Former President George W. Bus h recent News hot
Former President George W. Bus h recent
Former President George W. Bush grimaced as the ball bounced, and millions laughed. They didn’t know the truth. They didn’t see the scar, the fusion, the quiet agony under the stadium lights. His daughter finally broke the silence, hinting at the cost of that single throw, the hidden surgery, the pride, the pai
When George W. Bush walked to the mound for the World Series opener, most viewers saw only a former president reliving a famous ritual. What they missed was the stiffness in his stride, the guarded way he moved his shoulders, the subtle calculation of a man testing the limits of a surgically repaired back. Months earlier, he had undergone fusion surgery on his lower spine, the kind of operation that changes the way you stand, sit, and sleep—let alone throw from a major-league mound.
Jenna Bush Hager’s defense of her father was less about excuses and more about context: the courage it takes to step into a stadium after being rebuilt with screws and rods. His spokesperson confirmed the surgery but emphasized his nature—he doesn’t complain, he just shows up. One awkward, bouncing pitch became something else entirely: not a failure, but proof that recovery doesn’t erase the will to stand in the spotlight, pain and all.
Former President George W. Bush grimaced as the ball bounced, and millions laughed. They didn’t know the truth. They didn’t see the scar, the fusion, the quiet agony under the stadium lights. His daughter finally broke the silence, hinting at the cost of that single throw, the hidden surgery, the pride, the pai
When George W. Bush walked to the mound for the World Series opener, most viewers saw only a former president reliving a famous ritual. What they missed was the stiffness in his stride, the guarded way he moved his shoulders, the subtle calculation of a man testing the limits of a surgically repaired back. Months earlier, he had undergone fusion surgery on his lower spine, the kind of operation that changes the way you stand, sit, and sleep—let alone throw from a major-league mound.
Jenna Bush Hager’s defense of her father was less about excuses and more about context: the courage it takes to step into a stadium after being rebuilt with screws and rods. His spokesperson confirmed the surgery but emphasized his nature—he doesn’t complain, he just shows up. One awkward, bouncing pitch became something else entirely: not a failure, but proof that recovery doesn’t erase the will to stand in the spotlight, pain and all.
Are We Ready to Rehabilitate George W. Bush’s Reputation?
Can a batch of new books, a documentary, and Donald Trump’s calamitous administration resuscitate the legacy of our 43rd president—and his illustrious family?
Illustration by Lincoln Agnew. George H. W. and Barbara: Mark Reinstein/MediaPunch/IPX via AP; George W.: Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP; Jenna: Dennis Van Tine/Geisler-Fotopress/picture-alliance/dpa via AP; Jeb: Spencer Platt/Getty; George P.: Eric Gay/AP
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The George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum opened seven years ago and anchors the southeastern corner of campus at Southern Methodist University, where I teach history. In late November 2016, I took a tour of the facility with five college friends who were visiting from the East Coast. The recent presidential election was much on our minds as we wandered through the building, contemplating various artifacts from Bush’s two terms in office. Although we were hardly fans of his presidency, one of my pals—fearful, like everyone in our group, of a Trump administration—got misty-eyed when reflecting upon Bush’s obvious love of country. After an hour or so, with a requisite stop for photos in the museum’s full-sized and perfectly appointed replica of the Oval Office, we left in glum moods.
As was the case with my friends and me, the chaos of the past few years has caused some of Bush’s detractors to revise their assessment of W and his legacy. Princeton historian Sean Wilentz, for instance, no longer regards him as the most likely modern contender for the worst president in U.S. history. Former Senate majority leader Harry Reid, a onetime Bush adversary, confessed to a journalist earlier this year that he often finds himself thinking, “ ‘Boy, I wish Bush were here now.’ . . . He was a patriot. I disagreed with him. But he was somebody you could talk to, joke with, had a good personality.” And many noted the heartfelt decency that Bush demonstrated during his brief but moving remarks at the recent funeral for Congressman John Lewis—who had declined to attend Bush’s inauguration in protest over the contested 2000 election.
