General Douglas MacArthur casts a long shadow over American history for a number of reasons, not least because of his renowned farewell quote: “Old soldiers never die, they just disappear.” This was also the case with American presidents in the past. Until Barack Obama took office, it was more or less a tradition for former presidents not to comment on the policies of their successor, his successes or failures.
That has now changed. But a former president, George W. Bush, is showing some class by staying out of the war of words. around the 2024 presidential election. Or maybe not?
Former President George W. Bush has no plans to announce who he will vote for in the upcoming 2024 election.
“No,” said the former president’s office when asked by NBC News whether he or former First Lady Laura Bush would publicly support a candidate. “President Bush retired from presidential politics years ago.”
Bush’s refusal to publicly express his support comes just a day after his former vice president, Dick Cheney, announced that he would run against his party’s nominee in November and support Vice President Kamala Harris.
It is a shame that former Vice President George W. Bush and some of his aides do not show similar restraint. Dick “Darth Vader” Cheney, among others, has defected to the other side. This is challenging to forgive, to say the least.
See also: Dick Cheney follows Liz’s example and supports Harris as presidential candidate
Bush, McCain and Romney’s advisers took a step in the presidential election campaign that did not elicit the hoped-for reaction
But here’s the thing: Former President Bush has made endorsements in the past. This reticence seems to be a development since, well, 2016. You may remember who the Republican nominee was in 2016.
While Bush’s office argued that the former president “retired from presidential politics years ago,” he has supported Republican presidential candidates in the past. In 2008, he supported then-Senator John McCain in his run against former President Barack Obama and also championed the candidacy of Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah.
Bush’s stance on presidential politics apparently changed with the emergence of former President Donald Trump in 2016, about whom Bush made no comments. Bush instead focused on supporting Republican senators. In November, his office said he and the former first lady had not voted for any of the major party candidates in the 2016 election.
So maybe it wasn’t quite the restraint we thought – it seems like former President Bush only decided to disappear after Donald Trump rode down the gold escalator. That’s telling.
Of course, the Bushes are free to vote as they please, and at least – unlike Dick Cheney, for example – they seem to follow my mother’s ancient rule: “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.” So maybe the Bushes don’t like Donald Trump. But for them to drift all the way to the left and – in Cheney’s case – support Kamala Harris, who is not only obviously unsuitable for the job but also the most radical left-wing ideologue to ever run for the White House, seems completely left-wing.
This is largely due to the mess that Donald Trump has made the GOP establishment types into. Like the proverbial bull in a china shop, Donald Trump has made a real mess and in the process has brought a glowing delicate into some gloomy corners. That is a good thing and should be repeated every day and twice on Sunday. It’s a shame that the ancient establishment types can’t see that.
