"When President Bush and Laura came out to speak for a few minutes at the dinner, it only took about thirty seconds of his genuine, no-nonsense but joyful delivery for me to realize how much I miss him being my president and how much I truly detest the pompous, scripted, fake personality that occupies the office currently (but I digress)."

The official dedication of the library on Thursday morning included all five living American Presidents on stage and speaking. Presidents Carter and Clinton were as self-absorbed as ever and could only bring themselves to compliment the Bushes through thinly veiled attempts to sing their own personal praises and warped sense of accomplishment.

President Obama was as arrogant and “above it all” as ever and even had the audacity (of hope?) to campaign for his legislative agenda since Speaker Boehner and several Members of Congress were in attendance. It was embarrassingly classless

Then the cowboy from Midland took to the podium as we gave him a standing ovation. His words are going to become standard operating teaching material for me at Patriot Academy when I’m training future leaders.

“The purpose of public office is not to fulfill personal ambition. Elected officials must serve a cause greater than themselves. The political winds blow left and right. Polls rise and fall. Supporters come and go. But in the end, leaders are defined by the convictions they hold.”

What a contrast to the previous speakers (other than the 26 seconds from his Father). It reminded me of how President Bush always bragged on the military men and women on the ground and never once took personal credit for their success, while Obama starts every statement about military action or crisis response with “I ordered” or “I decided” or “Because I have determined.”

At the end of President Bush’s speech, his genuine gratitude for the opportunity to serve his fellow man was revealed, not through his words as much as through the emotion he could not contain. This was not the fake humility of Clinton or Obama’s dramatic wiping of a tear that did not even exist.