George W. Bush: A classy gentleman

Former President George W. Bush made headlines throughout the last two weeks while promoting his memoir “Decision Points.”

One of the most controversial presidents in modern American history, Bush’s recent television interviews — including one with the Today Show’s Matt Lauer that was viewed by more than 7 million people — have re-sparked the debates about several of the contentious decisions of his presidency.

In the book, Bush adds a human side to the presidential administration that most IU students grew up knowing (and debating).

In multiple television interviews, Bush has revisited and defended his response to Sept. 11, his decision to invade Iraq and Afghanistan and his administration’s reactions in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

However, one of the most human moments of his interview with Matt Lauer involved someone not typically associated with the former president — Kanye West.

Most of us recall that, in the days following Hurricane Katrina, West famously said, “George Bush doesn’t care about black people.”

Bush, a man battered by extraordinarily harsh (and sometimes, downright mean) criticism, very emotionally stated that West’s accusation, and the circumstances surrounding it, was the “low point” of his presidency — and presumably, his life.

Regardless of your opinions about the man, his presidency and his policies, it is clear that President Bush was unfairly villainized — repeatedly called a baboon, compared to Adolf Hitler and accused of being a terrorist.

However, President Bush never let his critics’ outrageous allegations derail him from his self-described chief mission of “keeping the American people safe.”

The most notable part of former President Bush’s performance on the interview circuit is his extraordinarily fair treatment of his successor, President Barack Obama.

While framing the U.S. Constitution, some of the most influential thinkers of that time, chiefly Alexander Hamilton, suggested that the presidency should be elected to a lifelong tenure.

They proposed this because they feared the specters of former presidents haunting and undermining the efforts of the current officeholder.

In the modern era, former presidents have become notorious critics of the current president in an attempt to stay relevant in our political system, especially those such as President Jimmy Carter and President Bill Clinton.

During the Bush administration, Carter practically made a career out of criticizing the president, especially when it came to the field of foreign affairs.

Carter famously emasculated much of Bush’s pro-Israel stances by making public statements in support of the Palestinians.

During this campaign cycle, Clinton was wielded by his party in an attempt to save their Democratic majorities in the House and Senate. In his stump speeches, former President Clinton boasted that citizens needed to vote for Democrats to save our nation from returning to the failed policies of the Bush administration.

Former presidents possess the same First Amendment rights as any other American citizen, of course, but the American public has come to expect a certain level of maturity from them — a level that Presidents Carter and Clinton simply have not achieved.

But Bush is a classy fellow.

Despite repeated attempts to cajole him into criticizing his successor, Bush has refused to do so.

He understands what other former presidents have not — that the job of president is difficult enough without predecessors second-guessing and undermining your every movement.

In a speech to veterans this weekend, Bush stated unequivocally that he “will not be criticizing President Obama,” but rather “wish(es) him well” because “we’re all Americans, and we want (him) to succeed.”  

It’s very easy for a former president to Monday-morning quarterback the decisions of their successors. It is much more difficult, and takes a great deal of discipline and respect, for a former president to stay out of the way and allow the office’s current occupant a chance to succeed.

And President Bush would have solid ground to stand upon — in a recent CNN poll, 45 percent of Americans stated that Bush performed better as president than his successor.

I only wish that Presidents Carter and Clinton possessed President Bush’s class and grace.

As probably the only member of this editorial board staff who would ever dream of doing so, I thank President Bush both for working hard to advance his principles and for allowing President Obama the chance to do the same.


E-mail: jkingsol@indiana.edu