George W. Bush unveils his paintings of world leaders. Who looks best?
| WASHINGTON
George W. Bush unveiled his paintings of world leaders on Friday during with daughter Jenna Bush Hager. The occasion for their display was the opening of a new exhibit called 鈥淭he Art of Leadership: A President鈥檚 Personal Diplomacy,"聽at ex-President Bush鈥檚 library in Dallas. As he strolled though the gallery with Ms. Hager and camera in tow, Mr. Bush said he鈥檚 pretty sure his subjects don鈥檛 have high hopes for their portraits.
鈥淚鈥檓 sure they鈥檙e going to say ... I look forward to seeing the stick figure he painted,鈥� said Bush.
They weren鈥檛, in fact, stick figures. Bush鈥檚 painting skills seem to be developing from his early self-portraits and depictions of pets. Art critics have taken a fairly charitable view of W.鈥檚 efforts, given he鈥檚 been at it for only a short time. Bush鈥檚 work is 鈥渟urprisingly non-terrible,鈥� .
Bush鈥檚 self-portrait leads off the exhibit and looks pretty good. His painting of Vladimir Putin is a bit cartoon-like, but then President Putin himself is a bit of a cartoon depiction of an authoritarian post-Soviet leader, so maybe that鈥檚 intentional. On 鈥淭oday,鈥� Bush retold the story of how he got along with Putin fine, but that at one point the Russian president dissed Bush鈥檚 dog, Barney the Scottish terrier.
鈥淵ou really call that dog?鈥� Putin said, according to Bush.
Later Putin introduced Bush to his own pet, a large hound-like dog that bounded across the lawn of his dacha as if it were retaking Crimea.
鈥淧utin looks and me and says, 鈥楤igger, stronger, faster than Barney,鈥� 鈥� said Bush.
Other world leader portraits by W. included Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who looked surprisingly trustworthy in oil; Tony Blair of Great Britain, a Bush friend who looked resolute in W.鈥檚 depiction; the Dalai Lama; Junichiro Koizuma, former prime minister of Japan; and George H.W. Bush, the 41st聽president of the United States.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 my husband?鈥� joked Barbara Bush upon seeing the painting of her husband on 鈥淭oday." Yes, the network landed the whole family. It鈥檚 not that hard when you employ one of them.聽(Hager is an NBC correspondent.)
Actually, the painting of Bush鈥檚 dad was pretty good. Bush said it was his favorite.
鈥淚t was a joyful experience to paint him,鈥� said Bush.
The fact that his dad got such a big mention is surely not happenstance. Bush is promoting his paintings at a time when the whole Bush family is on something of a public relations upswing. A big part of this is the growing recognition, with the passage of time, that George H.W. Bush was a pretty good chief executive at a pivotal moment in history.
He handled the Gulf War skillfully, holding together a聽broad international coalition and limiting US aims. (Yes, you can compare that with his son鈥檚 Iraq war diplomacy if you want.) He did not mess up the US response to the collapse of the Soviet Union. This weekend, George H.W. Bush鈥檚 own presidential library is holding a three-day reunion to mark the 25th聽anniversary of his administration.
George H.W. Bush 鈥渉as benefited from a wave of historical revisionism that has transformed him from the biggest incumbent loser since William Howard Taft to, by at least one measure, the most popular former president of the past half century,鈥澛�.
Meanwhile, W.鈥檚 brother Jeb Bush is getting some attention from GOP establishment figures as somebody who might be the party鈥檚 best choice as a nominee for 2016.
Gee, do you think that鈥檚 got anything to do with the big rollout for the painting exhibit? Maybe that鈥檚 cynical Washington thinking. Maybe it isn鈥檛.
Finally, George P. Bush, Jeb's son, ran away with the Texas GOP primary for land commissioner, in a vote widely viewed as the launch of yet another generation of Bushes in politics.
鈥淭he former first family has been making a splash lately.... Given that the family might put forth another presidential candidate, all this publicity can鈥檛 be a bad thing, right?鈥� Friday.
