Several days before his departure from the White House, the only thing on his mind is his place in history. The manner by which he will be judged and remembered. On January 5th, George W. Bush approved the use of military means in order to accelerate the deployment of the international peacekeeping force in Darfur.
On January 6th, he placed under protection the world’s largest oceanic zone-– in the Pacific. On January 13th, he will give out the Medal of Freedom, the highest American civilian honor, to Colombian president, Alvaro Uribe, and to former British and Australian prime ministers, Tony Blair and John Howard, respectively-–three of his most reliable allies in his global war against terrorism.
Defending the Bush Legacy
No one’s listening, but the outgoing president is increasing his exit interviews, a bit like a salesperson who doesn’t realize that his product is no longer available.
With the help of his old faithfuls from Texas, Karl Rove and Karen Hughes, he has thrown himself into promoting the “Bush Legacy.” On the White House website, a downloadable brochure recounts his administration’s “highlights of accomplishments and results.”
George W. Bush, 62 years old, most especially does not want to be lamented. Towards the complex and contradictory reality of facts, he has always put up an alternative reality founded on his “gut” and “instinct.” When everyone around him questions, he displays the same unshakeable confidence, as if he found an almost mystical power.
Force of character, determination, and firmness – the implicit backbone of the United States’ power – are part of the job. “For him, the nation’s life merges with his own,” writes American journalist Ron Suskind. “His courage – in the face of skeptics – is that of the nation, his simplicity – like that of Americans – is heroic, his determination – no matter the object or end – will change the course of history.”
George W. Bush Is Not One to Torment Himself
At the White House, Bush prides himself on leading the country like the chair of the oversight board of a large company, establishing the major guiding principles and leaving the task of implementation to others.
“Of all the decisions I have made, there is not a single one for which I would, in retrospect, wish to have made another choice,” he stated in 2004.
He has the deep conviction of understanding the world’s workings much better than do those who criticize him. He made compromises, requested aid from international institutions, not because he was wrong, but because events required him to do so.
George W. Bush is not one to torment himself for his mistakes. “The man who emerges is a narcissist without any self-reflection,” writes Frank Rich, chronicler for the New York Times. The improvement of security in Iraq, following his decision to increase troop size in January 2007, reinforces his conviction of having made the right decision.
Recently, he affirmed that he “was not prepared for war” and that “the biggest regret of the entire presidency is the failure of intelligence in Iraq.” Implication: it has nothing to do with me. About his decision in invade Iraq: “I prayed for the strength to do God’s will,” he confided to Bob Woodward in the book Plan of Attack.
Historic Lack of Popularity
Whatever the virtues of George W. Bush, they remain today largely unappreciated. Bush has not enjoyed support by the majority of Americans since March 2005. No president has known such a long period of rejection, but he bears this situation with stoicism. Truman, another unpopular president, has become his model.
Contrary to his father, the junior Bush does not give the impression of questioning. After a contested election and shaky beginnings at the White House – in the summer of 2001 he took the longest vacation (five weeks) in the history of the American presidency – he found his bearings in the days following 11 September 2001.
Despite initial hesitation, it was a reinvigorated Bush who showed himself at the ruins of the World Trade Center. Until that point hesitant on the substance of his term in office, he found what he was missing: the war against terrorism became not only his absolute priority, but his mission.
“Faith in America”
“The self-taught Methodist, open and searching, transformed himself into a messianic Calvinist, impervious to criticism,” explains Jim Wallis, evangelical pastor from Sojourners magazine, who knows him well.
In Bush, certainty and religiosity converge in a “faith in America,” an American-style nationalism with an irresistible penchant for “great ideas.”
Convivial, natural, and warm, George W. Bush thought he’d get even by being elected for a second term, in November 2004, against Democrat John Kerry. Where his father, George Herbert Walker Bush, had failed in 1992 against Bill Clinton, the “ugly duckling” of the dynasty succeeded twelve years later.
It was a brilliant success for this son of the family, long condemned to mediocrity, whose father had severely rebuked him for dragging his brother Malvin [sic] into his drinking binges. The favored son, reputed to be more intelligent and eloquent and destined by his father for a brilliant career, was Jeb. “George W.,” himself, did not seem made for reaching great heights.
A likeable dunce, he long displayed obvious disinterest in public life. Turning 40, this “daddy’s boy,” born into an elite East Coast family, put his life in order.
He joined a Bible study group and stopped drinking, at the same time saving his marriage, family, and career. Elected governor of Texas in 1994, he refined his image as a cowboy-booted Texan and Christian conservative, hostile to capital taxes, enemy of the liberal elite, but in touch with small-town America. On the eve of his political retirement, he displays serenity.
Always Combative in Defending His Deeds
More than ever, the president relies on his faith, family, and friends. His rigorously disciplined schedule. His daily physical exercise, maintained with the devotion of a fanatic.
Always combative in defending his deeds, he will not leave it to others to assess them. To those who claim that he has become more “realistic” in his second term – particularly on the question of a nuclear Iran and North Korea and on promoting democracy in the Mideast – he retorts that his “Freedom agenda,” his plan for liberty, “is part of everything that I do.” Against all Odds, he continues to defend his cause, helped by his presidential library project at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.
The outgoing president plans to create a Freedom Institute to support democratic movements throughout the world by inviting dissidents, activists, and young leaders to attend conferences and awarding them grants. Asked last month about what he had learned in office, he replied: “I learned that God is good. All the time.” That’s certainty according to George W. Bush.
The thing that always amazes me about stories such as this is they don’t add the proper context. 2 example:
1. While it’s true Bush has a low approval rating and is viewed as many as incompetent, they fail to point out that the US Congress approval rating is even lower and is viewed as even more incompetent. Do yourself a favor and STUDY the cause of the financial failure in the US and you will see Barney Franks name come to the top of the list as being responsible. Greg Meeks, Maxine Waters and Chris Dodd turn up in second place. Who do you think promoted the subprime loans? Wasn’t republicans. Subprime loan candidates aren’t the backbone of their party.
2. The quote from the New York Times is wonderful. It demonstrates why it is GOING OUT OF BUSINESS. Most Americans have given up on the liberal news channels and magazines as they routinely distort reality and instead report from a biased perspective. They have an agenda to influence the masses to their intelligensia way of thinking. They have failed, again.
I understand the victors of elections many times try to re-write history to make themselves look good and opponents look bad. I’m glad we live in a time period of gigabyte hard drives so the reality of history will not be lost. Visit youtube and search for the video with Barney franks ridiculing the regulators for having the audacity of proposing added regulations on to Fannie Mae. What you will have to search a little for is to find out it was Barney’s boyfriend that financially benefited from the expansion of Fannie Mae.
It’s been fun watching the party in power the last 2 years, democrats, try to put all the blame for their ineffectiveness onto Bush. Now they have 2 years to prove just how do-nothing they are.