round of applause. [applause] Some of you are not parents, you just want to hear the applause. I know, but that's alright.

I know there's a little chance that anything I might possibly tell you would be recalled tomorrow. That's just the way graduation speeches are. But, still, hope springs eternal, so as I cast around for a few catchy sayings that might etch their way into your memory, I came across this little tidbit of job advice that says "Don't be irreplaceable. If you can't be replaced, you can't be promoted." Now think about that, and on that little pearl of existential wisdom there goes another one here: "If you think nobody cares if you're alive, try missing a couple of car payments." And my personal favorite, "If at first you do not succeed, then skydiving is not for you."

Still, nothing had the right inspiration, the timber of success to lead you on a life of challenge and wonder, so I searched on. What could I say to help fire you up? Always use excellence as your guide in everything you do. Make your family, faith and friends the center of your life. But also find time - make time if needed - to serve your fellow man.

And then it dawned on me that there really is nothing I can add to what you have learned and absorbed right here in countless everyday experiences at this wonderful school about the character of success.

Success of course starts with knowledge, with getting a first-class education, and you've certainly had that privilege here at Bryant. But success goes beyond knowledge and education alone. I heard a preacher recently talking about the best advice he got from his mother. Among the best advice she gave was "Get a great education and then get over it." Education is absolutely vital, but as Theodore Roosevelt once observed, "To educate a man in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to society." Here at Bryant, due to their everlasting credit, they've taught you repeatedly that character matters as much as knowledge. If you take nothing else away from my time with you today, let it be that. Character matters. No amount of fame or fortune is worth losing your very soul. Everyone wants to be the best and the brightest, but I also believe it is equally important to strive to be the kindest and gentlest people we can be, and those of us who are blessed with success and opportunity have an obligation to share those same blessings with others. After all, you can't take it with you, as the saying goes, and when your time on earth is done and your bones return to dust, no one will recall what kind of car you drove or what kind of suit you had on, but they will remember if you knew what it meant to be a true friend in good times and in bed - bad - not bed, bad. Sorry, little Freudian slip there.

I'll tell you they'll remember this, though. They'll remember if you kept your word and played by the rules and loved your family. They'll recall too if you tried to do unto others as you would have done unto you and demonstrated the kind of humility that renders one humble in times of victory and gracious in defeat. Those, dear graduates, are the making of values.

And now we're in the midst of another election year, and I used to catch heck as president when I tried to talk about values a million years ago. Maybe I was a slow learner, but I didn't stop then and I cannot stop now because these are the same timeless values that have sustained our American experience in democracy through 232 years of trial and triumph. Today our nation is starting to turn to your generation to step forward and to start helping to see our way through the next period of global challenge. Are you ready? Are you ready to build the new companies and products we need to compete with China, who are our friends, and we want to keep it that way? Are you prepared to help us keep up with rising competitors such as India? Who of you out there is going to help solve our energy challenges, or fix the health care crisis, or any of a host of other big problems that we face.

These are tough problems, but seeing all of you and feeling the pride of this day only reaffirms my optimism in our country's future. There's a lot of pessimistic talk out there, but you won't hear it from me because I happen to believe that we're the greatest, freest nation on the face of the earth, we have no apologies to be given. We can keep striving for improvement, but I want to see every single one of you contribute to the overall wellbeing of this great country.

When I was a Navy pilot back there a thousand years ago, flying in the Pacific in 1944, we had a saying that some pilots still use today called CAVU - C-A-V-U- ceiling and visibility unlimited. That applies to my life today. I've been blessed with so many challenges, failed in some, succeeded in others, but ceiling and visibility unlimited, that's the way I feel about life its own self, and that's the way I want your lives to be.

When you're a young pilot and you hit that deck ready for your mission, what you wanted to see was a cloudless sky so you could easily identify the objectives and threats in your paths. That was C-A-V-U - ceiling and visibility unlimited.

Well dear graduates, your lives' experience up to this point in time, culminating by your years here at Bryant, place you on your own flight deck with the training you need to start your mission. As you prepare to be flung off the flight deck in to the next exciting phase of your life, I can only wish you and our beloved nation C-A-V-U - ceiling and visibility unlimited. May it remain that way your whole life through.

So go out there, make us all proud, make your university proud, count your blessings because you have plenty, especially on a beautiful day like this, and go out and make a difference in this world. Good luck, God bless, and thank you again.

I brought a reminder - I don't know what you do with old trivia; I'll give it to Ron and let him figure it out. This is a plaque [he holds up a wooden plaque bearing the letters CAVU] - ceiling and visibility unlimited. May God bless each and every one of you, and thank you for the warmth of your welcome.

Keywords: Commencement