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President George W. Bush meets with former Presidents George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter and President-elect Barack Obama Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2009 in the Oval Office of the White House. White House photo by Eric Draper. PRESIDENT BUSH: I want to thank the President-elect for joining the ex-Presidents for lunch. And one message that I have and I think we all share is that we want you to succeed. Whether we're Democrat or Republican, we care deeply about this country. And to the extent we can, we look forward to sharing our experiences with you. All of...

President Bush will leave office with an approval rating of under 30 percent, and the Republican Party is not faring much better. In the past two elections, it has shed more than 50 House seats and more than a dozen Senate seats. The conservative label, though, does not appear to have taken much of a beating. On Election Day 2008, exit polls showed that more voters still identify themselves as conservatives than as liberals. Conservatives can thus spare themselves the kind of re-branding liberals felt compelled to attempt earlier in the decade when they dubbed themselves “progressives.” Precisely what is...

The President was honored with a Military Appreciation Parade at Fort Myer, Arlington, Virginia TranscriptFirst Lady Laura received the Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service from Defense Secretary Robert Gates,The President discussed Conservation and the Environment in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building TranscriptVice President Dick Cheney administered the Senate Oath to reelected senators Enjoy your visit to Sanity Island

George W. Bush first president in history not to get lifetime Secret Service security detail President George W. Bush will be the first president in history not to receive lifetime Secret Service protection, according to McClatchey. Instead, he will only receive the protection for only 10 years due to a law that states that any president elected after January 1, 1997 and/or his or her spouse will only get Secret Service protection for 10 years. "He'll be the first one to receive it for 10 years," Malcolm Wiley, Secret Service spokesman told McClatchey. The Bushes life post-White House seems pretty...

About a decade ago, when he was vice president, Al Gore explained that our national motto, e pluribus unum, means "from one, many." This was a sad day for knowledge of Latin among our political elite—and after all those expensive private schools that Gore had been packed off to by his paterfamilias. It was the kind of flagrant mistranslation that, had it been committed by a Republican, say George W. Bush or Dan Quayle, would have been a gaffe heard round the world. But the media didn't play up the slip, perhaps because they had seen Gore's Harvard grades and...

First Lady Laura Bush snagged a seven-figure deal to write her life story for the Scribner imprint of Simon & Schuster. Bush is said to have received an advance of $1.6 million, according to one well-placed publishing source - although another source said it might have been "a little higher than that." The advance is said to be far below the $8 million that Hillary Clinton received from Simon & Schuster for "Living History," which became a runaway bestseller, moving more than 2.5 million copies. Instead, it's more in line with memoirs penned by Nancy Reagan and mother-in-law Barbara Bush,...

President George W. Bush departs with low approval ratings. Appraisals of presidents sometimes change over time, and sometimes they don’t. *snip* No doubt the Internet dervishes will pepper this and other assessments of Bush with their standard displays of anonymous ferocity. There are a lot of 14-year-olds with Internet connections. But when the Jon Meacham of 150 years from now goes about his task with Bush, that historian will have as much material and more, as did the author of “American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House.” And the verdict will be nearly the same: Here was an extraordinary...

President George W. Bush's "after-life," as Laura Bush calls the post-presidency, is shaping up to be pretty comfortable, with a Dallas office, staffers, Secret Service protection, a travel budget, medical coverage and a $196,700 annual pension, all at taxpayers' expense. However, Bush will be the first president not to benefit from one former lifetime benefit: Secret Service protection. "He'll be the first one to receive it for 10 years," said Malcolm Wiley, Secret Service spokesman. Congress changed the law in the 1990s so that any president elected after Jan. 1, 1997, and his or her spouse will receive the federal...

As GWB prepares to leave office, I think history will treat him much as it does now Harry Truman: A plain spoken humble man who made the really tough decisions and left office with abysmally low poll ratings. There were four major policy decisions of GWB I personally never liked: 1) No Child Left Behind--Whatever happened to the concept that public education is supposed to be a state and local issue, not a federal issue, at least according to the U.S. Constitution? Besides it was way too costly. 2) Prescriptions Drugs Medicare Part D--How much is this greatest entitlement program...

WASHINGTON – Hurricane Katrina not only pulverized the Gulf Coast in 2005, it knocked the bully pulpit out from under President George W. Bush, according to two former advisers who spoke candidly about the political impact of the government's poor handling of the natural disaster. "Katrina to me was the tipping point," said Matthew Dowd, Bush's pollster and chief strategist for the 2004 presidential campaign. "The president broke his bond with the public. Once that bond was broken, he no longer had the capacity to talk to the American public. State of the Union addresses? It didn't matter. Legislative initiatives?...

