Far be it from me to kick a man when he's down—or out of office and now a private citizen—but I thought I'd make this final comment of our newest former President.
While George W. Bush is notoriously averse to any regret or second-guessing, he was uncharacteristically wistful his last few weeks of office. (And also defensive.)
One recurring theme has been that he never moved past emergency response mode. The President said in his final press conference, "As the years passed, most Americans were able to return to life much as it had been before 9/11, but I never did."
To me, these words provide a subtle but significant key to what went awry in his presidency. Bush felt that 9/11—and, by extension, the adventure in Iraq,—was his defining moment, indeed the destiny God had put him in office for. Yet, as the above quote suggests, he never moved beyond that, creating a "bunker mentality" that is reminiscent of Jimmy Carter who in similar fashion famously barricaded himself in the White House awaiting the release of the hostages in Iran. In this way, Carter's presidency was taken hostage by the Iran crisis.
Emotionally, it's clear that Bush too was taken hostage by 9/11 and Iraq, never able to attend to other crises that included Katrina and the looming financial meltdown
Nuff said.
