Presidential libraries present an interesting opportunity for former presidents. They are able to construct their own shrines and facilitate a way for their presidencies and legacies to be reconsidered.
On Thursday, George W. Bush opened his new library at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. In his address during its dedication, Bill Clinton shared with the crowd what he told President Barack Obama prior to the ceremony - that the library was "the latest, grandest example of the eternal struggle of former presidents to rewrite history."
When Bush left office in 2009, his approval rating was 34 percent, according to The Huffington Post. His approval rating now is 47 percent.
It is natural for former presidents to receive high approval ratings after they leave office. The people have a chance to look at their presidency with the distance of time. The president also no longer has to endure the intense and constant scrutiny he did while in office. And there's no doubt that when you are in a position to make decisions that affect other people, there are always going to be some people who disagree with you or don't like what you're doing.
In other words: Once you're outside the limelight and you're no longer impacting people directly, they become more forgiving and accepting. General perceptions become altered by the movement of time.
There has been much talk surrounding the nature of presidential libraries over the last several days since Bush opened his library and museum.
Bush has always said that he believes history will be the true judge of his presidency. He emphasized that point again recently.
"One of the benefits of freedom is that people can disagree," he said. "It's fair to say I exercised plenty of opportunities to exercise that right. But when future generations come to this library and study this administration, they're going to find out we stayed true to our convictions."
Jon Stewart has hilariously parodied the declaration as commensurate to saying, "When we're all dead, you'll see."
Nevertheless, Bush is right in saying history will ultimately determine his presidency. Every recent president has established his own library. Obama used to say he did not want one, but in the last year, he has asked aides to start looking for locations in Chicago, according to The New York Times.
A presidential library gives the former president an opportunity to present his presidency as he sees it, or as he wants us to see it. Objective historians will consider the presidents down the line and make their judgments, but presidents want to have a way to control the public perception - once a politician, always a politician.
But the distance time can give us from a former president can provide insight into what was really going on then. One definition of history can be "change over time," and interpreting the way changes over time transform our understanding of a period in our nation's history enables us to better understand the world we are living in now.
Consider Richard Nixon. He marshaled lots of anger during his presidency but is now more widely looked at as a tragic figure, a prisoner of his own compulsions. Historians have also given Nixon much credit as a sterling president. He opened relations with China, ended the conflict in Vietnam and desegregated some Southern schools.
This is not to suggest the same will necessarily happen to Bush. He was a highly unpopular president and did not oversee a prosperous time in our nation's history. But now that he has been out of office for four years and we are deeper into the chapter of his post-presidency, we should understand the need to look with an objective eye at the background and truth of who he was as president.
Having your own library should not be seen as an opportunity for Bush to simply manipulate the public perception, though he should be able to express his side of the story.
Email: editorial@ubspectrum.com
