In Farewell, President Seen as Man Moved By Conviction

Love him or hate him, President Bush conveyed in his farewell address that he had the country's best interests at heart even when he made his most controversial decisions, analysts said.

The president delivered a 13-minute closing speech Thursday night from the East Room of the White House. In it, he thanked the American people for giving him the chance to serve two terms and urged the nation to never let down its guard in the face of extremist threats.

"I was actually moved a little bit by it," said Temple University professor Marc Lamont Hill, a Bush critic. "One of the things I came away with is someone who despite everything else truly loves America."

Hill said he believes Bush was "sincere," even if he is "sincerely wrong."

That assessment jibes with a new FOX News poll that showed despite rock-bottom job approval ratings and a belief that history will likely be unkind to Bush's years in office, Bush is seen as a good person by most Americans (72 percent).

In his speech, Bush reflected on his last eight years in office with a sense of trademark confidence, admitting "setbacks," though not mistakes. But while the outgoing president didn't necessarily offer any revelations that would turn his toughest critics into sudden supporters of his domestic and military policies, Bush convinced many onlookers that throughout his presidency he did what he thought was right.

Michael Barone, a FOX News contributor and writer for U.S. News & World Report, said Bush has suffered not only from his own actions but an unsympathetic mainstream media. He said Thursday's speech was a brief chance for him to give his own account, one Barone said Bush did not offer frequently or convincingly enough during his presidency.

"I think it was a good attempt to present things in his own perspective," Barone said. "I think this is a very defensible view of his presidency."

Bush asserted Thursday that his decisions, while controversial, kept the nation safe from another terrorist attack after Sept. 11, 2001. He hailed the social and political gains that have been made in Iraq and Afghanistan. He said he always followed his conscience, and he defended his belief that promoting American ideals abroad is "the only practical way" to protect the United States. However uncomfortable it might make some to hear, the world is divided into good and evil, he said.

Barone said the latter statement sets Bush apart from his successor, President-elect Barack Obama, who tends to downplay references to ideological divisions in his speeches.

Some lamented that Bush, even in his final moments in power, continued to downplay or dismiss the public resentment he's engendered.

"There was no hint in his address that he leaves a nation deeply divided over his policies and over him," FOX News contributor Judith Miller wrote.

FOX News contributor Cal Thomas wrote that Bush will probably be seen more highly by historians in years to come.

But Hill said high expectations for Obama make Bush an almost unavoidable foil, one whose legacy will bear the burden of some of the country's darkest moments.

Hill said Bush made clear throughout his presidency, and Thursday night, that he wanted to not just run the country but change the country.

"We can debate about whether he made America better, but for sure he made America different," he said.