The Associated Press reports on the Bush presentation behind closed doors in Calgary:
”This is my maiden voyage. My first speech since I was the president of the United States and I couldn’t think of a better place to give it than Calgary, Canada,” Bush said. The event’s organizers declined to say how much Bush was paid to speak at the gathering.
Bush said that he doesn’t know what he will do in the long term but that he will write a book that will ask people to consider what they would do if they had to protect the United States as president. He said it will be fun to write and that “it’s going to be (about) the 12 toughest decisions I had to make.” “I’m going to put people in my place, so when the history of this administration is written at least there’s an authoritarian voice saying exactly what happened,” Bush said.
Emphasis added. Perhaps the word Bush was looking for was “authoritative.” On the other hand, millions of Americans and indeed people around the world will rush to embrace Bush’s self-description as “authoritarian.” He certainly was, and an authoritative historian of his own tenure he will never be.
