George W. Bush reborn as his nation’s grandfather

The 43rd president left the White House deeply unpopular but today six out 10 Americans say they like him

George W. Bush rising popularity may help the political careers of other members of his family. Picture: AFP

If you are a friend of George W. Bush, chances are he has painted your portrait. It’s what he does now.

Since leaving office, the 43rd president has eschewed the traditional career path of a statesman put out to grass and, inspired by Churchill, he says, has taken up art to while away his retirement.

In his absence from the public consciousness he has gained a once-improbable reputation as something akin to a grandfather of the nation.

At a visit to a primary school near his home in Crawford a few years ago when he asked the children who they thought he might be, one replied “George Washington”.

This may be no accident. A leading member of one of America’s most powerful political clans was never going to simply walk off into the Texan sunset. The Bush family’s influence, money and appetite for power is too great, say those that know it well.

George W. Bush's new book of portraits. Picture: AFP

“The Bush family is a very carefully constructed political dynasty, a political machine,” says Bill Minutaglio, Bush’s biographer and an expert on Texan politics.

“I have no doubt that he is perhaps kinder and gentler but I also think there is a careful rollout of that narrative by the family. They are about the business of politics, they plan well in advance and they pave the way for others to come through.”

His father, George HW Bush, also left the White House an unpopular president . “And in time they began the same friendly media narrative with him being portrayed as a warmer and fuzzier kind of guy than we had known before.”

US president George H.W. Bush in 1992. Picture: AFP

Before their falls, father and son enjoyed stratospheric highs in the polls. For Dubya, the apogee came nine days after almost 3000 people were killed on September 11, 2001, when he addressed a joint session of US congress.

America’s shock that such an atrocity could occur at home was turning to anger. Bush captured the mood, telling overseas capitals they were either with the US or against it.

The speech, one of his best, was short but took almost an hour to deliver because of the constant interruptions for standing ovations on both sides of the aisle.

His approval rating, at 90 per cent, was the highest ever recorded for a president.

Eight years later, with the US still fighting wars in Afghanistan and Iraq that his speech foreshadowed, Bush ended his second term as one of the most unpopular commanders-in-chief in history.

Wall Street speculators had brought the world’s economy to its knees by investing in things even they did not understand, and the White House’s botched handling of Hurricane Katrina tarnished further his final months.

Four years after leaving office Bush reckoned it would take a long time for his reputation to recover. “Ultimately history will judge the decisions I made, and I won’t be around because it will take time for the objective historians to show up,” he said.

US actor Matthew McConaughey. Picture: AFP

Yet that reputation is already blooming. He has another book of portraits out this month: it is a collection of paintings of immigrants to the US, highlighting something he strongly favours and wants to talk about.

He has used the publicity to tell people what he thinks about other things too: to attack the more extreme parts of the modern Republican Party, to advise the actor Matthew McConaughey to tune out his critics if he runs for Texas governor, and to let it be known he voted for neither Donald Trump nor Joe Biden last year, but wrote in the name of Condoleezza Rice.

He has been regularly photographed in recent years with the Obamas, seemingly forming a bond with the endlessly popular Michelle Obama; and at his father’s funeral three years ago his tears as he delivered the eulogy offered a side to him rarely seen.

“In the United States we have this amazing capacity to forgive politicians,” said Minutaglio. “We live here in the age of Oprah Winfrey, a giant public forum and if you act humbly then you will be forgiven.”

If it is part of a carefully constructed plan to find favour, it is working. A 2018 CNN poll typical of many found that 61 per cent of Americans held a favourable view of Bush, a nine-point rise from 2015.

Bush has been helped by other factors. Family wealth, which helped him become governor of Texas in 1995, meant he did not need to chase money after leaving the White House, like the heavily indebted Clintons, which at times made them look grubby.

Jeb Bush. Picture: Getty Images

He can laugh at himself and is unafraid to use some of his infamous quotations to his advantage. It is not unknown for him to produce a book of “Bushisms” at speaking events.

“I know that human beings and fish can coexist peacefully,” and “more and more of our imports come from overseas” are two of his favourites.

A significant restorative quality has nothing to do with Bush personally. Donald Trump followed him as the next Republican president and his deep unpopularity in parts of America has allowed Bush to appear statesmanlike by comparison.

Describing Trump’s wing of the party as “isolationist, protectionist and nativist” in recent days, Bush has tried to give a springboard to his own version of conservatism.

But at 74 and now looking visibly older, why is he bothering?

Minutaglio believes it is all about the future and Brand Bush. This includes Bush’s daughters Barbara, who chairs a health charity, and Jenna, an NBC news presenter; his brother Jeb, the former governor of Florida who ran for the presidency in 2016; and his nephew George P Bush.

“He’s thinking of ways to help the family (back into power),” Minutaglio says. “His brother again, or his nephew, or various other members of the family scattered around the country.

“In Texas right now, there’s a lot of talk about even his own children, they could be political gold. He might not be an arch-intellectual, but one thing Bush really cares about, one thing the family really cares about, is legacy.”

The Times

George W. Bush and wife Laura in Washington in January. Picture: AFP