Jim Young, Reuters
Who says President Bush didn’t have an exit strategy planned out? It’s been there all along, since day one: 8 years to man the helm and steer this great country.
And now the man who is said to have ceased unprecedented presidential power, would declare marshal law, would repeal the 22nd Amendment, exits the stage exemplifying the workings of our system of government through the peaceful transition of power.
Mike’s America pieced together a couple of posts collecting some favorite photos of President Bush:
A Pictorial of the Bush Record
Bloggers Remember Bush Years in Images
One commenter, struck by how wonderful these images are, wondered why he hasn’t seen much of these before.
Although we on the right have often found our suspicions about media bias well-confirmed, many of these beautiful photos were also taken by photographers working for these media organizations. And many of them are professional, even when they happen to capture an embarrassing image; it’s just the nature of the work and nothing partisan on their part.
Following are a few Reuters photographers and their remembrances…
Bush has faced many battles in his tenure. Record low approval ratings, a failing economy, the September 11 attacks, a war with no near end in sight, and for the last year, most of the world was looking more to his successor, than to the sitting President himself.
But when I look back over my three years here in Washington, I come away with two impressions of the man in the office.
One impression is that of a man carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders, an insurmountable burden. As from my first image of Bush, making the long, slow walk back to the Oval Office, head and hands hanging low.
In November 2007, Bush met with Lance Cpl. Isaac Gallegos during a visit to the Center for the Intrepid at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas. He met with many of the soldiers, visibly scarred and injured from the war under his presidency. Although he seemed very confident in his actions, you could not help but feel that it was a hard eight years as the 43rd President.
For more on President Bush and his time spent amongst wounded soldiers and their family members, see my post, All the Presidents Warriors.
Another image that I think defines the man as commander-in-chief is this simple composition of Bush looking very presidential among heavily-armed soldiers during his visit to Fort Irwin in the Californian desert in 2007.
U.S. President George W. Bush poses for a group picture with soldiers during his visit to the National Training Center at Fort Irwin in the Californian desert, April 4, 2007. REUTERS/Jason Reed (UNITED STATES)
Back to Jim Young’s Reuter’s blog:
The other impression is the playfulness of the man. Fun-loving silliness. The next two images come from the same day on a presidential trip to Africa in February 2008. It was probably the most fun I have seen the President have, and it gave me some of my favorite memories covering Bush. Joining a group of singing and dancing Massai Warriors during a stop at school in Arusha, Tanzania. He really seemed to be enjoying himself, surrounded by people who really were making every effort to make him feel loved and appreciated. He could have been anyone that day, just a guy wrapped up in the beautiful music, having a great time, and living in the moment.
The last photo came on a tour of a plant that manufactured mosquito netting. The girls were working underneath the mesh netting looking for holes and Bush surprised them by popping up underneath the netting to join them. The girls looked up to him in admiration and they appeared to sway in slow motion, like moving through water, calm, and for a brief moment he seemed happy and playful, like the kids themselves.
My post on President Bush’s commitment to Africa, President Bush Doesn’t Care About Black People
The next photo is going to drive the moonbats nuts…
President Bush could be very gracious. Like his father, Bush learned the names of every news photographer assigned to the White House early on. To document Bush’s graciousness, look at the picture of the elderly woman seated next to him. A perfect stranger, Ruth Harris was seated in a chair along a motorcade route, with a sign next to her stating it was her 91st birthday. Bush stopped the vehicles, got out, then posed with her. They look like lifetime friends.
One of the most touching moments I experienced during my travels with Bush was when he secretly sneaked out of the United States, flew undetected, and landed in Baghdad to visit with U.S. military personnel on Thanksgiving evening. I was honored to be included on that super-secret Air Force One travel pool and I watched as he stepped out from behind a curtain and immediately warmed the hearts of hundreds of American GI’s waiting for their Thanksgiving dinner.When I asked a young GI seated at a table if he knew who was coming out to speak he replied, “They told us the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders are here.” God bless those innocent, young, GI’s stranded thousands of miles from home on perhaps their first BIG dinner away from mom and dad.
Bush walked out, and they went nuts.
I sat in their chair almost 40 years earlier as a young GI and It was the loneliest time of my life; I couldn’t help but tear up when Bush appeared.
