Bush’s Two Biggest Regrets

The departing U.S. president could not tell when the economy will recover but he is confident this is going to happen

U.S. President George Bush gave his first farewell interview to ABC News. The main topic of the interview was the financial and economic crisis. Bush apologized for the financial turbulence while noting that the decisions that led to the crisis were made long before he came to power. He also confessed that he turned out to be unprepared for the war and criticized U.S. intelligence for its reports on Iraq.

“I’m sorry it’s happening, of course,” Bush said, for the first time apologizing for the financial crisis that after starting in the U.S., spread around the world. “Obviously I don’t like the idea of people losing jobs, or being worried about their 401Ks.”

At the same time, the White House owner did not take full responsibility for the financial meltdown reminding that “a lot of the decisions that were made on Wall Street took place over a decade or so before” he became President.

According to Bush, his main regret in the economic realm is that he has not reformed the governmentally created mortgage agencies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which became excessive in their lending practices contributing to the financial crisis. Bush emphasized that in the first years of his presidency he spoke for the regulation of the agencies’ activity, but he did not explain what prevented his administration from creating such a regulatory body.

Bush’s statements indicated that he does not consider himself to be a prescient economist and he had no choice but follow the recommendations of the Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, who called for “bold actions” frightening him that otherwise the country could be “in a depression greater than the Great Depression.” Bush was repeating like a mantra that his administration would do everything in its power to secure the functioning of the country’s financial system, noting that if necessary the government will continue to intervene in the economy to put the situation under control.

So far the forecasts are not reassuring. A number of American economists claim that the current recession, which started back in December 2007 will set new post-war records. It might be the deepest and most painful recession since the beginning of the 1980s. Nevertheless, Bush is confident that the economy will recover and the U.S. taxpayers should hope that the billions of dollars the government spends on rescuing financial giants will someday flow back to the Treasury. The White House owner admitted that he is one of many Americans who wonder why “Wall Street got drunk, and we got a hangover.”

It is interesting to note that throughout a relatively long interview Bush did not mention Russia once. It turns out that Bush has two big regrets over the eight years in the White House. They are related to the “intelligence failure in Iraq” and to the fact Saddam Hussein had no weapons of mass destruction. Bush refused to speculate on whether it was possible to avoid the second war in the Persian Gulf if the intelligence had stated that Saddam had no weapons. Based on the inspiration with which the White House owner talked about him missing his Commander-in-chief responsibilities, the war probably could not have been avoided.

What will Bush do after Jan. 20 when Barack Obama is inaugurated? Bush prefers not to elaborate on it. He just mentioned that he would like to write a book, build an institute at Southern Methodist University, along with the library and archives. He is always ready to help Barack Obama if he asks for advice but it seems like Bush knows for sure that the 44th President will not ask his predecessor for any assistance.