On a Farewell Tour of Sorts, Bush Reflects on His Record

In recent interviews and appearances, President Bush has highlighted his favorite programs. (By Brendan Smialowski -- Getty Images)

Pete Wehner, a former Bush aide who is now a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, said there is "an empirical case to be made" in favor of Bush on a range of issues, such as the improving situation in Iraq, humanitarian relief programs and tax policies. But the president had little chance to defend his record over the past year while sitting on the sidelines during the race between Obama and GOP nominee John McCain, Wehner said.

"Bush was a punching bag because he wasn't going to do anything to disrupt McCain during the election," Wehner said. "There wasn't any punching back. I'm sure they are eager to make their case now that the election is past."

In yesterday's speech at the Saban Forum, an annual Middle East conference sponsored by the Brookings Institution, Bush offered a sweeping and optimistic defense of his policy in the troubled region, often minimizing or ignoring uncomfortable developments.

He said unseating Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein was justified and portrayed Iraq as "a powerful example of a moderate, prosperous, free nation." He asserted that "important progress" had been made in the stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace process, and he hailed negotiations over Iran's nuclear ambitions -- talks that he resisted early in his administration.

He also acknowledged, but played down, the setbacks that have bedeviled his administration in the Middle East. "As with any large undertaking, these efforts have not always gone according to plan, and in some areas we have fallen short of our hopes," Bush said, adding that the war in Iraq "has been longer and more costly than expected."

Many of Bush's recent appearances have focused on faith-based programs, international aid efforts and other hallmarks of the "compassionate conservatism" that he embraced when he first ran for the White House in 2000. First lady Laura Bush has joined her husband at several of these events and is scheduled to appear in New York next week to talk about human rights abuses in Burma and Afghanistan.

On Tuesday, Bush flew to Greensboro, N.C., to visit a local Big Brothers Big Sisters office that participates in an administration initiative pairing adult mentors with the children of prisoners in an effort to deter them from crime and drug use.

As he has frequently in recent weeks, Bush used empathetic language in discussing the program and its aims. "By helping a child, you can really help the country," Bush told reporters at the center. "You help yourself by loving, but you help America -- one heart, one soul at a time."

The event also provided an opportunity for Bush to highlight his larger faith-based initiative, which funds the mentoring program, and to sit down for an interview with ABC's "Nightline" to discuss the role of faith in his presidency.

"What the president and the White House seem to be doing is to stress the ways in which he was a compassionate conservative," said Sean Wilentz, a presidential historian at Princeton University. "It's like going back to the top. They're trying to find all the ways in which that vision was advanced during the last eight years, because that's the note they want to fall back on."

Bush and the first lady have also touched on personal issues in several interviews, including their hopes for a quiet retirement and their strong relationship during their time in the White House. The president has talked about his role as "comforter in chief" for victims of hurricanes, tornadoes and other calamities.

During a forum this week on World AIDS Day, Bush even joked about his lack of domestic popularity by recounting a warm reception he received during a trip to Africa.

"I mean, people literally lining the roads in Tanzania, all waving and anxious to express their love and appreciation to the American president who represents the American people," Bush said. "It was good to see them all waving with all five fingers, I might add."