It’s been a memorable 8 years. Tough years to be sure; but I believe what President Bush has mainly done, is institute long-term investments, planting seeds whose fruits will not be apparent until years down the road:
“You only get eight years,” Vice President Dick Cheney coolly remarked, conveying that part of a presidential legacy is a mature understanding that you cannot play to win just the matches in which you are captain.
President-Elect Obama will be the beneficiary of tools President Bush has implemented in place in dealing with “the long war” against international Islamic terror. Obama inherits success in Iraq, thanks to Bush’s green-lighting of the surge strategy which he opposed. He picks up the baton on improved relations and foreign policy strategies that the Bush Administration has been responsible for.
REUTERS/Tim Sloan/Pool
For the sake of my country, I wish Barack Obama a successful 4 year presidency, not in terms of carrying out liberal policies, but in terms of doing right by the country, in doing what is good for the country. While decent and indecent Americans celebrate Obama’s inauguration this morning, the indecent will celebrate Bush’s departure by throwing shoes in [sarcasm] “solidarity with the Iraqi people” [/sarcasm]
President Bush: Thank you for your service to our country. Thank you for making me laugh by driving the moonbats batty; I thank you for what you were able to accomplish in 8 long years, and will not dwell on what you were unable to accomplish in 8 short years.
Check out this photo essay from Time magazine. By way of The Anchoress.
Not everything went right….
…but in the end, you done a hella good and accomplished the most important role of a U.S. President: Keeping America safe.
God bless you.
Exit….stage right.
REUTERS
A former fetus, the “wordsmith from nantucket” was born in Phoenix, Arizona in 1968. Adopted at birth, wordsmith grew up a military brat. He achieved his B.A. in English from the University of California, Los Angeles (graduating in the top 97% of his class), where he also competed rings for the UCLA mens gymnastics team. The events of 9/11 woke him from his political slumber and malaise. Currently a personal trainer and gymnastics coach.
The wordsmith has never been to Nantucket.
It’s been a wonderful week for us due to all the photos, tributes and information provided to us by our hosts at Flopping Aces. So much was new to me and I dearly appreciate all the talent, time and energy spent to put the many, many tributes together. Well done and thank you all!!!
Word, you really put together a remarkable group of photos, the sad and dutiful to the happy and carefree images of what our President experienced. This one really had my emotions swinging.
I love you George Bush, I wish you well and pray that you will enjoy the rest you’ve earned.
I can guarantee that Bush won’t do world tours attacking his country like Clinton and Carter seem to do on a regular basis. This is a wonderful man, gracious to the core…he has been reviled by a dingbat media who have abandoned any semblance of objectivity…how anyone can take them seriously anymore is beyond me.
It isn’t that the media didn’t report any of the good stuff about President Bush. But the people who edit the papers and the news broadcasts always seemed to downplay the positive and concentrate on the negative. The exact opposite of what we are seeing with Obama.
And the attitudes of these editors and senior news persons was echoed by the comedy writers who also share the same bias towards bad news and mockery over humorous and light hearted moments that portray President Bush in a more positive light.
And while many of us have been critical of President Bush’s decisions, we would also like to set the record straigth as he leaves office and offer a sympathetic view of his presidency.
I hope our readers have enjoyed the walk down memory lane.
Good riddance!!! It’ll take decades to undo the damage this inebriated dry-drunk has caused.
Tacky, James. Reflects badly only on you.
@james manning:
Clean up, aisle 4.
An admirable president for your America.
It’s sad and ridiculous that so many dumb americans cannot see what a great president Bush was, and instead go orgasmic over an inept marxist and liar like Obama.
I think I am watching the start of the slow decline of america.
James, I really thought you were something different, someone special.
Turns out, you’re just ordinary.
What a shame.
Different from what? It’s not as though you guys didn’t know what I think of Bush… I’m just happy to see him go. Anyway, now that that’s all over, I can get back to discussing football and 24… did they really kill the FBI agent? I was hoping she’d be around for a while. I like her.
Very nicely done, Wordsmith. Nice pictorial, nice honorarium.
BZ
Of course we knew how you feel about Bush, James Manning. Where you fell to a low amongst so many of your party is your ungracious, and unneccessary input to a thread dedicated to what the man did right, and did well in our opinion. You, however, just felt the need to sling mud just for the purpose of slinging mud. No point, no specifics. Just plain BDS.
