Although former President George W. Bush left office nearly two years ago, with the recent release of his memoir, "Decision Points," he is back in the public consciousness. It looks as though he aims to stay and that many Americans are happy to have him back. His favorable rating has gone up four points from when he left office to 44 percent currently, according to a recent Gallup Poll, and his memoir has sold 1.1 million copies. Many parts of his legacy, however, are still being written.
"I think his reputation is undergoing something of a rehabilitation," senior Michael Hawley, former president of Tufts Republicans, said in an e-mail to the Daily. "I do think that, for instance, the Bush tax cuts are an example of a policy that appeals now to a broad swath of society as a statement about allowing Americans to keep more of what they earn. As for history's judgment, I think Bush consciously tied the fate of his legacy to his aggressive approach to the War on Terror. Therefore, the final verdict on his administration will have to wait until we see the outcome of this struggle."
Peter Levine, director of the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE), said that Bush's current rise in popularity is not uncommon for a former president who has been out of the public sphere for some time, but for Bush's particular situation it is somewhat surprising.
"What's unusual about Bush is he doesn't have a base," he said. "Republicans in the Tea Party view him as part of the problem. He doesn't come back and rally supporters like Bill Clinton, for example. As a head of state and national leader, I'd usually say they [have a base], but he was quite unpopular. I'm sure some people would rather have him away for good."
Hawley said that what's changed the most about public perception of the former president lies in the strength of their feelings, not necessarily in the nature of their political views.
"It seems to me that more than a four percent swing in approval, the real difference in the country's orientation to him lies in intensity," he said. "That is to say, that when he left office, George Bush wasn't simply unpopular — he was hated by a large and vocal percentage of the population. That fervent ire, it seems to me, is no longer there."
The press, however, has been fervently covering the release of the former president's memoir and subsequent book tour, with a major focus on Bush's assertion that the "all-time low" of his presidency was when Kanye West announced on the Katrina Telethon that "George Bush doesn't care about black people."
"I think that was a particular petty and foolish claim on the part of the president," Hawley said. "Some pop-culture figure said something mean about you, and that's what you consider the worst moment of your presidency? I think 9/11 or the actual event of Hurricane Katrina and any number of other crises or tragedies should have ranked above Kanye West."
Levine pointed to the invasion of Iraq or instances of waterboarding as potential worse moments.
"[Though] a lot of people thought Iraq was terrible, psychologically that doesn't impress him," Levine said. "He thought it was a success. I'm personally extremely against torture and the violation of U.S. criminal laws. His memoir says he's in favor of waterboarding people. I would say that's the worst moment, but he doesn't. It's definitely debatable."
As a president's legacy moves from being news to being history, a certain amount of the conversation moves to the halls of the George W. Bush Presidential Library, for which ground broke recently for its permanent location on the campus of Southern Methodist University in Dallas.
"The purpose of the presidential library is first and foremost to preserve archival material and give the public access to that material," Rachel Day, director of communications for the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library in Dorchester, told the Daily. "We strive to make President Kennedy's legacy accessible to new generations, to remind them of his ideals, why his work as a president continues to matter and resonate and why learning this history is so important."
George Bush is only the 13th president to have his own library. While many chose to have their libraries in or near the cities of their birth, Bush, his father and Ronald Reagan before him chose to build their libraries in their adopted states, Texas, Texas and California respectively. These were the communities that they chose to serve as politicians, and have chosen to serve with their libraries.
"President Kennedy talked about how the library has become an important part of community and part of the fabric of community," Day said. "There are economic factors involved to hosting this material, as to why you would want a library in the city of their birth or the city of their choosing versus one universal place, like Washington, D.C."
As the George W. Bush Presidential Center, where the library will be housed, grows, the former president's role in the American conversation is sure to evolve, Hawley said.
"I think we've already seen that he doesn't intend to be a partisan figure," Hawley said. "His book aside, he's deliberately remained out of the media spotlight on the grounds that he doesn't want to make [his] successor's job any harder than it is."
Levine looks to the post-presidential careers of former presidents Bill Clinton and especially Jimmy Carter for clues as to what Bush's next few years could look like.
"He's relatively young," Levine said. "He models Carter and Clinton, in that sense, whereas [George H. W. Bush] is pretty old — the basic story of his life after the White House is that he retired. Carter and Clinton have had real careers after the White House. You'd expect that [George W. Bush] could do that; he has the time to do it. Carter is unique in modern history because he was a president who left pretty much a failure and had an amazing career after he was president. Bush has got a lot of years ahead of him."
