George W. Bush Skipping Pasadena as Part of Distinguished Speakers Series

Former President George W. Bush will make a rare visit to the Southland this week to deliver speeches in Beverly Hills and Long Beach, two of five locations for this season’s Distinguished Speakers Series of Southern California.

Bush, the nation’s 43rd president, will speak at the Saban Theatre at 8440 Wilshire Blvd. in Beverly Hills at 7 p.m. Sunday, and at the Terrace Theater at 300 E. Ocean Blvd. in Long Beach at 8 p.m. Monday. However, he will not appear at other sites of Distinguished Speakers Series events in Pasadena, Redondo Beach and Thousand Oaks.

The series in Pasadena begins Oct. 6 with David Cameron, the United Kingdom’s youngest prime minister in two centuries. Cameron served as UK prime minister from 2010 to 2016, leading Britain’s first coalition government in nearly 70 years and, at the 2015 General Election, forming the first majority conservative government in the UK for over two decades. 

Other speakers in Pasadena include author Tara Westover (Nov. 17),  journalist and author Bob Woodward (Jan. 26), historian Douglas Brinkley (Feb. 16), comedian Jay Leno (April 13), and Nobel Laureate and education activist Malala Yousafzai (May 18).

In Pasadena, the Distinguished Speakers Series of Southern California is presented at the Ambassador Auditorium, 131 S. St. John Ave. 

For more information, visit https://www.speakersla.com/locations/pasadena/.

Sunday’s speech comes eight days after Bush made a 10-minute address at the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville, Pa., on the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, recalling the attacks, their aftermath, the military response, and the attempt by the passengers and crew to regain control of the plane from the hijackers.

“Twenty years ago, terrorists chose a random group of Americans, on a routine flight, to be collateral damage in a spectacular act of terror,” Bush said. “The 33 passengers and seven crew of Flight 93 could have been any group of citizens selected by fate. In that sense, they stood in for us all.

“The terrorists soon discovered that a random group of Americans is an exceptional group of people. Facing an impossible circumstance, they comforted their loved ones by phone, braced each other for action and defeated the designs of evil.

“These Americans were brave, strong, and united in ways that shocked the terrorists — but should not surprise any of us. This is the nation we know. And whenever we need hope and inspiration, we can look to the skies and remember.”

In his speech tonight, the former president will offer his “thoughts on eight years in the Oval Office, the challenges facing our nation in the 21st century, the power of freedom, the role of faith and other pressing issues,” according to the Distinguished Speakers Series website.

Bush was president from 2001-09, leading the nation during the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks and the nation’s response to them, including the passage of the PATRIOT Act. He also initiated the invasion and occupation of Iraq beginning in 2003 on the premise that former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein was harboring weapons of mass destruction, a claim that later proved to be false.

For tickets and other information, visit www.speakersla.com/speakers/.