Obama joins four ex-presidents for dedication of Bush library

U.S. President Barack Obama stands with former Presidents George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush, and Jimmy Carter, at the opening of the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum, April 25, 2013. PHOTO/Lawrence Jackson/White House

In what President Barack Obama called “a special day for our democracy,” the nation’s former living presidents gathered with the current commander in chief to honor one of their own at Thursday’s dedication of the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum in Dallas.

Obama joined with George H.W Bush, Bill Clinton, and Jimmy Carter in toasting the 43rd president.

The ex-presidents’ remarks shied away from the bitter controversies of Bush’s presidency such as the invasion of Iraq.

The dedication of the Bush library has spurred a wave of retrospective analyses of his presidency, reviving the debates over his leadership after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States and his decision, with a congressional vote of authorization, to invade Iraq in 2003.

The election of President Obama in 2008 was at least partly due to the electorate’s war weariness after five years of military entanglement in Iraq. However, Obama has continued some of Bush’s counter-terrorism policies and greatly expanded Bush’s use of remotely piloted aircraft, or drones, to kill terrorist suspects in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia.

Reflecting on Bush, Obama told NBC’s Savannah Guthrie this week, “We had some deep disagreements in terms of policy, but there’s no doubt that anybody who takes on this job has a greater appreciation for the challenges involved.”

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