~snip~ Widely seen as his biggest foreign policy error, the decision to invade Iraq could ultimately prove to have been a masterstroke. Today the world is witnessing the birth of the first truly democratic state in the Middle East outside of Israel. Over eight million voted in Iraq's parliamentary elections in 2005, and the region's first free Muslim society may become a reality. Iraq might not be Turkey, but it is a powerful demonstration that freedom can flourish in the embers of the most brutal and barbaric of dictatorships. The success of the surge in Iraq will go down in...

For Immediate ReleaseOffice of the Press SecretaryDecember 23, 2008 President's Radio Address   President's Radio Address  Audio  En Español       Holidays at the White House 2008 THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. This week, millions of Americans gather with loved ones for Christmas. This is a season of hope and joy. And it is an occasion to remember a humble birth that has helped shape the world for more than two thousand years. One of the things that makes Christmas special is that it allows us to step back and take stock of what is truly meaningful in our lives. As years pass by,...

Barack Obama is no George W. Bush. Barack Obama with US Marines in Kailua, Hawaii. Obama, on vacation in Hawaii, made a Christmas Day stop at a Marine Corps base in Hawaii, where he greeted troops and their family members during holiday dinner. (AFP/Tim Sloan) Barack Obama visited US Marines in Hawaii on Christmas. ...He was met with silence. Political Punch and PL Forum reported: President-elect Obama stopped by the Marine Corps base in Hawaii Kaneche Bay where servicemen and -women were eating Christmas dinner in Kailua Thursday evening. “Just wanted to say hi, hey guys,” Obama said as he...

Considering that it’s published in the UK, the Telegraph is a great American newspaper. Today, hosting Nile Gardiner on the vision and action of the much-reviled George Bush, champion of western values: Much of the condemnation of his policies though is driven by a venomous hatred of Bush’s personality and leadership style, rather than an objective assessment of his achievements. Ten or twenty years from now, historians will view Bush’s actions on the world stage in a more favourable light. America’s 43rd president did after all directly liberate more people (over 60 million) from tyranny than any leader since Winston...

George Bush, Protectionist by Patrick J. Buchanan (more by this author) Posted 12/26/2008 ET "I've abandoned free-market principles to save the free-market system," President Bush told CNN, defending his offer of $17 billion in loans to the Big Three "to make sure the economy doesn't collapse." Thus did Bush concede that protectionism, if a critical U.S. industry is in peril, must trump free-trade ideology. For in offering the bailout to GM, Ford and Chrysler, Bush, by omission, excluded BMW, Mercedes, Honda, Toyota, Nissan and Hyundai -- though all operate auto plants here in the United States and all are...

WASHINGTON: President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney have been unusually talkative in recent weeks, sharing candid thoughts in a string of exit interviews. But after eight years of a tight partnership that gave Cheney powerful influence inside the White House, the two are sounding strikingly different notes as they leave office, especially on one of the most fundamental issues of their tenure: their aggressive response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Bush defends his decisions as necessary to keep the nation safe, yet sounds reflective, even chastened. He has expressed regrets about not achieving an overhaul of...

The Bush hatred we are seeing in the media today belongs in the long catalogue of human psychopathology -- not rational behavior. The latest version is the shoe-throwing incident in Iraq. Iraq happens to be a hot war zone, in which tens of thousands of innocent people have been killed by hidden bombs. Bush' protective detail had no way of knowing whether an assassinaton attempt was under way, in just the way Saddam tried to assassinate George H.W. Bush, Sr. At the end of his two terms of office, the President flew to Iraq, into harm's way, knowing the dangers,...

A remarkable 32% of Americans choose Barack Obama as the man they most admire living anywhere in the world today, putting him in the No. 1 position on Gallup's annual Most Admired Man list. Hillary Clinton earns the top spot for Most Admired Woman, named by 20%. No one comes close to matching Obama in percentage mentions on this year's list of most admired men, based on a Dec. 12-14 USA Today/Gallup poll. By contrast, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin makes a strong showing in second place for Most Admired Woman, garnering 11% of all mentions.

