W.

  President George W. Bush was coming to Greenville in 2008 to speak at the Furman graduation.  There was a lot of hype over his visit, as well as protests.  Many students and faculty didn't want him to come.  Furman was a rather liberal school.  Since I had seen every President in my lifetime, except for JFK, I thought it would be perfect opportunity to continue my streak.

 The route was supposed to be secret.  He was either going to go by helicopter from the airport to Furman, or he was going to go by motorcade through downtown.  At the last minute, it was announced that it was going to be the motorcade.  I drove down to a corner near Furman to get my best look.  I found a group of spectators there with signs welcoming the President to Greenville.  I had heard that there would be a lot of protestors along the route, but this group was the only one with positive signs towards the President. They had been interviewed on TV as the only pro-Bush folks on the route.  I decided to hang out with them.

 There was a woman in the group whose husband was a police officer.  She was getting calls from him as to where the motorcade was.  There was also an officer with our group, and we could hear calls on his radio.  It was the group's goal to have him wave at us. We had heard that they were going 70mph through town.  The car would have to slow down at the intersection, because there was a dip in the road.

 We heard the sirens off in the distance.  Everyone got ready with their signs that greeted President Bush.  The motorcycles approached.  Then, the police cars came by.  Then, the two limos came toward the intersection.  The President would be in the second one.  They weren't slowing down.  We were waving.  We were waving our signs.  They weren't slowing down.  They took the dip in the road at 70mph.  Like a flash, they were gone.  I did get to see the President in his car for a split second.  He didn't wave at us. The group was disappointed.  If you blinked, you would have missed seeing him.

 They arrived at Furman.  Many of the students and faculty stood with their backs turned away from the President, as he was speaking.  I thought that was rude.  So did many others in town.  But, I did get to see Bush for a split second.  I can count that.