When George Bush acts as host to Barack and Michelle Obama on a visit to the White House on Monday, it will be an increasingly rare event for the US president as he starts to step out of the limelight.
The fast-disappearing leader will give the incoming tenants a tour of their new home before settling down for talks on the presidential transition, of which the top issue will be the economic crisis.
Although all presidents tend to fade in the final months before handing over power, Bush is fading faster than most. Speaking to staff on the White House lawn last week he promised he would set a frenetic pace in his final days in office — ”a sprint to the finish” — but his daily diary offers scant evidence of this. As on so many days over the past few months, his daily schedule for Friday, published by the White House for the benefit of journalists, read: ”No public events.”
After the visit of the Obamas, Bush’s schedule for the rest of the week appears thin — mainly ceremonial duties, ahead of hosting a summit of world leaders on the recession. But, as with today, all eyes at that meeting, at the end of the week, are more likely to be on Barack Obama than on Bush, with leaders more concerned about what the next president will agree to.
Bush is an increasingly isolated figure in the White House, with most of his original team having retired.
He appears to be fretting about his legacy, and argues, as does former British prime minister Tony Blair, that history may judge him more favourably than his present record poor ratings suggest.
White House aides and friends say Bush is an emotional man, upset by poll ratings. His mood would not have been helped by the thousands who gathered outside the White House on Tuesday for a noisy celebration of not only the election of Obama but the imminent departure of Bush. He was not seen to peek out from behind the curtains but aides suggested that if they could hear the honking horns and cheers, then so could he inside the White House.
Bush was largely absent from the election campaign, and the Republican presidential candidate, John McCain, ensured he was seldom seen in public with him. Bush understood early on why McCain needed to maintain distance but became more and more agitated as the senator increasingly disowned his policies. The snub continued into election night when McCain, in an otherwise gracious speech conceding defeat, paid tribute to Obama and others but again failed to mention Bush.
The lack of media interest in Bush was apparent at the White House briefing on Friday, taken by one of the press secretaries, Tony Fratto. Only about 30 journalists were present, with most of the others in Chicago for Obama’s first press conference as president elect. Fratto could not entirely command the attention of those journalists present, even though he was talking about the economic crisis and the latest damning set of unemployment figures.
Many of the camera crews kept focused throughout the briefing not on Fratto but on the Reuters correspondent who was bitten the previous day by Bush’s dog, Barney.
Bush has 71 days left in office. Bill Clinton used his final days to try to persuade the then Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, and the Israeli prime minister, Ehud Barak, to agree to the elusive Middle East peace deal. But there are few opportunities left on the foreign stage for Bush.
Clinton famously, or notoriously, pardoned 140 people in the closing hours of his presidency and Bush too is expected to conduct a similar final review.
But while Clinton still has involvement on the international stage, through his multimillion aid foundation which helps Africa, and Blair has remained engaged, as head of a Middle East peace effort, Bush could well settle for retirement, retreating to his ranch in Crawford, Texas.
He told the staff gathered on the White House lawn last week: ”As January 20 draws near, some of you may be anxious about finding a new job, or a new place to live.” He added: ”I know how you feel.” – guardian.co.uk