1) He handled the incident where the Chinese captured the Hawkeye very well.

2) He made a good start on leading the nation after 9/11.

3) I vaguely recall that there was one environmental bill that he supported that wasn't your typical conservative gutting-of-the-environment-to-pay-off-campaign-supporters.

4) I'd like to give him praise for some of the Africa initiatives he's promoted. But funding for them remains an issue. Time will tell if they were just empty (or partially empty, depending on funding) promises.

5) Operational conduct of the wars in Iraq and Afganistan was done in a workmanlike manner.

6) Once he knew where the wind was blowing, he did a decent job of pointing the exec response to corporate scandals in the right direction.