Outgoing President George W. Bush said a mostly private good-bye to Washington, the capital he never fully embraced, then returned to a warm public welcome in Midland, the West Texas oil town he's always called home.
Mr. Bush offered a sometimes-emotional accounting of himself in speaking to an enthusiastic crowd in Midland Tuesday evening. "I gave it my all," Mr. Bush said, his voice growing husky. "Sometimes what I did wasn't popular, but that's OK. I always did what I thought was right."
Mr. Bush and former First Lady Laura Bush were planning to spend Tuesday night and the next few days at their Crawford, Texas, ranch, as they prepare to move into their newly purchased home in Dallas.
Mr. Bush offered a sometimes-emotional accounting of himself in speaking to an enthusiastic crowd in Midland Tuesday evening. "I gave it my all," Mr. Bush said, his voice growing husky. "Sometimes what I did wasn't popular, but that's OK. I always did what I thought was right."
Mr. Bush and former First Lady Laura Bush were planning to spend Tuesday night and the next few days at their Crawford, Texas, ranch, as they prepare to move into their newly purchased home in Dallas.
With President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama waving from the Capitol steps, Mr. and Mrs. Bush departed Washington via a Marine helicopter just before 1 p.m. on Tuesday, heading for Andrews Air Force Base following Tuesday's noontime inauguration. At Andrews, the Bushes got a private sendoff from hundreds of cheering aides and supporters inside the cavern-like Air Force One hangar.
Mr. Bush told the crowd he was "thankful, grateful and I am joyful" for the opportunity to serve, according to an aide who was present, and said he also is "thankful to now be known as 'Citizen Bush.'"
He concluded by telling aides they should go out with heads held high. "We did not shirk our duty," Mr. Bush said. "We led with conviction."
Mr. Bush told the crowd he was "thankful, grateful and I am joyful" for the opportunity to serve, according to an aide who was present, and said he also is "thankful to now be known as 'Citizen Bush.'"
He concluded by telling aides they should go out with heads held high. "We did not shirk our duty," Mr. Bush said. "We led with conviction."
Then, with Mrs. Bush and other family members, Mr. Bush boarded the familiar blue-and-white presidential aircraft for a final ride home. The Bushes were accompanied on the trip by a core group of aides who helped Mr. Bush narrowly win two terms as president and achieve some notable policy successes – but also lead the nation through some of America's toughest times in recent decades, including the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, two wars, recessions, a financial meltdown and a devastating hurricane.
In recent weeks, tired Bush administration staffers occasionally indulged in fatalistic humor about the administration's seeming run of adversity. In a final insult on Monday, Vice President Dick Cheney strained his back as he moved boxes in his McLean, Va., house. He attended Tuesday's events in a wheelchair, a cane across his lap. A protest march by shoe-hurling antiwar activists went almost unnoticed.
As vast crowds in Washington cheered the new president Tuesday afternoon, Mr. and Mrs. Bush and their supporters were flying back to Texas. On board, they watched a surprise 30-minute video including clips of speeches and memorable moments, as well as comments by aides – some funny, some sad. Mr. and Mrs. Bush spent the rest of the flight walking around the plane's cabins chatting, as supporters dined on crabcakes and sipped beers.
In recent weeks, tired Bush administration staffers occasionally indulged in fatalistic humor about the administration's seeming run of adversity. In a final insult on Monday, Vice President Dick Cheney strained his back as he moved boxes in his McLean, Va., house. He attended Tuesday's events in a wheelchair, a cane across his lap. A protest march by shoe-hurling antiwar activists went almost unnoticed.
As vast crowds in Washington cheered the new president Tuesday afternoon, Mr. and Mrs. Bush and their supporters were flying back to Texas. On board, they watched a surprise 30-minute video including clips of speeches and memorable moments, as well as comments by aides – some funny, some sad. Mr. and Mrs. Bush spent the rest of the flight walking around the plane's cabins chatting, as supporters dined on crabcakes and sipped beers.
Approaching Midland, the presidential jet flew low over the city's downtown, so the occupants could get a look at the crowd -- and the crowd, estimated at about 20,000, could get a look at the big plane.
"Tonight I have the privilege of saying six words I've been waiting to say for a while -- it is good to be home," Mr. Bush said. As he often does, he credited his Midland upbringing with instilling the values that he relied on as president.
