WASHINGTON // George W Bush, the cowboy-hat-wearing Texan who has led the free world for almost a decade, soon will take his final presidential strut through the White House Rose Garden and ride off into the proverbial sunset - or to the best of anyone's knowledge, to Dallas, where he has said he plans to settle down near his presidential library.
Mr Bush will bid farewell to the high-octane world of daily intelligence briefings, weekly radio addresses and summits with foreign leaders. And he will leave his presidential legacy for historians to judge.
"I'll be dead when they finally figure it out," Mr Bush once said, with his usual bluntness.
Of course, even after the United States' 43rd president rejoins civilian life, which he has not known since he became governor of Texas in 1994, he will never fully blend in. Mr Bush and his family will still be guarded by the Secret Service, he will receive an annual lifetime pension of US$191,000 (Dh701,500), and there will be the library, and perhaps roads and schools named in his honour.
Some former presidents have gone on to start entirely new careers, recapturing the spotlight as philanthropists, judges or even as born-again politicians. But more often, men who have held the country's top office have withdrawn to their private homes and quietly faded into the pages of history books.
As for Mr Bush, no one knows for sure what kind of ex-president he will be. Other than his plans to settle in the Lone Star state, the outgoing president has offered few clues.
"I can just envision getting in the car, getting bored, going down to the ranch," Mr Bush told a biographer, referring to his sprawling 6.5-sq-km property in Crawford, Texas.
"I'll give some speeches, just to replenish the ol' coffers," Mr Bush added, alluding to the lecture circuit that has been kind to ex-presidents, particularly his predecessor, Bill Clinton.
Mr Clinton, who left office in debt in Jan 2001, has since earned more than $40 million from his lectures. Ronald Reagan, the 40th president, once earned $2m for two speeches in Japan.
But some presidential historians question whether Mr Bush, who is not known for his eloquence and whose approval ratings are historically low, has a lucrative future behind the lectern.
"I just don't think people will be clamouring to hear him speak," said Joan Hoff, a former president of the Center for the Study of the Presidency in New York. "At least not until this negativism about him recedes a bit."
However, Max J Skidmore, author of After the White House: Former Presidents as Private Citizens, said Mr Bush should have no problem finding conservative political groups willing to pay "big bucks" for his addresses.
"I'm sure they will keep him well fed and happy," he said.
Of course, there can be much more to an ex-president's life than lectures.
John Quincy Adams, the sixth president - who, by many accounts, had an unproductive four years in office - went on to serve eight terms in Congress, where he fought against the practice of slavery. William Howard Taft, the 27th president, later became the chief justice of the US Supreme Court. And Herbert Hoover, the 31st president, led a committee that restructured the US government.
Other ambitious former presidents, like Jimmy Carter, the 39th commander-in-chief, have gone on to battle some of the world's most pressing issues. Through his non-profit group, the Carter Center, Mr Carter has mediated world conflicts and fought for advances in health and agriculture in the developing world.
Mr Clinton's New York City-based William J Clinton Foundation funnels billions of dollars to such causes as fighting Aids and climate change.
But not all ex-presidents find a cause or a reservoir of ambition after leaving the country's top job.
"Most of these guys are pretty burned out," said Allan Lichtman, a presidential historian at American University in Washington.
Calvin Coolidge, the country's 30th president, for example, retired to his Massachusetts home and busied himself writing a newspaper column. Mr Reagan, who left office at 77, fought a private battle with Alzheimer's disease. And Mr Bush's father, George HW Bush, the 41st president, rarely makes public appearances.
As for the few who have had great post-presidency success, Ms Hoff said they are usually the presidents who leave office under a "cloud" of controversy and who are looking for a chance to "rehabilitate themselves".
Mr Hoover, she noted, left office as a scapegoat for the Great Depression. Mr Carter's term in office was tarnished by the Iranian hostage crisis. And Bill Clinton's second term ended a little more than a year after he was impeached by the House of Representatives.
Mr Bush will leave office under a cloud of his own: two wars and a crippling economic meltdown.
