Nothing specific said James K. Glassman the departing director.
O.K. Mr. Bush replied I want to talk about painting.
After early self portraits in the shower and then dozens of paintings of dogs and cats Mr. Bush it seems has now moved on to world leaders. He told Mr. Glassman that he wanted to produce portraits of 19 foreign presidents and prime ministers he worked with during his time in the White House.
Nearly five years after leaving office the nation s 43rd president lives a life of self imposed exile in Texas more interested in painting than politics recovering from a heart scare privately worried about the rise of the Tea Party golfing with fervor bicycling with wounded veterans and enjoying a modest revival in public opinion. While Bill Clinton criticizes Republicans on the campaign trail and Dick Cheney chastises the current administration on his book tour Mr. Bush resolutely stays out of the public debate.
That his voice remains silent may be all the more striking given how much he seems at the center of the debate anyway. Some of the issues dominating Washington trace their roots to his time in power including whether to use force to counter nuclear biological and chemical weapons in the Middle East and how to find the right balance between security and privacy when it comes to the surveillance state.
When the rollout of the federal health care exchange was botched some looked to Mr. Bush s expansion of Medicare for lessons. When President Obama vowed to fix it he promised a tech surge echoing the language used for Mr. Bush s second term troop buildup in Iraq. And when Mr. Obama pushes lawmakers to overhaul the immigration system he makes a point of noting that his predecessor supported it too.
But Mr. Bush seems to miss none of it. He s moved on said Mark K. Updegrove the director of the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library who has been interviewing him for a book on the two Bush presidents. He s comfortable with the decisions he made. He doesn t obsess about his place in history.
Mr. Bush is not completely removed from public policy. His institute promotes free market economics global health democratic reform and other causes. He travels to Africa as part of a program fighting cervical cancer. He broke his silence recently to advocate immigration legislation in effect bolstering Mr. Obama. Behind closed doors he made a surprise keynote address to Jewish organizations where attendees said he urged skepticism of Iran s recent outreach in effect warning Mr. Obama.
In private Mr. Bush expresses disappointment in Mr. Obama s performance although he would never say so publicly. And he views with concern the growing influence of the Tea Party which is a rebellion against him as well as Mr. Obama. His brand of compassionate conservatism increasing the federal role in education expanding Medicare coverage and providing a path for illegal immigrants is anathema to many new Republican Party activists.
But Mr. Bush is most worried about what he sees as a growing isolationism a retreat from the tough minded national security policies and assertive American role in the world that he championed. That s his main concern about the Tea Party Mr. Glassman said. In that vein Mr. Bush contributed $5 000 to Senator Lindsey Graham a hawkish South Carolina Republican who is facing a challenge from the right.
His main passions these days though are elsewhere. Mr. Bush who is 67 spent Halloween with his new granddaughter who was dressed as an astronaut. He has a regular seat near the dugout at Texas Rangers games and gave the coin toss at a recent Southern Methodist University football game. He hosted a charity golf tournament and after having a stent inserted to open a clogged artery he is back on his bicycle.
I would sum it up as library work speeches painting golfing and mountain bike riding said Mark McKinnon a friend and former political consultant. The most consistent characteristic about President Bush is that he truly loves and relishes life.
After giving up golf while in office out of deference to troops at war Mr. Bush has taken it up again. He sometimes plays with the first few people who happen to show up at courses like the Brook Hollow Golf Club or the Las Colinas Country Club and he built a putting green at home. He s a golf aholic now said his friend Charlie Younger.
This article is adapted in part from Days of Fire Bush and Cheney in the White House published last month by Doubleday.
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