"I left with the same values that I took to Washington eight years ago," he said. When he looks in the mirror tonight, he added, "I'm not going to regret what I see, except maybe some gray hair."
Mr. Bush grew up and attended school in the city, the economic center of the Permian Basin oil patch, while his father worked there in the oil business in the 1950s. He returned in the mid-1970s, after receiving his MBA from Harvard, and met and married his wife there. Many in the city still regard him as a native son.
"It's definitely because of his values -- West Texas values -- that the support for him remains so strong," said Mayor Wes Perry. "That's something we can all identify with."
At the George W. Bush Childhood Home, a modest olive green bungalow that has been turned into a tourist attraction, Bush fans were lined up Tuesday morning trying to get free tickets to the Midland welcome-home event. Some were buying bumper stickers declaring Midland "Bush Country."
"People are so proud of the president and what he has accomplished. We still love him here in Midland," said Paul St. Hilaire, the home's executive director.
Not everyone agreed. "Bush could have done better," said Herman Harris, a former Midland police officer turned oilfield worker. "The only thing I really regret is Iraq. We lost a lot of young men over there."
Mr. Bush held a departure ceremony in Midland when he left Texas for his first inauguration in 2001, and he vowed at the time that he would return when he was finished serving as president. Tuesday's ceremony at Centennial Plaza, Midland's equivalent of a town square, represented the culmination of Mr. Bush's sometimes arduous political journey.
If Mr. Bush was suffering any fatigue or self-doubt, it wasn't evident from his final days and hours in office.
After the president's farewell address to the nation on Thursday, the Bushes gathered with their family at Camp David for a final time over the weekend. It was a chance to enjoy the peace and quiet of the western Maryland mountains once more, and also gave White House staff a chance to do some of the preparations needed before the Obamas' move-in on Tuesday.
Past and current Bush staffers attended a final gathering of 600 or so on Sunday night at the Spanish Ballroom, a 1930s dance hall maintained by the National Park Service in Washington's Maryland suburbs. Mr. Bush, an early riser, stayed for all of five minutes, long enough to thank the attendees and tell them how proud he was of them. He left around 8:50 p.m. so he could be back at the White House before 9:30 p.m.
When aides returned to work at the White House on Monday morning, the big action photos of the president and First Lady that covered the walls were largely gone.
In his West Wing offices on Monday, Mr. Bush made a round of goodbye calls to world leaders, from Russia's Vladimir Putin to Georgia's Mikheil Saakashvili, Taro Aso of Japan, Lee Myung-bak of South Korea, Gordon Brown of the U.K., Nicolas Sarkozy of France, Angela Merkel of Germany and Silvio Berlusconi of Italy.
Former President Bill Clinton famously stayed up late into the night on his final day, working on last-minute issues including dozens of pardons. On Monday evening, by contrast, Mr. Bush had dinner in the White House with his father and mother, wife and daughters and sister Doro, then went to bed at his usual hour, a senior official said.
Mr. Bush issued just two pardons on Monday, and none on his final day.
On Tuesday morning, Mr. Bush got up early again and had a final round of intelligence briefings. The first family held a last meeting with the staff of the White House residence. Then it was time to greet the arriving president-elect and his family.
On the North Portico of the White House at about 9:55 a.m., Mr. Bush shook hands warmly with Mr. Obama, gently wheeling him around for photographers. Then they disappeared together into the White House, where the families would have the traditional Inauguration Day coffee in the ceremonial oval Blue Room.
Later at the Capitol, Mr. Bush appeared cheerful, if subdued, as he greeted well-wishers. Mrs. Bush seemed more relaxed. "Hey, everybody!" she said as she walked onto the dais. Onlookers in the crowd occasionally booed the outgoing president when he appeared on jumbo TV screens.
Following the inauguration ceremonies, the Obamas and Bushes walked together to the Capitol steps, chatting amiably. The couples bade farewell to the Cheneys, who departed in a black White House limousine.
Then it was the Bushes' turn. They walked with the new president and first lady a few yards to the waiting Marine helicopter. Mr. Bush and Mr. Obama shook hands and clasped arms. Then the Bushes boarded the helicopter and with a quick wave they were off.
"Tonight I have the privilege of saying six words I've been waiting to say for a while -- it is good to be home," Mr. Bush said. As he often does, he credited his Midland upbringing with instilling the values that he relied on as president.
