Bush Seeks His Image in History

The unpopular American President ends his term on Jan. 20. Before he leaves, Bush and his advisers try to project a positive image of his eight years as president.

“I’ll be frank with you. I don’t spend a lot of time really worrying about short-term history. I guess I don’t worry about long-term history, either, since I’m not going to be around to read it.” After eight years of presidency, George Bush leaves the highest American office almost indifferent. With the low profile of accomplishing his mission as best he could, given difficult circumstances, he leaves as he arrived: by chance. Would Bush, who snatched up the 2000 election facing Al Gore, after a historic recount gave him victory, like to give the impression that the last eight years would not count for much in American history? In reality, having an unpopular record, and leaving the country in a disastrous state, Bush and his team attempt to positively influence the perception of his presidency.

On January 7th, he will have the opportunity to discuss these subjects at a lunch in the White House, where he will meet with his successor, Barack Obama, and his predecessors, Bill Clinton, George HW Bush and Jimmy Carter. Obama is prepared to take the reins, with 82 percent popularity, an unprecedented score. With a free-flowing effect, Bush leaves office with the worst approval rating ever, 29 percent. This is less than the 34 percent Carter had in 1981, or the 32 percent Truman had in 1953 (Nixon’s popularity at his resignation in 1974 was not recorded).

“I’m sure some people voted for Barack Obama because of me,” Bush recognized in an interview with ABC. Nine out of ten Americans consider the country to be on the wrong track; 76 percent of them find their president “unacceptable.” If there is one last image of the end of his presidency, the shoes thrown at the president in Iraq mid-December, it is not likely to raise much-maligned reputation.

Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, recession, financial crisis, an unfair health system, a deplorable image of America to the world, distorted fundamental principles of democracy. “There really seems to be an overwhelming consensus that this is a failed presidency,” said Charles Walcott, a White House expert at Virginia Tech.

“The biggest regret of all the presidency has to have been the intelligence failure in Iraq,” the president said on ABC. “A lot of people put their reputations on the line and said the weapons of mass destruction was a reason to remove Saddam Hussein. And, you know, that’s not a do-over, but I wish the intelligence had been different, I guess.”

On the economic and financial crisis, President Bush prides himself on 52 consecutive months of job creation – before the destruction of 2 million jobs this year and the flood of unemployment. Despite his contempt for the mark left on history, he said recently “I think when the history of this period is written, people will realize a lot of the decisions that were made on Wall Street took place over a decade or so [ago], before I arrived [as] President.”

The Clinton Administration certainly has a responsibility for the deregulation of finance and credit, but Bush did nothing for eight years but proceed in this way. “The president and his advisers are focusing an enormous amount of effort on trying to politically shape and spin the legacy to improve his image in history’s eyes. There has always been great effort placed on the political marketing of this presidency,” said Scott McClellan, former Bush press secretary and author of “What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington’s Culture of Deception.”

Whereas he supports his successor in the transition, Bush discretely carries out some last-minute business. The White House is preparing to sign a slew of decrees which will come into effect before Obama is sworn in on Jan. 20, and escape congress’ supervision. A large part of them relate to the environment, such as the sale of millions of acres of forest for oil exploration. Another measure would permit health professionals (including non-medical hospital personnel) to refuse abortions. In addition, Bush has assured the future of his friends. He named 24 of his closest staff to administrative posts, including Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as administrator of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts until 2014. After January 20, George and Laura Bush will retire to a luxury house they just bought in Dallas, in a district where until the year 2000, blacks were not allowed to live (except personnel). The former president will be able to devote himself to his passion for reading. According to Karl Rove, a former Bush advisor in an article published in the “Wall Street Journal” on Friday, Bush is an avid reader. For three years, the two men have held a competition for the most books read, of which Rove has won each year. According to Karl Rove, Bush “plays up being a good ol’ boy from Midland, Texas, but he was a history major at Yale and graduated from Harvard Business School. You don’t make it through either unless you are a reader.”