From left: US First Lady Michelle Obama, President Barack Obama, former first lady Barbara Bush, former president George H W Bush, former president George W Bush and former first lady Laura Bush pray during the George W Bush Presidential Center’s dedication ceremony in Dallas, Texas, yesterday.
DALLAS: George W Bush basked in warm praise from President Barack Obama and three fellow former US presidents yesterday as Bush’s library was dedicated in a ceremony that emphasised his resolute response to terrorism while skirting controversies such as his decision to invade Iraq.
Obama and fellow Democrats Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter, along with Bush’s father, former president George H W Bush, came together on the campus of Southern Methodist University to honour one of their own. At the end of the hour-long ceremony, Bush - who has largely avoided public life since leaving Washington in January 2009 - choked back tears as he concluded his remarks.
Obama captured the feeling of the day when he indicated that Bush’s political friends and foes both view the former president as genuine. “To know the man is to like the man, because he’s comfortable in his own skin,” Obama said. “He takes his job seriously but he doesn’t take himself too seriously. He’s a good man.”
Bush, a Republican, had historically low popularity ratings for a US president - about 33 percent — when he left office. Although most Americans give him credit him for his steadfast response to the September 11, 2001, attacks, many opposed his decision to go war against Iraq on what turned out to be a false claim that Saddam Hussein’s regime was stockpiling biological and chemical weapons. By the end of Bush’s term a once-vibrant economy was collapsing, fueling an image of an administration gone awry.
But time away from the spotlight has helped Bush in the eyes of many Americans. In the days leading up to the dedication of his library and museum, a Washington Post-ABC News poll indicated that Bush’s approval rating was 47 percent, about equal to Obama’s.
In his speech, Bush alluded to the difficult choices he faced as president, which is a theme that runs through several of the library’s exhibits. “One of the things about democracies is people are free to disagree. It’s fair to say I gave people plenty of opportunities to exercise that right,” Bush said with a chuckle.
The former presidents form what amounts to the world’s most exclusive gathering, known informally as the Presidents Club. The United States has 13 presidential libraries around the country which preserve documents and records from presidents dating to Herbert Hoover.
During the ceremony the former presidents focused on the positive aspects of Bush’s tenure. Clinton and Carter praised Bush for pushing Congress to fund AIDS relief for Africa. George H W Bush, 88 and in a wheelchair, had a health scare last December. But yesterday he joined the other former presidents and their wives onstage, and spoke briefly. “We’re glad to be here,” he said in a shaky voice. “God bless America.”
The museum exhibits cover major points of Bush’s presidency. A central part is devoted to the September 11 attacks. “When our freedom came under attack we made the tough decision required to keep our people safe,” Bush said. “I’m retired from politics - happily so, I might add - but not from public service,” he said.
Reuters