With only 26 days left to harangue, mock and bash President Bush, some of our colleagues in the media aren't wasting a day. Bashing ex-presidents, except for the ex-presidents with shrill prominent wives, isn't nearly as much fun as bashing while he's still the real thing. There's method in the gladness at the New York Times, which relieved itself at the beginning of Christmas week with an umpity-thousand word accusation - beginning on Page One and continuing across several acres of newsprint inside - that George W. Bush invented the meltdown of the subprime housing market, which in turn has...

You remember the Bible story in Genesis 41 about the fat cows and the lean cows, representing years of plenty and years of famine? And how Joseph wisely proposed to Pharaoh that he store up the extra during the time of plenty to get the nation through the time of famine? Liberals sure don’t. Too bad they don’t bother with the Bible; it’s wisdom would have helped out a lot right about now. The media would never dream of telling you this, but 3/4ths of the Bush presidency - in spite of being handed an economy already stumbling into recession,...

A fairly balanced analysis of how Bush will probably be remembered in the future. It is a Bloomberg article so it cannot be directly posted on FreeRepublic. The article is linked on DrudgeReport.

WASHINGTON – Before leaving for the holidays, President Bush on Tuesday commuted the prison sentence of a drug offender and granted 19 pardons, including one to a man who helped the Jewish resistance in the 1940s. With this latest batch, which includes forgiveness for convictions ranging from gun and drug violations to bank and mail fraud, Bush has granted a total of 191 pardons and nine commutations. That's fewer than half as many as Presidents Clinton or Reagan issued during their two terms. Included in the latest list is Charles Winters, who is considered a hero in Israel. Winters, who...

As the year draws to an end and President Bush enters his final month in office, there is much commentary about the Administration's record over the past eight years. Unsurprisingly, many of these stories assail and distort the President's record and recycle myths and unfounded allegations that have been leveled for the better part of his two terms. Historical accuracy requires a response to the litany of attacks leveled against President Bush, and while there's not enough space to respond to all of them, here are five of the most egregious:

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The Bush administration has finalized the new rules that protect both medical professionals and medical staff who don’t want to be involved in abortions or abortion referrals. The Department of Health and Human Services released the final rule that will go into effect on January 20. The new regulations are intended to clarify and enforce existing federal laws that protect the choices of health care providers who have moral objections to abortion. The regulation clarifies and implements existing federal statutes enacted by Congress in 1973, 1996 and 2004.The federal laws, which protect the conscience of...

Bush on His Record The president defends his democracy agenda and his economic interventionism. By KIMBERLEY A. STRASSEL Air Force One As he sits at his mile-high desk, clad in his Air Force One crew jacket, George W. Bush is as he has ever been: upbeat, focused, confident in his past decisions and in the future. [The Weekend Interview] Terry Shoffner This is remarkable given the up and downs -- lately downs -- of his administration. Through it all, the president has acted on his own convictions, a trait that has inspired both violent critics and passionate defenders. In a...

Bush Shares Bittersweet Memories By DAVID STOUT WASHINGTON — President Bush shared some bittersweet reflections on Thursday as he looked back fondly on his White House days, but regretted his inability to win passage of immigration legislation and to change the tone of debate in the capital. “Reflections by a guy who’s headed out of town,” Mr. Bush called his musings in a question-answer session at the American Enterprise Institute. “An old sage at 62 ... headed to retirement.” The president, who has described himself as uncomfortable with introspection, loosened up considerably before a friendly audience. Better to have tried...

To my Conservative Friends: I have to hand it to our Commander-in-Chief, he is one amazing person. I don't know about the rest of you, but there is no way in hell, I would be able to show the restraint and dignity this President has shown after being totally dis-respected the way he has been for the past 8 years. This past weekend, I am sure everyone has heard of the show-throwing incident in President Bush's final visit to the country he liberated from a tyrannical dictator some 5 years ago. And if you didn't see it, I'm sure you...

“Skippyjip,” who says he is not a huge fan of Will Ferrell’s, calls a rehearsal version of Ferrell’s upcoming stage show about George W. Bush “well-crafted,” “smart” and “very, very funny.” Co-written by Ferrell and his “SNL”/“Anchorman” collaborator Adam McKay, it opens Jan. 20 and closes March 15. HBO will telecast it live, likely on or near closing night. I love that they’ve already got a guy throwing shoes from the audience! Hey Harry, Long time reader, but this is my first scoop/review. I just saw a staged reading of an early version of Will Ferrell’s new one man Broadway...

