The Cloakroom: Was George W. Bush the worst president ever?

The Week: Is Bush’s re-emergence good for the Republican party?

Former President George W. Bush had an awkward exchange when asked what his relationship was like with former Vice President Dick Cheney since leaving the White House, Politico reports.

Said Bush: “You know it’s been cordial — but he lives in Washington and we live in Dallas. One of the saddest things about departing Washington is that you miss your pals and a lot of people were there for all eight years and I became good friends with them, like Vice President Cheney.”

Bush, apparently feeling the need to say more, continued: “You know, I just I don’t see him — much. And I don’t see many of the people I worked with much and it’s kind of sad. It’s great to be in Texas, however.”

George W. Bush “will return to the spotlight this week for the dedication of his presidential library, an event likely to trigger fresh public debate about his eight fateful years in office. But he reemerges with a better public image than when he left Washington more than four years ago,” the Washington Post reports.

“Since then, Bush has absented himself from both policy disputes and political battles. A new Washington Post-ABC News poll suggests that the passage of time and Bush’s relative invisibility have been beneficial to a chief executive who left office surrounded by controversy.”

“Days before his second term ended in 2009, Bush’s approval rating among all adults was 33 percent positive and 66 percent negative. The new poll found 47 percent saying they approve and 50 percent saying they disapprove.”

New York Times: “In a new brick-and-limestone museum, visitors to an interactive theater will be presented with the stark choices that confronted the nation’s 43rd president: invade Iraq or leave Saddam Hussein in power? Deploy federal troops after Hurricane Katrina or rely on local forces? Bail out Wall Street or let the banks fail?”

“The hypothetical exercise, which includes touch screens that let users watch videos of ‘advisers’ before voting on whether they would make the same choices that Mr. Bush did, revisits the most consequential moments of his administration. In the process, the country is being asked to re-evaluate the two-term president who presided over some of the most tumultuous years in the nation’s history.”

As George W. Bush prepares for a public appearance — along with the other living presidents, past and present — at the dedication of his presidential library in Dallas next week, a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll finds he remains unpopular with the American public.

Just 35% of Americans view Bush favorably, versus 44% who view him negatively.

“People are surprised. Of course, some people are surprised I can even read.”

— George W. Bush, talking to the Dallas Morning News about his painting.

“I don’t know. You’ll have to call all the people who’ve written these books about me, who claim they know me, the psycho-babblers.”

— George W. Bush, in an interview with the Dallas Morning News, when asked why he’s taken up painting since his retirement from politics.

Two sources close to the Bush family have told National Journal that George W. Bush quietly underwent back surgery several months ago to deal with a nagging disc problem.

Politico reports the federal government “spent nearly $3.7 million on former presidents last year. That covers a $200,000 pension, compensation and benefits for office staff, and other costs like travel, office space and postage.”

“The costliest former president? George W. Bush, who clocked in at just over $1.3 million. That includes almost $400,000 for 8,000 square feet of office space and $85,000 in telephone costs.”

McClatchy: “After 2 1/2 years of construction — and several years of planning — work on the George W. Bush Presidential Center on the edge of Southern Methodist University is down to the finishing touches.”

“Workers are busy arranging exhibits, beginning the last phase of landscaping and addressing other final details before the center, a tribute to the 43rd president, is unveiled to an invitation-only audience April 25 and to the general public May 1.”

“He is like the most focused, disciplined guy. To imagine being a former
president and not having an opinion on anything over the last four
years, really? I
mean, to have that discipline, to be respectful of the president that
hasn’t been as respectful of him as he should have been? Man. I could
have never done that.”

— Jeb Bush, in a CNN interview, on his brother, former President George W. Bush.

Gawker “has obtained more photographs of George W. Bush’s paintings,
originally taken from the former president and his family’s email
accounts by a hacker using the name ‘Guccifer,’ and this may be the most
interesting batch yet.”

On the 10th anniversary of the Iraq war, Gawker published former President George W. Bush’s private email address.

Texas A&M university students surprised former President H.W. Bush with a flash mob.

[Read more…]

George Prescott Bush filed the official paperwork to run for Texas land commissioner next year — and put out a campaign video — “hoping to use a little-known but powerful post to continue his family’s political dynasty in one of the country’s most-conservative states,” the Dallas Morning News reports.

[Read more…]

“He has such a passion for painting, it’s amazing. He’s going to go down in the history books as a great artist.”

— Artist Bonnie Flood, quoted by Fox 5 Atlanta, on teaching former President George W. Bush how to paint.

Rep. Mike Conway (R-TX) has asked for a “reconnaissance survey” of the Bush family home in Midland, Texas in an effort to turn the property into a part of the National Park Service, the Abilene Reporter News reports.

The Bush family lived in the home for four years, from 1951 to 1955.

Samuel Goldman: “It takes a long time for political parties to recover from defeat. Since winning suggests that they’re doing something right, it takes even longer to recover from victory. Because it reassured Republicans that aggressive war, fiscal policies that favor the rich, and the ideologically-inspired transformation of beloved domestic programs were fundamentally popular, the re-election of George W. Bush in 2004 was like a drug that relieves symptoms without treating the underlying disease. Conservative intellectuals must help the GOP break its dependence on these dangerous nostrums — and its continuing allegiance to the doctor who prescribed them.”