Past forward: President Bush says goodbye

Washington: President George W. Bush's farewell speech is more than a goodbye to the nation that elected him twice. It is his last chance in office to define his tumultuous presidency in his own, unfiltered terms - a mission that will keep his fire burning even after he fades off to a quieter life.

Bush was to say goodbye to the country later last night. He was expected to follow the script of Presidents Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter and many before them: express thanks to the country and pride in the honour of serving, wish the next president well and outline what he feels are the biggest challenges.

And there will be looking back. For presidents, parting thoughts are not about parting shots. This will be no different. But Bush is proud of his record and is expected to go out defending it.

In that sense, the goodbye address was to underscore the competing accounts of his presidency one last time.

Bush and his loyal backers see his record this way: He kept the country safe from attack after terrorism redefined his presidency, cut taxes, freed the people of Afghanistan and Iraq, reformed education, oversaw 52 straight months of job growth, acted decisively when the economy tanked, stuck to principle no matter what his poll numbers, retooled the military and improved federal crisis management after the worst US natural disaster happened to fall on his watch.

To his critics, Bush wasted the world's good will after the September 11, 2001, attacks, got the nation into a catastrophic and avoidable Iraq war, presided over a staggering 2.6 million jobs lost in 2008, ran up debt, reacted slowly to Hurricane Katrina, did more dividing than uniting and refused to listen to the will of the people.

Historians say the fairest assessment will come over time. Bush says accurate short-term history does not even exist.

"I don't think you can possibly get the full breadth of an administration until time has passed," Bush said in his final news conference this week. Yet this much is also clear: The president does care about how the country views his time in office. Right now.

In essence, he has been giving legacy addresses for weeks. He has held separate events to defend his record on protecting the country, helping veterans, promoting volunteerism, appointing judges, expanding trade, reshaping the military, overhauling education and fighting Aids in impoverished lands.

On its website, the White House has even gone so far as to post "100 things Americans may not know about the Bush administration record".

Bush was to deliver his final speech from the East Room of the White House, where the audience would include a few dozen people chosen for their personal stories, a practice normally reserved for a State of the Union address.

Bush has been much more reflective in the twilight of his presidency. That tone was likely to emerge in his speech, just as it did for his predecessors.

Clinton said in his farewell: "I'll leave the presidency more idealistic, more full of hope than the day I arrived and more confident than ever that America's best says lie ahead."

Ronald Reagan invoked images of the shining city on the hill: "We made the city stronger. We made the city freer, and we left her in good hands. All in all, not bad, not bad at all." And Jimmy Carter told the nation: "From the bottom of my heart, I want to express to you the gratitude I feel."

Not among that group? Bush's father, President George H.W. Bush. He never gave an official farewell address.