As we observe the scandal surrounding Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, arrested for attempting to sell the U.S. Senate seat formerly belonging to President-elect Barack Obama to the highest bidder, and think of what it portends for the next four years, it causes me to be grateful for the two most important things President Bush has accomplished during his tenure. The first is that there has been absolutely no hint of the scandal, soap opera or three-ring circus that had been a daily suffering under President Clinton. The dignity and the prestige of the office of the presidency were restored, and...

In certain instances, firearms can be brought into U.S. national parks Not everyone was ecstatic about a decision earlier this month, but count the National Rifle Association membership among the elated civil libertarians. The cause for applause coming from the NRA and other gun-rights advocates was a decision by the U.S. Department of the Interior that loosens 25-year-old restrictions on firearms within national parks and federal wildlife refuges. The department ruled that federal law regarding the carrying and transportation of firearms should conform to state law. Thus, concealed carry will be allowed in national parks and wildlife refuges located in...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 15, 2008 – Afghanistan is making progress, and despite challenges, it can rely on America to help it defeat terrorists and grow its fledgling democracy, President George W. Bush told Afghan President Hamid Karzai in the capital city of Kabul today. “There’s been good progress made, but there are a lot of tough challenges” ahead in Afghanistan, said Bush, who made a surprise visit to Afghanistan following his unannounced visit to Baghdad yesterday. “I told the president that you can count on the United States -- just like you’ve been able to count on this administration, you’ll...

Just caught the tail end of a breaking report on Fox that President Bush has arrived in Afghanistan after his surprise trip to Iraq.

Five years ago this week, something remarkable happened, which has been conveniently forgotten: On December 13, 2003, one of history’s worst dictators, Saddam Hussein, was captured by U.S. troops. America awakened to the news on Sunday, December 14, as a grateful President George W. Bush readied for church. In fact, the secular left had become so ferocious, so emotional, and so uncharitable that Bush decided to skip church to avoid images of going to a house of worship just after Saddam’s capture. His staff feared a New York Times editorial with a title to the effect, “Bush Thanks Jesus After...

BAGHDAD -- President George W. Bush on Sunday made a farewell visit to Iraq, a place that defines his presidency, just 37 days before he hands the war off to a successor who has pledged to end it

(SNIP) By the time he vacates the White House, he will have issued a record number of so-called 'midnight regulations' - so called because of the stealthy way they appear on the rule books - to undermine the administration of Barack Obama, many of which could take years to undo. (SNIP)

The 2008 White House holiday card, produced in Lawrence by Hallmark Cards Inc. with art by T. Allen Lawson. The inside of the 2008 White House holiday card, produced in Lawrence by Hallmark Cards Inc.

DALLAS - George W. Bush's presidential library domain name has been retrieved after a Web developing company accidentally let it expire — and it apparently came at a high price. Raleigh, N.C.-based Illuminati Karate paid less than $10 for the http://www.GeorgeWBushLibrary.com domain name and sold it back earlier this year for $35,000 to the library's contracted Web developers, Yuma Solutions, said George Huger, lead Web developer for Illuminati Karate.

President George W. Bush said his belief that God created the world is not incompatible with scientific proof of evolution. In an interview with ABC's "Nightline" on Monday, the president also said he probably is not a literalist when reading the Bible although an individual can learn a great deal from it, including the New Testament teaching that God sent his only son. About creation and evolution, Bush said: "I think you can have both. I think evolution can — you're getting me way out of my lane here. I'm just a simple president. But it's, I think that God...

Conservatism needs a fresh start. It is losing arguments ... and it is losing elections. One person, more than any other (even more than John McCain), has caused this: President George W. Bush. Conservatives have not been winning arguments -- or elections -- by defending President Bush and his record. We have been, repeatedly, thumped rhetorically and electorally in our efforts to support his policies. It is time for conservatives to move on.

For Immediate ReleaseOffice of the Press SecretaryDecember 6, 2008 President's Radio Address   President's Radio Address  Audio  En Español       In Focus: Defense      In Focus: IraqTHE PRESIDENT: Good morning. This weekend I'm attending the Army-Navy game in Philadelphia, and I'm looking forward to a great day of college football. But more importantly, I'm looking forward to spending time with the brave men and women of the United States military. Throughout the past eight years, I've seen the tremendous talent and courage of those who wear the uniform. Their efforts have overthrown tyrants, made our Nation safer, put terrorists on the run, and...

