A professor at Occidental College is doing his small part to combat the epidemic of Bush Derangement Syndrome (the precursor to full-fledged PEST)—even though the prof is a former Clinton official: Professor Offers Class a Personal View of President. (Hat tip: X.)

Occidental College professor and Clinton administration official Derek Shearer is teaching a course on the man whose election ended his government service: President George W. Bush.

In “Topics in Foreign Policy — The Bush Administration,” Shearer’s focus on Bush is highly personal — but not in the way one might expect from a vanquished political foe. It turns out that Shearer, a former ambassador to Finland and one of Bill Clinton’s dearest FOBs, as in Friends of Bill, is also a Friend of Bush. Sort of.

Shearer and Bush were Yale classmates who lived across the hall from each other as freshmen. “We weren’t friends, but we were friendly,” Shearer said.

Shearer saw enough of Bush at Yale and in a few meetings over the years to glimpse qualities that would later surface in his presidency, he said. In his weekly course, Shearer tries to use that knowledge to push students beyond superficial images when analyzing the president and his policies.

Shearer said that in college Bush exhibited the people skills that made him “come across as a more likable, trustworthy person” than Sen. John F. Kerry in this year’s campaign. He also showed “a strong sense of what he believed to be good and bad,” which Shearer thinks is evident in Bush’s leadership style.

“What I try to get students to see is that he has a very clear view of the world. He is in control. The non-thinking liberal critique of him is [that] he is manipulated by neocons [in the Cabinet],” said Shearer, a professor in the interdisciplinary diplomacy and world affairs program.

Amazingly, Professor Shearer’s radical approach (demanding that students actually apply logic and reasoning) is having some results:

Bradley Basham, 21, a studio art major from Portland, said the course has broadened his view of Bush. “I hate him less personally now. I just hate his policies,” he said.

OK, it’s not much, but it’s a start. Next, young Bradley needs to be asked which policies he hates, and why.

But it’s nice to see a professor who isn’t a caricature of an ivory tower fool.