New Orleans – President Bush said Tuesday that he wanted to celebrate the spirit of New Orleans. He chose to do so with Leah Chase, considered this proud, still-struggling city’s Queen of Creole.
The president and his wife, Laura, dined with about two dozen others at her restaurant, Dooky Chase. Around the table with Bush, federal, state and local officials mixed with athletes, artists, developers and others.
Bush called them “quiet heroes who have helped bring optimism and hope to New Orleans” after the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina two years ago today.
The president and his wife are to spend today at a New Orleans charter school and a community center in Bay St. Louis, Miss. It is Bush’s 15th visit to the region since the storm but only his second since last year’s anniversary.
The federal government’s dismal performance in the immediate aftermath of the storm – and some residents’ lingering sense of abandonment since – severely dented Bush’s image as a take-charge leader.
So Bush and his team came here armed with a raft of facts and figures about how much his administration has done to fulfill his promise to “do what it takes” to rebuild New Orleans.
“The president continues to follow through on his commitment to help local citizens rebuild their lives,” said Bush spokesman Scott Stanzel.