Tsk tsk. I shall lower my expectations for you in the future.
Post has been updated with this photo essay from Time magazine. By way of The Anchoress.
Interesting look back. I was wondering if you know where I can download a copy of “Highlights of Accomplishments and Results: The Administration of George W. Bush, 2001-2009.” I spaced off downloading it and now the White House website has taken it down.
Malcolm!
Yeah, had I realized this would happen, I would have gone through and saved copies of the details.
@Malcolm on the Edge:
@Wordsmith:
Well.
Looky, looky what I found!
You magnificent bastard!
Thank you.
You’re welcome sir.
My theory (and it’s just a theory at this point) is that you can take the original broken link that no longer works and insert “z22.” in front of it following the “www.”
So, instead of “www.whitehouse.gov/thestuffiamlookingfor”
Make it “z22.whitehouse.gov/thestuffiamlookingfor”
They evidently moved the old site over to a server, or server path, named “z22”.
I’m looking for another broken link or two right now so that I can flesh out the theory.
OK, here’s a workaround that I found.
Google search “whitehouse.gov”
The first item in your search results will have an option which says “Search whitehouse.gov” and an empty text box.
Enter “z22” there and a huge wealth of information will be opened up to you.
From the search box on that page, add your key words and hit search again.
I’m off now to find the photograph pages to see if they are preserved there too.
Where’d you get the “z22” from? Did you apply it to your pdf link? Or noticing it, did you then extract it to apply elsewhere, to other links? Which came first? The Bunny or the Easter egg?
Sorry for the multiple postings on this subject.
Here is part of the old site.
Some of it is preserved intact even though the format has changed.
z22.whitehouse.gov
Do not use www. ahead of that.
holy balls! absolutely amazing. Thanks so much guys!!!
OK Wordsmith,
Here is my path of discovery reconstructed:
I started with a Google search page/box.
I entered:
“www.whitehouse.gov” (no quotes)
The first hit on that page is the White House site. That hit has a search box.
I entered “Highlights of Accomplishments and Results of the Administration of George W. Bush” (with quotes) and did my search.
After discovering the one search result was yet another broken link I clicked on the link below the search results which says “repeat the search with the omitted results included.”
When I clicked on that link it gave me two additional results, both of which had the “z22” prefix.
I then monkeyed around with the z22 to see how it fit.
Unfortunately, I have not yet had much luck getting to where the majority of the photos are stashed.
I have found pages and pages of photo captions but the photos are missing. (Some are there, most are not)
*******
Update
Some links that may be of value to you guys who are trying to track down your missing/broken stuff:
z22.whitehouse.gov
z22.whitehouse.gov/news/
z22.whitehouse.gov/infocus/
z22.whitehouse.gov/infocus/bushrecord/
Thanks for taking the time to do the sleuthing, Aye!
You’re welcome Word.
Glad to do it.
Here’s a great video I found on the archived White House site.
Unfortunately, there is no embed code that I could find.
http://z22.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2009/01/keeping.html
We’ll see if this works:
Unfortunately, I can’t seem to locate the “auto-start” to shut it off.
Okay and I tried to keep an open mind about this blog and former President Bush’s documents once I read them, but I have to say there is nothing more than partisan propaganda in his publications- which I expected, but hoped against.
The very FIRST bullet on Page One of “100 Things Americans May Not Know About the Bush Administration Record” reads: “Prevented another attack on our homeland for more than seven years after September 11, 2001”
The first thing on the second page of “Highlights of Accomplishments and Results: The Administration of George W. Bush, 2001-2009” states: “Protecting the American people is the President’s most solemn obligation. Since the terrorist attacks of 9/11, the President has carried with him a symbol of sacrifice and courage: a police shield given to him by the mother of an officer who died at the World Trade Center.”
There are many problems I have with the Bush administration, but I think the core of what was wrong with Bush lies in these two statements.
“Since 9/11.” It’s as if he thinks someone else was president on that horrible day. He (and his lackeys) blame the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 on Bill Clinton. President Clinton didn’t do enough to stop bin Laden. And Pres. Clinton is the first to admit he didn’t do enough. He didn’t catch bin Laden or kill him. He didn’t do enough. But neither did Pres. Bush. He did nothing in the eight months before the WTC attacks to stop them. And he still tries to pass the blame off onto Clinton and others. And while doing that, he puts the “national security” bullet on his “legacy” propaganda. National security was the first thing President Bush failed this country on.
