Bush's farewell to the White House
FORMER president George W. Bush (62) reportedly began his last day (January 20) at the White House by waking early and visiting the Oval Office shortly before 7 AM, when he began calling some of his closest aides, including Condoleezza Rice, to thank them.
He had left a note for President Obama in the top drawer of his deska presidential tradition. He spent his last night having a quiet family dinner at home with his daughters and parents.
He, a little more willing to acknowledge mistakes, also left two bruising terms of what he calls "disappointments"like the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal and the absence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
He left a very bad economic crisis in the country, two unfinished and controversial wars, Middle East-peace in tatters, relations with Russia at an all-time low, and the image of the US tarnished across the world.
He has been defiant to the last minute: "When I walked out of the Oval Office this morning, I left with the same values that I took to Washington eight years ago; when I go home tonight and look into the mirror, I am not going to regret what I see."
Bush knows in his heart that he had committed serious errors of judgment because he did not question some of the recommendations he had received from the neo-conservatives, who believed military power could resolve every problems in the world. Bush was reportedly not a great reader of briefs according to his closest aides, and that led him to take decisions on other people's words and briefs.
Bush, a born-again Christian, who once declared that his favourite philosopher was Jesus, quit his avowedly heavy-drinking ways when he was 40. He brought religion into the White House, a departure from the separation of religion from politics under the American Constitution.
When he landed in Midland, Texas, on January 20, his conservative supporters welcomed him. It was in Texas that his father, a native of Connecticut, drawn by the allure of oil money in 1948, won political office with a successful run for Congress. It was again here that Bush jr. tried to do the same, but lost his father's congressional seat. His business career took extraordinary shortcuts when he built a new baseball stadium in Arlington for his Texas Rangers baseball team.
To his credit, he was elected governor of Texas twice. From Texas, he began his inaugural journey eight years ago, telling people: "I leave here really upbeat getting something done for the people," and promising to do so "by putting aside all partisan bickering and name-calling and anger."
During his presidency, he was unable to unify the nation. According to his critics, he divided the nation by waging unnecessary wars. He lost trust with the people. His administration failed to live up to the basic standard of open and candid debate. He told the people one thing and did another. As a result, he created the largest credibility gap since President Nixon. He left the White House as the most unpopular president, with a popularity rating below 30%.
The wild celebration at President Obama's inauguration demonstrated an implicit rebuke of Bush's presidency. During the inauguration ceremony, he looked grim, although he has always been a jovial person. There were signs of concern among his supporters about what his leaving office might mean for the causes he promoted.
President Barack Obama, on assuming office, ordered the postponement of all cases against the suspected terrorists and closure of Guantanamo Bay prison within a year, and banned the use of torture in terror interrogations in a dramatic repudiation of his predecessor.
Obama signed executive orders on controversial interrogations, requiring US investigators to stop abusive methodswhich critics equate with tortureand requiring a review of the cases of only "enemy combatants" on US soil, a break with the policy of the former president. On January 23, the president struck down the Bush administration's ban on giving federal money to international groups that perform abortions or provide abortion information.
Bush now sees rejection of his policies one after another by his successor. However, in Texas, there was no talk about historically low poll ratings, disappointments and regrets of policies by Bush.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel.
Comments