Posted 4:21 pm Sunday, December 02, 2007
Former President Bush Says Historians Will Determine His Legacy
HOUSTON (AP) Former President George H.W. Bush said not to expect an authorized biography about his life and presidency anytime soon.
Although the 83-year-old Bush wouldn't rule out cooperating with an author or writing his own memoirs in the future, he said his concern now is that such a book would "complicate" the life of his son, President Bush.
"People would always try to find differences between father and son, nuances of difference in personality, differences in policy, and I just don't want to risk something that would come out that in some way would complicate his life," Bush said in an interview published in the Houston Chronicle on Sunday. "I'm confident that historians will be kind to us in a lot of ways and maybe critical in others."
Bush said he doesn't like being publicly introspective about his legacy, a word he joked he doesn't even like saying. "The L-word," he said. "We don't like the L-word."
Bush said he has dug in his heels on his decision not to put off cooperating with biographers.
"Got 'em dug in. But not forever, not forever," Bush said. "I'm not saying never. But for now, I'd rather not fool with it."
Bush also said he is following the presidential races and is feeling "more and more confident that Republicans can win the election." He declined to offer his endorsement of any one candidate but declared former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson and Arizona Sen. John McCain to be "good people."
Bush expressed hope that his son Jeb, the former governor of Florida, would one day mount his own presidential run.
"It's definitely a relief not to have a Bush name on the ballot," he said. "But someday I hope that there will be. I'd love to see Jeb run again."
Bush's partnership with former President Clinton to raise money for recovery efforts along the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina has ended, he said. The Bush/Clinton Katrina Fund is being closed down, and his people have given away the last of the money.
Bush acknowledged his pride in an aircraft carrier that will bear his name, saying the honor "is very personal with me" because it "taps into a part of my history and my life experience that I'm very proud of and that I will always be grateful for."
He also said his skydiving days are not over, and that he has another jump planned in June 2009 on his 85th birthday. Bush jumped out of a plane last month to celebrate the reopening of his presidential museum.
"I'm not going to stop," Bush said. "One is the thrill of it, and two, it shows that old guys don't have to sit there doing nothing all the time. And I'm an old guy, I reluctantly now admit."
Although the 83-year-old Bush wouldn't rule out cooperating with an author or writing his own memoirs in the future, he said his concern now is that such a book would "complicate" the life of his son, President Bush.
"People would always try to find differences between father and son, nuances of difference in personality, differences in policy, and I just don't want to risk something that would come out that in some way would complicate his life," Bush said in an interview published in the Houston Chronicle on Sunday. "I'm confident that historians will be kind to us in a lot of ways and maybe critical in others."
Bush said he doesn't like being publicly introspective about his legacy, a word he joked he doesn't even like saying. "The L-word," he said. "We don't like the L-word."
Bush said he has dug in his heels on his decision not to put off cooperating with biographers.
"Got 'em dug in. But not forever, not forever," Bush said. "I'm not saying never. But for now, I'd rather not fool with it."
Bush also said he is following the presidential races and is feeling "more and more confident that Republicans can win the election." He declined to offer his endorsement of any one candidate but declared former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson and Arizona Sen. John McCain to be "good people."
Bush expressed hope that his son Jeb, the former governor of Florida, would one day mount his own presidential run.
"It's definitely a relief not to have a Bush name on the ballot," he said. "But someday I hope that there will be. I'd love to see Jeb run again."
Bush's partnership with former President Clinton to raise money for recovery efforts along the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina has ended, he said. The Bush/Clinton Katrina Fund is being closed down, and his people have given away the last of the money.
Bush acknowledged his pride in an aircraft carrier that will bear his name, saying the honor "is very personal with me" because it "taps into a part of my history and my life experience that I'm very proud of and that I will always be grateful for."
He also said his skydiving days are not over, and that he has another jump planned in June 2009 on his 85th birthday. Bush jumped out of a plane last month to celebrate the reopening of his presidential museum.
"I'm not going to stop," Bush said. "One is the thrill of it, and two, it shows that old guys don't have to sit there doing nothing all the time. And I'm an old guy, I reluctantly now admit."
