Former President George W. Bush sat down Tuesday night with comedian Jay Leno and weighed in on everything from his presidential legacy to his painting.
“I did the best I could do,” Bush said on “The Tonight Show.” “I’m also very comfortable with the fact that it’s going take a while for history to judge whether the decisions I made are consequential or not. And therefore, I’m not too worried about it.”
“I’ve read some biographies of Washington,” he continued. “My attitude is if they’re still writing biographies of the first guy, the 43rd guy doesn’t need to worry about it.”
When asked why he doesn’t talk about President Barack Obama’s policy, Bush said he didn’t think it was good for the country for a former chief executive to criticize his successor. But the former President couldn’t resist quipping “better him than me” when Leno noted that Obama was bearing the brunt of late-night jokes.
Bush, who’s taken up painting as a hobby since leaving the White House, also gifted Leno with a portrait he created of the comedian. He said he takes painting very seriously — so much so that when he first met his painting teacher, he told her “there’s a Rembrandt trapped in this body, it’s your job to find it.”
