A Beneficial Event, by George

Former President George Bush and his national security advisor, Gen. Brent Scowcroft, were given the Victory of Freedom Award during a $500-ticket black-tie gala Tuesday at the Richard Nixon Library & Birthplace in Yorba Linda.

Honored for their statesmanship, Bush and Scowcroft joined with more than 500 guests--including Julie Nixon Eisenhower and dinner chairmen George Argyros and Larry Higby--to raise $250,000 for the library’s foundation.

Argyros, the library board chairman, introduced Bush as the “architect of Desert Storm” and “the liberator of Kuwait.”

“You proved what the greatest nation on Earth can do as long as it has the right kind of leadership,” Argyros said.

Eisenhower, a foundation trustee, presented the award to Bush and Scowcroft, saying there will be “just a handful of legendary foreign policy teams who will be recognized as greats in the 20th century. Nixon and Kissinger will be there, and so will Bush and Scowcroft.”

Bush shared his vision of America’s place in the world: “America is the only superpower, and I believe we will accept our mandate of responsibility, our duty, our destiny, to lead. U.S. leadership is, and will remain, indispensable to a world where the force of law outlasts the use of force.”

Above all, Bush said, “we must accept the reality in forging the post-Cold War world, that there is no substitute for credible, effective American leadership.”

Guests included pianist Roger Williams, who saluted Bush with a rendition of “The Yellow Rose of Texas”; John Taylor, executive director of the foundation; Arnold Beckman; Judie Argyros; Dee Higby; Dorothy and Donald Bendetti; Virginia and Paul Bender; Stacey and Henry Nicholas; Joyce and Tom Tucker; Patti and Jimmy Connors (who brought their good friend actress Bo Derek); Barbara and Mark Johnson; Gail and Roger Kirwan; Phyllis and Michael Hennigan; and Maralou and Jerry Harrington.