Mr Bush mainly stuck to his guns, defending his eight years in office that are ending with record low popularity ratings. -- PHOTO: AFP
WASHINGTON - PRESIDENT George W. Bush warned his successor Barack Obama of the perks and dangers of being the most powerful man in the world, saying he will have ups and downs and that some of his best friends will betray him.
'And there will be disappointments, I promise you. He will be disappointed,' Mr Bush told reporters on Monday at the last press conference of his eight-year mandate ending January 20.
Bush lists his mistakes, disappointments in office
WASHINGTON - PRESIDENT George W. Bush acknowledged some
mistakes and disappointments during his presidency at his final news
conference Monday with reporters.
'Sometimes the biggest disappointments will come from your so-called friends,' Mr Bush said about what Mr Obama might expect when he takes over the Oval Office.
'On the other hand, the job is so exciting and so profound that the disappointments will be clearly, you know, a minor irritant,' he added.
With a touch of nostalgia and a couple of humorous digs about his struggle with the English language and his relations with the press, Mr Bush mainly stuck to his guns, defending his eight years in office that are ending with record low popularity ratings.
He made no comment on his successors' plans for the country after one of the most delicate transitions in US history.
He did not announce any headline-making planned initiatives for the eight days before he bows out of the White House.
One of the last major decisions of his administration - asking Congress for the second half of the US$700-billion (S$1.04 trillion) financial bailout fund, at Obama's behest - was announced briefly by White House spokeswoman Dana Perino after the press conference.
Before stepping down, however, Mr Bush could still cause a stir by extending his pardon-granting prerogative, for example, to former vice presidential aide Lewis 'Scooter' Libby, convicted of obstruction of justice and perjury in the Valerie Plame, CIA-agent-outing case.
But Mr Bush also refused to comment on this issue as well.
Mr Bush did respond to a New York Times reporter's question about what mistakes he made in his eight, troubled years in power - marked by the September 11 attacks and the War on Iraq - that have concluded with one of the worst financial crisis in US history.
Mr Bush issued some Mea Culpas - the 'Mission Accomplished' banner, the Abu Ghraib prison scandal and not finding weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
He then spoke of the weight of the job Mr Obama will take on after he is sworn into office, when 'he'll walk in the Oval Office and there'll be a moment when the responsibilities of the president land squarely on his shoulders.'
Mr Bush recalled he took stock of the gravity of the presidency when he reached the White House after his first inauguration in 2001.
In a self-deprecating remark, Bush said that, unlike Mr Obama, his lack of oratory skills forced him to focus on his inauguration speech as was he being was sworn in, rather than the realities of the office he was assuming.
Mr Bush said he considered himself 'fortunate to have a front-row seat at what is going to be an historic moment for the country,' when Mr Obama takes the oath as the first African-American president of the United States.
'President-elect Obama's election does speak volumes about how far this country has come when it comes to racial relations,' Mr Bush said, and repeated that he wished his successor 'all the best.'
He cautioned Obama to resist the pressure of critics and only do what he thinks is right, for the good of his conscience.
For his part, Mr Bush said that after the inauguration 'I don't see how I can go back home in Texas and look in the mirror and be proud of what I see if I allowed the loud voices, the loud critics, to prevent me from doing what I though was necessary to protect the country.'
Despite his harsh critics, Mr Bush said he did not wallow in self-pity, saying 'the phrase 'burdens of office' is overstated'.
'Oh, the burdens, you know, 'Why did the financial collapse have to happen on my watch?' It's just pathetic, isn't it, self-pity.'
On January 21, Mr Bush said he expects to wake up at his ranch in Crawford, Texas, 'and I suspect I'll make (his wife) Laura coffee.' He will feel relaxed, he added, knowing there will be no morning briefing about the threats lurking against the United States.
Mr Bush said his post-presidential life would keep him busy organising his legacy and writing a book.
'I'm a Type A personality ... I just can't envision myself, you know, the big straw hat and a Hawaiian shirt sitting on some beach ... particularly since I quit drinking,' he said to laughter from the press corps. -- AFP
