Perhaps this country’s most difficult job is to be ex-President.
All of the decisions you made during a short course of time get to be judged and re-judged on a national scale, and you have zero power to influence them.
You know that there’s a polite role that must be played as an ex-President: you must be available to help out in a charity fashion, but any discussion of political issues is frowned upon.
Our history’s ex-Presidents have been faced with severe challenges. Many died soon after office, starting with our first. The stress of an office that greys even the Just-for-Menniest men takes an incredible physical toll on these men. Others were shuffled out of office in disgrace, like both Johnsons or Nixon. Teddy Roosevelt boldly challenged his successor with a third-party run, perhaps forming one of the most badass ex-presidencies.
Most were subject to criticism by their successor, perhaps none more than ex-President George W. Bush.
In the past four years, President Bush has remained extremely silent on public matters and eschewing the spotlight. His memoir was released soon after office, as was expected, but otherwise we have little knowledge of the workings inside a mind that shaped so much of recent history. Many folks on both side of the aisle feel that, for better or worse, they’ve lost an old friend.
So when a Bush family member’s e-mail account was hacked and photos were released, we learned that Bush has now taken up a new hobby: painting.
Through an analysis of his work, we’ve learned a few things:
1) His painting of Barney the Dog is pretty damn good.
2) He signs his paintings “43”, as the 43rd President, an interesting choice of nomenclature.
3) His biggest artistic inspiration? Frida Kahlo.
Gawker’s description of his paintings are as such, “[his] technique is unschooled, not self-consciously trying to emulate any identifiable painter; and his references don’t seem to be any paintings at all.”
Which is foolish, because the painting of him in the bathtub is a total homage to Frida Kahlo’s What I Saw In the Water:
The Kahlo painting is a holistic focus on a life lived: a life that started with promise, and innocence, and soon became populated by regret, sadness, and failed aspirations, all creating the artist in present form.
And when we look at Bush’s painting, it all makes sense. The shower painting is similar too, his back facing the viewer and his face shown only in a small, round mirror: it’s introspection at its most intimate, it’s an attempt to reconcile the past with the present.
It’s saddening. Bush entered office amidst electoral turmoil, promising to unite a country divided. Things were looking up those first few months: despite a dipping economy, it seemed a new era was upon us.
And then September 11th took the rule book and set it on fire, defining the next 7 years of a presidency that was supposed to continue the peaceful, prosperous economy of the decade prior. Bush rose to the occasion, uniting the country, but not under the circumstances he nor anyone would have chosen. The press tore him apart. War was initially successful, but became mired in a region that was helplessly backwards.
With President Bush, you could always get a palpable sense that he was feeling every emotion along with you. He was not there to lead you, or tell you what to do, but wanted to walk alongside you and learn as you learned. He built upon the human quality that his predecessor pioneered, but his frustration at not being able to make more progress was always prevalent. And now, as he lives out his ex-Presidency at a ranch near Dallas, staying out of public view, you see a man who is irritated by partisanship, his successor, and his legacy, and helpless to change it.