"I left with the same values that I took to Washington eight years ago," he said. When he looks in the mirror tonight, he added, "I'm not going to regret what I see, except maybe some gray hair."
Mr. Bush grew up and attended school in the city, the economic center of the Permian Basin oil patch, while his father worked there in the oil business in the 1950s. He returned in the mid-1970s, after receiving his MBA from Harvard, and met and married his wife there. Many in the city still regard him as a native son.
"It's definitely because of his values -- West Texas values -- that the support for him remains so strong," said Mayor Wes Perry. "That's something we can all identify with."
At the George W. Bush Childhood Home, a modest olive green bungalow that has been turned into a tourist attraction, Bush fans were lined up Tuesday morning trying to get free tickets to the Midland welcome-home event. Some were buying bumper stickers declaring Midland "Bush Country."
"People are so proud of the president and what he has accomplished. We still love him here in Midland," said Paul St. Hilaire, the home's executive director.
Not everyone agreed. "Bush could have done better," said Herman Harris, a former Midland police officer turned oilfield worker. "The only thing I really regret is Iraq. We lost a lot of young men over there."
Mr. Bush held a departure ceremony in Midland when he left Texas for his first inauguration in 2001, and he vowed at the time that he would return when he was finished serving as president. Tuesday's ceremony at Centennial Plaza, Midland's equivalent of a town square, represented the culmination of Mr. Bush's sometimes arduous political journey.
If Mr. Bush was suffering any fatigue or self-doubt, it wasn't evident from his final days and hours in office.
After the president's farewell address to the nation on Thursday, the Bushes gathered with their family at Camp David for a final time over the weekend. It was a chance to enjoy the peace and quiet of the western Maryland mountains once more, and also gave White House staff a chance to do some of the preparations needed before the Obamas' move-in on Tuesday.
Past and current Bush staffers attended a final gathering of 600 or so on Sunday night at the Spanish Ballroom, a 1930s dance hall maintained by the National Park Service in Washington's Maryland suburbs. Mr. Bush, an early riser, stayed for all of five minutes, long enough to thank the attendees and tell them how proud he was of them. He left around 8:50 p.m. so he could be back at the White House before 9:30 p.m.
When aides returned to work at the White House on Monday morning, the big action photos of the president and First Lady that covered the walls were largely gone.
In his West Wing offices on Monday, Mr. Bush made a round of goodbye calls to world leaders, from Russia's Vladimir Putin to Georgia's Mikheil Saakashvili, Taro Aso of Japan, Lee Myung-bak of South Korea, Gordon Brown of the U.K., Nicolas Sarkozy of France, Angela Merkel of Germany and Silvio Berlusconi of Italy.
Former President Bill Clinton famously stayed up late into the night on his final day, working on last-minute issues including dozens of pardons. On Monday evening, by contrast, Mr. Bush had dinner in the White House with his father and mother, wife and daughters and sister Doro, then went to bed at his usual hour, a senior official said.
Mr. Bush issued just two pardons on Monday, and none on his final day.
On Tuesday morning, Mr. Bush got up early again and had a final round of intelligence briefings. The first family held a last meeting with the staff of the White House residence. Then it was time to greet the arriving president-elect and his family.
On the North Portico of the White House at about 9:55 a.m., Mr. Bush shook hands warmly with Mr. Obama, gently wheeling him around for photographers. Then they disappeared together into the White House, where the families would have the traditional Inauguration Day coffee in the ceremonial oval Blue Room.
Later at the Capitol, Mr. Bush appeared cheerful, if subdued, as he greeted well-wishers. Mrs. Bush seemed more relaxed. "Hey, everybody!" she said as she walked onto the dais. Onlookers in the crowd occasionally booed the outgoing president when he appeared on jumbo TV screens.
Following the inauguration ceremonies, the Obamas and Bushes walked together to the Capitol steps, chatting amiably. The couples bade farewell to the Cheneys, who departed in a black White House limousine.
Then it was the Bushes' turn. They walked with the new president and first lady a few yards to the waiting Marine helicopter. Mr. Bush and Mr. Obama shook hands and clasped arms. Then the Bushes boarded the helicopter and with a quick wave they were off.
কোন মন্তব্য নেই:
একটি মন্তব্য পোস্ট করুন