The Return of "the Decider"

George W. Bush is back in the spotlight after publishing an autobiography he hopes will change how history views his presidency, but his legacy at this point is beyond his control.

Dubya has hit the publicity circuit to promote his memoir Decision Points, and Sun Media’s Peter Worthington is impressed with how well the ex-pres is doing. “He comes across as friendly, funny, candid, unapologetic, and with considerable dignity and class,” he writes, and notes that Bush’s popularity is “steadily rising” from the 34 per cent approval rating he had when he left office. Of course, all presidents’ popularity rises after they leave office because the public has much less reason to be critical of them, so one would imagine Bush’s likability has improved not so much because of his dignity and class, as Worthington suggests, as the fact that nothing short of murdering a sex worker could keep his popularity from increasing. Worthington takes the opportunity to take a few shots at Barack Obama, whom he writes “has neither Clinton’s nor Bush’s perspective, and seems unable to accept he may make mistakes.” Not quite sure where Worthington’s going here, as it would be rather shocking if Obama, a sitting president, had the perspective of an ex-president.

In a Daily Telegraph column re-posted by the Vancouver Sun, Anne Applebaum says Bush’s publicity blitz is “unprecedented in the history of the U.S. presidency” and is part of his bid to redefine his legacy after becoming one of the least popular presidents of all time. Applebaum writes that Bush is hoping to follow the path of Harry Truman, who was widely disliked when he left office but was later vindicated by his forward-thinking policies concerning the rebuilding of Europe and confrontation with the Soviets. Bush has reason to be optimistic, Applebaum suggests, because she predicts “the Iraq war, in the long light of history, will not loom as large as it does today. On a 20th century scale, the number of U.S. casualties was very low, and if Iraq becomes relatively stable, the war will come to seem more justifiable.” Where he could be in trouble is if the economy never recovers from the banking collapse he presided over. That, more than any book he writes, says Applebaum, will define his place in history, and there's not much he can do about it.