:: NEWS COCKTAIL aka BlahBlahBlog ::

:: 11.28.2008 ::

:: W on W ::

Bush Weighs In on His Legacy
New York Times blog
By Michael Falcone

As the clock ticks down on his days in the White House, President George W. Bush is taking part in one of his last presidential rituals — helping to shape the perception of his years in office.

In an interview conducted earlier this month by his sister, Doro Bush Koch, Mr. Bush said he wanted to be 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,” Mr. Bush said. “And I darn sure wasn’t going to sacrifice those values; that I was a President that had to make tough choices and was willing to make them. I surrounded myself with good people. I carefully considered the advice of smart, capable people and made tough decisions.”

In excerpts of the interview released by the White House, Mr. Bush did not explicitly mention the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks or the war in Iraq, which many would consider to be the defining moments of his presidency.

But he said he wanted to be 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; that led an effort to help relieve HIV/AIDS and malaria on places like the continent of Africa; that helped elderly people get prescription drugs and Medicare as a part of the basic package; that came to Washington, D.C., with a set of political statements and worked as hard as I possibly could to do what I told the American people I would do.”

The interview, which will become part of National Public Radio’s StoryCorps series, was broadcast in part on Thanksgiving, and will be archived at the American Folklife Center in the Library of Congress.

Read more here.

posted by me

:: 6:37:00 PM [+] ::
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