President George W. Bush, nearing the end of his final term in office, says he most wants to be remembered as someone who came to Washington and didn’t lose his values.
Someone who didn’t sell his soul to the political process.
Somebody who liberated 50 million people and helped achieve peace.
So he told his sister, Dorothy Bush Koch, in an interview for StoryCorps, the national oral history initiative. An excerpt of the interview aired on National Public Radio on Thanksgiving Day and the White House released excerpts on Friday. The entire interview will be archived at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress.
“I would like to be a person remembered as a person who, first and foremost, did not sell his soul in order to accommodate the political process,” Bush said in the interview. “I came to Washington with a set of values, and I’m leaving with the same set of values. And I darn sure wasn’t going to sacrifice those values.”
“I’d like to be a president (known) as somebody who liberated 50 million people and helped achieve peace; that focused on individuals rather than process; that rallied people to serve their neighbor,” the president added.
He mentions his HIV/AIDS and malaria initiatives in Africa, and the Medicare prescription drug benefit as two programs he is proud of.
Asked about his “No Child Left Behind” education law, Bush called it one of the “significant achievements of my administration.”
“We said loud and clear to educators, parents, and children that we expect the best for every child, that we believe every child can learn, and that in return for federal money we expect there to be an accountability system in place to determine whether every child is learning to read, write and add and subtract,” Bush said.
Bush hands over power to President-elect Barack Obama on Jan. 20, 2009.
As he heads into the final weeks of his presidency, Bush’s job approval ratings remain low. Only about 26 percent approve of his performance, while some 70 percent disapprove.
Bush’s decision to take the United States to war in Iraq is widely unpopular. A Quinnipiac University poll in early November found that 58 percent disagreed with decision.
For more Reuters political news, click here.
Photo credit: Reuters/Ho New (Bush talks by phone to troops in remote locations on Thanksgiving); Reuters/Jason Reed (Bush pardons national Thanksgiving turkey, Pumpkin)
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I didn’t vote for G W Bush, either time he ran, but I believe in giving credit where it’s due. We haven’t been attacked since 9/11/2001, and this administration, despite their other failures, should be appreciated for this.
- Posted by A_Lewis[...] me kindly, as the pure savior of millions Jump to Comments With 26% approval, W is giving interviews to his sister. His sense of proportions doesn’t seem to have been diminished by months of being ignored [...]
- Posted by W: Remember me kindly, as the pure savior of millions « Not Your SweetieI believe that President Bush has always striven to do what he thought was best for America. It took great courage and determination and he was second guessed by media and enemies at home and abroad. He stayed the course at great political cost to himself. The stories we here from the press do not reflect what I hear from a network of returning and serving marines and army friends. Iraq ia a victory and the people are living safer, freer lives with opportunities they have not had before. They are self governing and have a good start on school, water facility, hospital facility and road building. The hope and freedom we have brought though hard won in lives, war related injuries and money has succeeded in jump starting a democracy. A democracy that will give the new generation of Iraqi young people lots more options that jihad.
- Posted by JGalt[...] assume the presidency with his principles already shattered, Bush as attributed by David Alexander, Reuters: “I would like to be a person remembered as a person who, first and foremost, did not sell his [...]
- Posted by Legacy and prophecy | BitsBlogWorst president ever. Stole US citizens rights. Got revenge for daddy. W and Cheney should be brought up on war crime charges. And ‘Gitmo’? What happened to habeas corpus? Is that gone too??? Overall, a 100 monkeys could have done a better job!
- Posted by DamHe’ll be remembered as the man who took down his own party just to be stubborn.
- Posted by sethas i read through the comments here, it seems like half of you are delusional, still want to be scared of terrorists, etc.
bush only did 2 things in 8 years. partial birth abortion ban in 2001, which never happens FYI and the no child thing which was never funded and didnt work.
8 long years he muddled through a job, just doing the bare minimum.
bye republicans. see you in 20 years, maybe
- Posted by bruin[...] are just so many reasons why i love president bush. i already miss him. he said this in an interview today: “I would like to be a person remembered as a person who, first and [...]
