Former President George W. Bush will discuss his time in the Oval Office and the challenges facing the United States, this fall when he visits Lehigh University.<\/p>\n
The university announced that Bush will open its 2026-27 Compelling Perspectives series<\/a> Oct. 29. The 43rd president will be joined by Lehigh President Joseph Helble.<\/p>\n \u201cUniversities have a unique responsibility to foster thoughtful dialogue, intellectual curiosity and respectful engagement,\u201d Helble said. \u201cWe are honored to welcome President Bush to our campus for a conversation about the state of American democracy, the enduring value of civil discourse and the importance of renewing a spirit of national unity.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Compelling Perspectives program aims to bring our community together to listen, question and learn from one another as part of our commitment to the open exchange of ideas that lies at the heart of higher education,\u201d Helble said.<\/p>\n Bush was president 2001-2009. He is known for creating the No Child Left Behind Act, modernizing Medicare, responding to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, and launching HIV\/AIDS and malaria initiatives worldwide.<\/p>\n After leaving the White House, he founded the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas with former first lady Laura Bush. It is a nonpartisan organization advancing the values he exercised in office.<\/p>\n The university said this year\u2019s Compelling Perspectives program will examine how leaders, institutions and communities can strengthen democracy by fostering civic responsibility, engaging across differences and working toward the common good.<\/p>\n \u201cAs our nation commemorates America250 and feels increasingly polarized, Lehigh is creating opportunities for meaningful dialogue, encouraging people to engage with diverse perspectives through intellectual rigor, mutual respect and civil discourse,\u201d the university said. \u201cThis topic will explore how stronger relationships and deeper understanding help us navigate complexity and build a more connected future.\u201d<\/p>\n Advance registration is required to attend the program. Registration will open at 11 a.m. Sept. 2. Tickets are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Students may register at lehigh.events.alumniq.com\/go\/cpfall26_students<\/a>. Faculty, staff, alumni and friends of the Lehigh community may register at lehigh.events.alumniq.com\/go\/cpfall26_alum<\/a>.<\/p>\n Bush\u2019s appearance will be closed to the media.<\/p>\n The Compelling Perspectives series, launched by Lehigh in 2023, has included such guests as U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick<\/a>, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak<\/a>, former British Prime Minister Theresa May<\/a>, and journalists Katie Couric<\/a> and Marty Baron<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former President George W. Bush will discuss his time in the Oval Office and the challenges facing the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":270223,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[153,155,154,1391,2376,227,156,182,139,434,28,50,432],"class_list":["post-270234","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem-headlines","tag-bethlehem-news","tag-bethlehem-area","tag-breaking-news","tag-education","tag-lehigh-university","tag-local-news","tag-news","tag-northampton-county","tag-pennsylvania","tag-politics","tag-top-stories-tmc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270234","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=270234"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270234\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/270223"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=270234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=270234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=270234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}