Bush Prepares for His Greatest Challenge

As the days dwindle until President Bush joins what Herbert Hoover called the "most exclusive trade union in the world," the unpopular commander in chief appears decidedly enthusiastic about leaving the political limelight.

Early ex-presidents quickly descended into obscurity, but modern ex-presidents commonly embark on a high-profile, and potentially very lucrative, consulting and speaking careers.  While this can be a difficult job for any ex-president, historians and political observers say that it will be especially difficult for Bush. He not only must oversee the construction of a presidential library and write his memoirs, but he must also attempt to salvage his legacy.

Bush was forced to struggle with how to define his legacy in favorable terms even before his presidency began.  However, Bush quickly swept aside lingering concerns about having been wrongly declared the winner of the 2000 election by embarking on a series of shockingly destructive initiatives.

Bush was quick to point that he doesn't want to be remembered as the guy "who helped Enron pillage California; or who appointed an incompetent fool to head FEMA; or who eliminated the use of science or facts as the basis for making decisions; or who left a generation of children behind in their education; or who initiated and mismanaged a long, very expensive and ill-advised war; or who accumulated a record national debt; or who nearly destroyed the world economy."

"Those things are all so negative. I want to be remembered as the president who did positive things like reducing taxes for thousands of wealthy Americans and liberating Iraq from tyranny," Bush said.

Bush is reported to be contemplating a post-presidential path similar to that of Jimmy Carter, except for the parts about helping to ensure free and fair democratic elections and helping to construct low cost homes, which Bush described as "a lot of hard work."

Bush was non-committal about the prospects for his presidential library.  "One thing's for sure, it won't have that damn Pet Goat book," Bush said. Sources close to the president say that he is planning to create a "Bush Freedom Institute" that will seek to reduce taxes on wealthy citizens of many nations and also impose democracy on nations whose citizenry is unprepared to receive it.  

Bush is also said to be considering soliciting speakers fees from governments and companies in exchange for guarantees that he will not give speeches to them. "People just want Bush to go away. I think we can leverage that desire with the president's interest in not doing very much actual work to get rich," said an aide who asked not to be named.

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