- Posted by president bush: how he wants to be remembered | Blatherings Blogthank god that gore or kerry the two talking heads were not in office during the last eight years.hope obama has as much backbone,but i doubt it.thanks for leadership in difficult times.
- Posted by brian leeBush deserves high praise for one simple thing — he never said a negative word about Bill Clinton.
In the 1990’s Al Qaeda was the fastest growing organization in the history of man. They hit us over and over and we did NOTHING. Our amazing non-response was the perfect recruiting tool. “God was on their side.”
On 9/11/01 they executed a plan that had OBVIOUSLY been in the works for years. Bush hit back, HARD and Al Qaeda has been on the run ever since.
But a US President should never criticize another President. It hurts America when any President does this but it isn’t easy to resist the temptation especially when the criticism is so obvious. Bush resisted. For 8 years. While Pelosi and others constantly snipped at him. It reminds me of Rudyard Kipling’s “If.”
And Jimmy Carter did the exact opposite.
- Posted by Frederick Michael[...] Trust, But Verify « Michael Steele on the “Death” of the GOP George W. Bush November 29, 2008 “I would like to be a person remembered as a person who, first and foremost, did not sell his soul in order to accommodate the political process. I came to Washington with a set of values, and I’m leaving with the same set of values. And I darn sure wasn’t going to sacrifice those values.” [...]
- Posted by George W. Bush « Trust, But Verify[...] wants to be remembered as a guy who liberated 50 million people and who helped bring peace to the world. Well, sure, I [...]
- Posted by Recent dawdlings and thoughts… « a fnersh rambling“Think for a couple minutes, are you still alive? Parents? I lost friends on 9/11. We have not had another successful attack since. There have been several planned attacks that were detected and neutralized before they happened. You may hate the fact that W was responsible for this outcome but he is. Google it.”
Google how many years there were between the next most recent Islamic fundamentalist terror attack on the US and 9/11. Get back to me on how this proves W improved our security apparatus.
The false sense of security imparted by this half-logic and the fact you can’t carry nail clippers onto airplanes is the most dangerous thing to come out of 9/11. We haven’t been attacked again because the terrorists are blithering idiots. In five minutes I could come up with vulnerabilities to events that would have this country withering in fear for decades, and I’m not even looking hard. Our border and port security is a disgrace; you’re either deluding yourself or not paying attention if you think otherwise.
Of course “not paying attention” is what I believe explains the frankly astonishing 28% of Americans who still indicate that they approve of Bush’s job performance so perhaps it’s no surprise that you believe we’re safer now.
This isn’t even a right/left issue. Any halfway competent strategist has to be doing a face-palm at the administration’s handling of this war.
- Posted by ScottLeft opinion, right opinion. Everyone who comments on stories like this are quick to point out what they think the opposite side thinks. Here is what I think. Prior to george bush jr our government was smaller. Prior to george bush jr my individual rights where better protected. Prior to george bush jr I did not have to have a passport to travel to mexico to vacation in mazatlan. Do I feel safer now than I did prior to his having taken office? No I don’t. Is Iraq better off than it was under Saddam? No it is not. Women have less rights, Iraqis go weeks without power, after 3 years of fighting we can’t even secure 1 road from the heavily fortified green zone to the airport…etc
Now as to who is winning this big war. For aprox 1 million dollars osama bin laden did something no other nation has ever successfully done in modern times. He launched an attack on the continental United States. He destroyed Several buildings worth billions of dollars. He killed thousands of US citizens. The cost to our economy was in the hundreds of billions. The entire nation changed after this one attack. Hundreds of laws where written, hundreds of polocies where changed. In response to this attack the entire might of our nation was unleashed. We destroyed the taliban, we destroyed the 4th largest military(iraq). We spent hundreds of billions of dollars in doing this and continue to spend hundreds of billions more every year. Osama lost less than a dozen soldiers on sept 11, hes lost less than a hundred since then. How many soldiers have we lost? Now do the math. Who is winning this war? Sept 11th wasnt the first time osama attacked americans and it probably wont be the last. But even if he never attacks again he still won, period.
