I will play the devil’s advocate for a minute. With all of the adulations for President Barack Obama and the intense emotional highs today of the American people…I couldn’t help but wonder about former President Bush and his wife Laura as they left the White House and all that goes with it. Was the presidential leave taking a moment of relief or regrets?
I am sure there has to be an immense sense of relief to shift the weight of the world ( actually the weight of the US) from President Bush to new President Obama’s shoulders. That has to feel good to a certain degree. The issues of the country are no longer his burden; and yet, I am sure there is a boat load of conflict going on his his heart and mind.
It has to feel bittersweet to see all of the open welcoming that the Obamas are receiving at the moment when there are those who have made it clear that they couldn’t wait for the President Bush to leave office. In fact, the last year of his term in office…there were reports that claimed that he had the lowest presidential approval of any president in recent memory. That has to hurt.
Certainly Bush made mistakes in his governing; Obama says that there are sure to be mistakes in his administration as well. That is just humanity. What is notable is that when mistakes are made that they are acknowledged and corrected.
The grace of the American public had come to an end because of a multitude of crises and financial upheaval. There was no more time to get back into the good graces of the American public. In my mind, former President Bush has to have some regrets about some world events and some personal choices. Those regrets include the fact that there wasn’t anymore time to correct the legacy of his presidency. When it comes right down to it…the man and the position are blended with world events and political choices.
The presidential legacy that is left when one president leaves office and another takes the helm is often open to interpetation; some believe that in time, some of President Bush’s decisions will be explained and redeemed. At this moment in time, because of the issues facing the nation….we dont have the luxury of time to do that analyzing now…we have work to do…as President Obama made sure we understood in his address to the nation.
President Obama’s legacy is yet to be developed. Time is the lens through which we view the quality of a President’s service.
Write where you are 
Yes, I’m glad the Bush’s years are gone. One thing he do not have to worry about is losing his home, job or health care. All of of that is taking care for him. He is going to live good in retirement.
Yes, he did make lots of mistake, like not caring about all the people in this country. The only things he really care about was the two wars, terror attacks and the people in his circle. He kept telling us over and over about how safe we are. I do not disagreed with that. But, it kind of hard to worry about all of that when you do not have a job, a home, or do not know how you are going to feed you children. He kept telling us over and over that we was not in a recession. Like the American people are so dumb they would believe anything and cannot see what’s going on. Over the last year over two million people lost they jobs.
I guess it’s very hard to understand any of this until you walk in people shoes. I may be wrong, but I really think that we need a president that care about all the people in this country and make what’s going on in the country first. I did not believe that Bush did that. For example it was okay to bailout the banks, but when it came to the cars company they had to think about. What message do that send to the American people. The message it send to me is, they did not care about the working class people. By, not giving money to the car company, you are not hurting the top people at the car company. You are hurting the working class people. I think all the CEO’s sure be gone, a long with the CEO’s of the banks. They gave money to the banks and did not care how they spend it. WOW!!
If I was Bush, I would worry about how the History book are going to remember him and how the future generations going to study him.
President Obama been in office less then 24-hours, and those to the right alright hoping that he mess up or make some mistake. I sure he will make some takes, like most past president. Let’s give him more then 24-hours. I think he deserve that.
Hi, I found your blog on alphainventions.
Thought this was a really insightful and well-written post. Thanks for your thoughts! 🙂