COLLEGE STATION, Texas – President Barack Obama offered a powerful homage Friday to George H.W. Bush at a forum on public service, crediting his GOP predecessor with inspiring legions of Americans to improve their communities.

GERALD HERBERT/The Associated Press

President Barack Obama stopped to pet Texas A&M mascot Reveille VIII during his College Station visit Friday.

He called Bush's words, works and entire life an inspiration – an example of the "extraordinary ripple effect" one person can have.

As Obama made his first visit to Texas as president, at least 500 protesters gathered on the Texas A&M campus, one of the nation's most conservative and the site of Bush's library and namesake public policy school. Inside Rudder Auditorium, though, a far larger crowd of invitees greeted both presidents warmly and reveled in their apparent bonhomie, at an event staged to celebrate Bush's "points of light" initiative and the momentum it created for public service.

Obama played off Bush's call for a "thousand points of light" at the 1989 inaugural, building on the metaphor just as Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and his own administration built on Bush's legacy of support for volunteerism.

"He didn't call for one blinding light shining from Washington. He didn't just call for a few bright lights from the biggest nonprofits," Obama said. "He called for a vast galaxy of people and institutions working together to solve problems in their own backyards. Twenty years later, think for a minute about the impact that he's had."

Bush, 85, used a cane and accepted Obama's arm as he stepped down from the stage. He lauded Obama for embracing a vision of public service similar to his own, setting an example by performing volunteer service on the eve of his inauguration, and following through at the policy level.

"Our 44th president is absolutely right that there isn't a more important time than now, for us all to get involved," Bush said.

Outside, protesters spent the afternoon denouncing Obama as a socialist and a liar. Many were puzzled that Bush invited him to campus.

Bush had asked critics to keep their vitriol in check so the focus remained on a nonpartisan cause.

Julie Thomas, chief executive of the Dallas-based Volunteer Center of North Texas – a Points of Light award winner – called Bush's effort a "beacon" and said it was invaluable to have presidents from both parties jointly promoting the cause.

"We can talk about it all day long at the local level, but to have a big voice that really resonates all over the country is just phenomenal," she said.

The Points of Light slogan was ridiculed at the time as trite, or sappy, and Bush's director of national service, Gregg Petersmeyer, said he worried that the push for public service would fizzle when Bush left office.

Today, leaders and experts in the field view it as a turning point, as Obama went out of his way to stress Friday. His 20-minute speech was mostly devoid of policy specifics, but it was an eloquent embrace of the service agenda Bush articulated as president and demonstrated in his time in Congress, as an ambassador, CIA director, and president.

He noted that his wife, Michelle, began her career at a community group that was part of AmeriCorps – a program created by Bill Clinton and expanded by George W. Bush that was an outgrowth of initiatives created by the elder Bush.

Obama also connected public service to becoming an engaged citizen. "Once you've volunteered at a food bank, it's hard not to care about poverty and unemployment," Obama said.

Volunteering has surged to record levels since Bush was president. The most recent study found that in 2008, nearly 62 million Americans offered time to improving the lives of others.

Franklin Roosevelt's Depression-era Civilian Conservation Corps combined a celebration of public service with a need to curb unemployment. John F. Kennedy's creation of the Peace Corps was a way to harness idealism while improving the nation's image overseas.

But Bush was the first president to put a community service mechanism inside the White House, creating a commission that evolved into the Corporation for National and Community Service, which oversees AmeriCorps and other programs.

"It was really George Bush who figured out how to put government in support of everyday citizens serving their communities," said David Eisner, who led that corporation under Bush's son, George W. Bush. Obama, he added, promised to continue promoting the cause of community service and "has delivered on it exceedingly well."

Two months after taking office, Obama signed the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, approved in Congress with broad bipartisan support. The law calls for $5.7 billion to triple the number of Americans in national service, including a significant expansion of AmeriCorps.

Obama also created a United We Serve campaign this summer to promote volunteerism. The budget he proposed in May included $1.15 million for the service corporation, a 29 percent boost over last year's funding level.

The economic stimulus package he signed included $200 million to support community service, enough to fund 15,000 extra AmeriCorps volunteers, and other projects.

"He's really pushing it to a new level," said Nicola Goren, acting chief executive of the Corporation for National and Community Service. The Obamas, she noted, have "lived it, they've experienced it and they know firsthand the impact it can have."

In Texas, AmeriCorps and other community service efforts are overseen by the OneStar Foundation, which reports to the governor. Chief executive and president Liz Seale said the Obama-Bush pairing didn't surprise her because "volunteerism and service is critical to the fabric of our country. It spans the political spectrum."

One of the more controversial shifts under George W. Bush was an embrace of faith-based community groups. Obama also supports such groups, contrary to some expectations.

"I was pleased," Seale said. "I'm not feeling a big change."