- Posted by rickhttp://www.truthdig.com/report/item/2008 0318_bushs_legacy_of_failure/
- Posted by Suze[...] serious, folks. “I would like to be a person remembered as a person who, first and foremost, did not sell [...]
- Posted by Bush tells us how he'd like to be remembered | Patriot MissiveWorst President in history.
Embarrassing at best and a war criminal at worst.
- Posted by SuzeMost of you are deluded by the constant media blitz on our sitting president and the strident screaming of all of the liberal offal.
Think for a couple minutes, are you still alive? Parents? I lost friends on 9/11. We have not had another successful attack since. There have been several planned attacks that were detected and neutralized before they happened. You may hate the fact that W was responsible for this outcome but he is. Google it.
His Legacy was that he did not panic. He thought it out and responded correctly and with force. BTW we won in Iraq. What??? You didn’t know? Shame on you for your Ignorance!
God Bless America, and our Military.
- Posted by marc[...] Though I’ve not liked a lot of what President Bush has done, this statement endears me to him greatly. “I would like to be a person remembered as a person who, first and foremost, did not sell his soul in order to accommodate the political process. I came to Washington with a set of values, and I’m leaving with the same set of values. And I darn sure wasn’t going to sacrifice those values.” [...]
- Posted by Thank You, Mr. President, for Holding Fast to Your Values | The Sundries ShackQuite often the big picture gets blurred by the small details, its a trick the left has used with some efficiency over the past 7 years and continues to use going forward. In context the Middle Eastern policy of the United States was always at arms length, every President prior to Bush took the easy way out either using the USSR as an excuse or priority and more often than not the alliances of European nations ~ coddling their lack of resolve for conflict.
If 9/11 had never occurred I am confident President Bush would have followed suit with all former presidents however this was not the case, and for the first time in recent history our nation was challenged by a cadre of militants who did what Iran, Iraq, Syria and a host of other nations supported but wouldn’t declare. The militants knew, either by direct communication or infer, that Islamic regimes would support them but would not take an active public role.
Fighting Terrorists is not the same as fighting nations, there is no homeland and no clear structure to attack. Against nations our defenses were at their least on par or better than any other nation prior to 9/11, an open society welcoming visitors with open arms. The militants saw this as a weakness worth exploiting in order to set the wheels in motion for what they claim is an ideological struggle of existence.
Civil courts are not capable of solving military conflicts, a nations military has that task. Rather than shrink back as had been done before and most likely expected by the militants our generals and the President decided to create a front in the heart of the Middle East. In a country we had already fought a war in (experience) and which is relatively easier to fight in than the mountains of Afghanistan. This front was purposely created to attract any and all would-be “vest-bombers” to test the metal of our military rather than the cement of our malls and businesses here at home. It did just that, perhaps far better than our leaders expected.
The Iraq front also contained the interests of our long-time enemy Iran from projecting its influence deeper into Southern Iraq and it forced the hubris reaction of A. Q. to declare it the groups priority; sucking their efforts and resources. At every turn A.Q. failed miserably, ownership of an ideological war against Western powers has proved far beyond their means. Their only hope was to turn the public opinion of the war in their favor ~ by attacking helpless civilians.
In my view the left here in the United States used the war to also turn public opinion in their favor, at every chance they played the strings of failure to derail the administrations war efforts.
I am not entirely sure but to my recollection only three Presidents in the history of the United States were commanding Generals, G. Washington, U. Grant and D. Eisenhower. Every other President in our history has always relied on the advice of others with military credentials, G. Bush was no exception. To blame him for the advice and choices of our professional Generals is pathetic to say the least…should we lay all the deaths of the Civil War at the feet of A. Lincoln? Do we? No we blame the Generals and claim Lincoln as a savior for sticking it out when times got tough. I have no doubt that Barack Obama as “Commander and Chief” will default to the advice and choices of his Generals in the same scenario.
It’s easy to blame one man for all of the nations problems, Democrats are quite good at it, but history will judge George Bush as a President who in the face of difficult times stuck to his policies and never reacted to the pathetic behavior of our nations Media and the Democratic leadership, which has always relied on failure in Iraq in order to gain more power.
- Posted by Grunt