I’m really sorry for ranting at you guys. I appreciate the help in finding these publications. This was more my frustration directed at the people that were in power for the past 8 years and certainly not you. Thanks again, and have a good new year.
Wordsmith: I tried adding the “autostart=false” attribute within the embed tag but it didn’t work.
There is a You Tube version of the video:
Thanks Aye for finding that and for also finding the link to the archived Bush WH web pages. We’ll be needing that link to restore some of our lost links now that the usurper has taken over.
http://z22.whitehouse.gov
P.S. Malcolm: Would you prefer Bush had NOT kept us safe since 9/11? Sounds to me like you are quibbling.
@Malcolm:
Could you please elaborate? I know those two statements, in and of themselves, are empty; but you don’t think they are backed up by concrete facts?
Here are a few things we know that could have happened, but didn’t:
-An attempt to bomb fuel tanks at JFK airport;
-A plot to blow up airliners bound for the East Coast;
-A plan to destroy the tallest skyscraper in Los Angeles;
-A plot by six al Qaeda inspired individuals to kill soldiers at Fort Dix Army Base in New Jersey;
-A plan to attack a Chicago-area shopping mall using grenades; and
-A plot to attack the Sears Tower in Chicago.
-Arrested and convicted more than two dozen terrorists and their supporters in America since 9/11.
-Froze the financial assets in the United States of hundreds of individuals and entities linked to terrorism and proliferation.
-Doubled the Border Patrol to more than 18,000 agents, equipped the Border Patrol with better technology and new infrastructure, and effectively ended the process of catch and release at the border. Increased border security and immigration enforcement funding by more than 160 percent and constructed hundreds of miles of fencing and vehicle barriers.
The story about the police shield is real. Photo extracted from my post:
Malcolm:
Some of his “lackeys”? Clinton-haters and right-wingers, yes. But President Bush? Don’t confuse the two. Tell me where he’s denied 9/11 happening on his watch, or pushed the blame on Clinton?
If President Bush deflects “blame”, then rightly so. It doesn’t mean he blames President Clinton for not doing enough during the previous 5+ years when the planning for 9/11 began. I don’t blame Clinton, btw; easy to see our failures in hindsight. Plenty of blame-handing to be spread around amongst various individuals, as well as our CIA and FBI agencies as a whole.
But speaking as a “Bush lackey”, there was no actionable intelligence in the much-ballyhooed PDB that mentions bin Laden planning attacks. Duh. Could it get any more vague, please?
And thanks to the late start this Administration had in the transition process (unlike the smooth transition experienced by the Obama team), what could President Bush have done, 9 months into office with some of his political appointments still not in key positions due to the 2000 election results and partisanship on the part of Senator Levin and others? For nearly 7 months, confirmation hearings for Feith and a couple of other top advisors for Rumsfeld wre held up. The incoming Pentagon policy team had no legal or political authority to do their jobs.
Malcolm, let go of your partisanship BS for one small moment: Could anyone- Gore, McCain, you name it- have averted 9/11? Or were we caught asleep at the wheel, as a country?
National security is the single-most defining issue of the Bush presidency. And it’s ridiculous that you don’t give him that credit, even if you choose to blame him and/or hold him accountable for 9/11 occurring on his watch. It is amazing that we have not experienced another 9/11 event on American soil; and in light of foiled plots and a decimated al-Qaeda delegitimized in the eyes of many Muslims, Bush deserves credit because it’s no accident. Liberals can rail away all they want to about the Patriot Act, NSA wiretaps, etc. But these programs have worked.
Thanks for being so polite and civil in expressing your disagreement.
Wordsmith, I stumbled upon this the other day:
Criminal Terrorism Enforcement Since 9/11/01
http://trac.syr.edu/tracreports/terrorism/report031208.html
It’s about the arrest, prosecution, and sentencing track record of terrorism related cases, there have been 6400 arrests up to the date of this report. I kept it because I was amazed that so few cases have made it to prosecution and the sentencing seemed light. If this is any evidence of what it will be like to bring any of the terrorists from Gitmo over here to try them, it won’t be good. IMO.