But Ms Hoff said she thinks Mr Bush, 62, is not the type to pursue his post-presidency with the same vigour that others have.
"He feels no shame or guilt or responsibility for the shape that the country is in," she said. "He has not done anything wrong in his mind."
Still, other scholars paint a rosier picture of Mr Bush's retirement.
Sidney Milkis, a presidential scholar at the University of Virginia, imagines Mr Bush falling comfortably into the role of "elder statesman".
"Ex-presidents, no matter their tenure, tend to have cachet," he said. "I think he will speak with some authority on world affairs and diplomacy."
Mr Bush already has plans to start a policy think tank, which will be linked to his presidential library at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, though he has disclosed little about the endeavour.
"He is interested in talking about the same issues that he has worked on as president? the importance of keeping the markets open around the world and the importance of promoting freedom," said Mark Langdale, the president of the George W Bush Presidential Library Foundation.
Mr Langdale said Mr Bush has been too busy concentrating on his final two months in Washington to think much about the transition back to Texas.
But in a town hall-style meeting in Tipp City, Ohio, last year, Mr Bush revealed at least one detail about his future.
"When it's all said and done, when Laura and I head back home," he said, "I will get there and look in the mirror, and I will say: 'I came with a set of principles and I didn't try to change my principles to make me popular'."
sstanek@thenational.ae
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
UAE SQUAD FOR ASIAN JIU-JITSU CHAMPIONSHIP
Men’s squad: Faisal Al Ketbi, Omar Al Fadhli, Zayed Al Kathiri, Thiab Al Nuaimi, Khaled Al Shehhi, Mohamed Ali Al Suwaidi, Farraj Khaled Al Awlaqi, Muhammad Al Ameri, Mahdi Al Awlaqi, Saeed Al Qubaisi, Abdullah Al Qubaisi and Hazaa Farhan
Women's squad: Hamda Al Shekheili, Shouq Al Dhanhani, Balqis Abdullah, Sharifa Al Namani, Asma Al Hosani, Maitha Sultan, Bashayer Al Matrooshi, Maha Al Hanaei, Shamma Al Kalbani, Haya Al Jahuri, Mahra Mahfouz, Marwa Al Hosani, Tasneem Al Jahoori and Maryam Al Amri
Analysis
Members of Syria's Alawite minority community face threat in their heartland after one of the deadliest days in country’s recent history. Read more
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
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Sustainable Development Goals
1. End poverty in all its forms everywhere
2. End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture
3. Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
5. Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
6. Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
7. Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
8. Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
9. Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation and foster innovation
10. Reduce inequality within and among countries
11. Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
12. Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
13. Take urgent action to combat climate change and its effects
14. Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development
15. Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss
16. Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
17. Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalise the global partnership for sustainable development
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Navdeep Suri, India's Ambassador to the UAE
There has been a longstanding need from the Indian community to have a religious premises where they can practise their beliefs. Currently there is a very, very small temple in Bur Dubai and the community has outgrown this. So this will be a major temple and open to all denominations and a place should reflect India’s diversity.
It fits so well into the UAE’s own commitment to tolerance and pluralism and coming in the year of tolerance gives it that extra dimension.
What we will see on April 20 is the foundation ceremony and we expect a pretty broad cross section of the Indian community to be present, both from the UAE and abroad. The Hindu group that is building the temple will have their holiest leader attending – and we expect very senior representation from the leadership of the UAE.
When the designs were taken to the leadership, there were two clear options. There was a New Jersey model with a rectangular structure with the temple recessed inside so it was not too visible from the outside and another was the Neasden temple in London with the spires in its classical shape. And they said: look we said we wanted a temple so it should look like a temple. So this should be a classical style temple in all its glory.
It is beautifully located - 30 minutes outside of Abu Dhabi and barely 45 minutes to Dubai so it serves the needs of both communities.
This is going to be the big temple where I expect people to come from across the country at major festivals and occasions.
It is hugely important – it will take a couple of years to complete given the scale. It is going to be remarkable and will contribute something not just to the landscape in terms of visual architecture but also to the ethos. Here will be a real representation of UAE’s pluralism.
