As Obama distances himself from the war on terror and the legacy of the W. Bush presidency, Maureen Dowd visits the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum and finds that ... Bush is also trying to distance himself from the Bush presidency, she writes in the New York Times. Things you will see at the library: The Bush twins, Barney the dog, and a video of Saddam’s statue being pulled down—as narrated by Condi Rice. Things you won't see: That "Mission Accomplished" photo, or photos of bin Laden. "You could fill an entire other library with what's not in W.'s," she writes.
And yet, for all Obama's efforts to make sure his presidency isn't forever associated with drones and terrorism, she notes, his administration was the one that brought down bin Laden and has killed more top al-Qaeda operatives than Bush's did. "Browsing the library, you wonder if these two presidents are complete opposites after all, as you see how history was shaped by an arrogant, press-averse, father-fixated, history-obsessed, strangely introverted chief executive." Read the full column at the New York Times. (More George W. Bush stories.)