I can see it now. The world will be very different. The president of the United States will receive the Nobel Peace Prize for his lifesaving aid to victims of disease in Africa. Government and civic leaders from Europe and Asia will express their admiration. Americans will walk a little taller. Barack Obama will bow his head as the ribboned medal is extended But wait. The president who deserves such an honor is in office now. It is George W. Bush who has devoted so much time, energy, and money (well, our money, but it was legal) to fighting AIDS...

This is the Texas home that George W. Bush has purchased for his fast-approaching post-White House years. The home, on a Dallas cul-de-sac, sits on 1.13 acres and offers 8501 square feet of living space, according to city appraisal records. The property was purchased for $2.07 million in early-October by Robert McCleskey, the president's accountant, who is listed as trustee on deed records. Built in 1959, the home has been improved with a detached garage (1150 square feet), servants quarters (896 square feet), and a storage building (240 square feet). (Photo at link)

WASHINGTON -- First Lady Laura Bush said Wednesday the first couple would be spending their Christmas money on Texas real estate for what she referred to as the "afterlife" - the time when they leave the White House in January after her husband's eight years in office. The couple will be buying a house in Dallas, with plans to spend weekends at their ranch in Crawford."This year, we're going to be very, very careful at Christmas. I suspect that a lot of other American families will be the same," Laura Bush said. "We're going to try to be with each...

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - The White House on Wednesday announced its theme for festivities this Christmas, which will be the last one President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush are to spend at the White House. This year's theme, "A Red, White and Blue Christmas," commemorates the "patriotic spirit that unites us as Americans," the first lady's press secretary, Sally Mcdonough, said in a statement. Bush and the First Lady are expected to welcome more than 60,000 visitors this holiday season. The White House has been filled with decorations for the tours, including two 13-foot tall statues of...

Looking back on his eight years in the White House, President George W. Bush pinpointed incorrect intelligence that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction as "biggest regret of all the presidency." President sits down with ABC's Charles Gibson for an exit interview."I think I was unprepared for war," Bush told ABC News' Charlie Gibson in an interview airing today on "World News." Despite failed intelligence and accusations of mismanaging the war, Bush said his decision not to prematurely . . .

ABC will broadcast an interview with George Bush that begins nine weeks of valedictory messages from the outgoing President — and he has a few things to get off of his chest before Barack Obama takes the oath of office. Bush tells Charlie Gibson that he came into office “unprepared for war,” and that he regrets the faulty intelligence of Saddam Hussein’s WMD. However, he refused to say whether he would have done anything differently had the intelligence been more correct:

President George W. Bush Says He Will Leave Office With 'Head Held High' Looking back on his eight years in the White House, President George W. Bush said he was "unprepared" for war and pinpointed incorrect intelligence that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction as "biggest regret of all the presidency." "I think I was unprepared for war," Bush told ABC News' Charlie Gibson in an interview airing today on "World News." "In other words, I didn't campaign and say, 'Please vote for me, I'll be able to handle an attack,'" he said. "In other words, I...

MUMBAI, India-President George W. Bush is sending Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to India in the wake of the terrorist attacks that killed nearly 200 people, including six Americans. White House press secretary Dana Perino says that Rice is scheduled to leave Sunday night for London for a NATO meeting and then will travel to New Delhi on Wednesday. Perino says that Rice's visit to India is, in her words, "a further demonstration of the United States' commitment to stand in solidarity with the people of India." Earlier Sunday, Bush assured India's leader that the U.S. government will put its...

Amid the cold gusts of winter, Republicans will soon be ushered out of power after controlling Congress, the White House, or both for 14 years. Here's a further chilling thought: Since 1896, with only one exception, when a party has taken over the White House, it has held it for at least eight years. The exception is the Jimmy Carter Democrats, retired after a single term in 1981. And it would be churlish to hope that Barack Obama will recapitulate the ineptitude and foolishness of the Nobel laureate from Plains. So it could be eight years on the outside of...

With the U.S. economy in crisis, George W. Bush’s already slumping popularity levels have sagged even deeper. This summer, his own political party kept him away from its national convention in St. Paul. The President himself has been reduced to wistful hopes that history will somehow justify him. At this low point, some counterbalance: 1) Even as you read this, Indian commandos are waging a deadly urban battle against Islamic terrorists. Those soldiers have almost certainly trained with U.S. Rangers or Marines — part of an intensifying U.S.-India security partnership that has been one of the most signal foreign policy...