Bush-Eight Years Later

WASHINGTON — President George W. Bush is grayer and wrinkles cut deeper into his forehead, yet after eight years, two wars, two recessions and the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil, he is leaving Washington largely the same man as when he arrived.

Bush, who often talks about growing old, says he's become both more knowledgeable and wiser. Down deep, though, he says he is the same, with unchanged principles despite popularity that bottomed out and vociferous opposition to many of his decisions.

"Never really, you know, spent that much time, frankly, worrying about the loud voices," Bush said at his final news conference Monday. "I, of course, hear them, but they didn't affect my policy, nor did they affect — affect how I made decisions."

Some friends think Bush is less strident than when he first walked into the Oval Office in 2001.

"The 'bring 'em on' — that kind of attitude — has mellowed," said Joe O'Neil, a longtime Bush friend from Midland, Texas. "With the experience, of course, he's taking a much more long view of this stuff. But his attitude has not changed that much. He loves the work. He loves to get up in the morning. He's still very optimistic."

Others say they don't think he's mellowed all that much.

"No, I wouldn't say he's soft around the edges," Vice President Dick Cheney said in a recent interview.

Bush remains, as from the beginning, an early riser who's normally in bed by 10 p.m. and a man who works out nearly every day. He still favors peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch. On the family front, he did add a title — that of father-in-law when daughter, Jenna, got married.

Dan Bartlett, former counselor to the president, jokingly cited a better wardrobe since his days as a younger Texas politician as one change. Bush's weight has crept up a few pounds — 189.7 in 2001 to 192 in 2007, the last year he had a physical where the results were made public. His heart ticks a bit faster; his resting pulse now beats 52 times a minute compared to 43 his first year in office.

And he looks noticeably older.

Ray Sullivan, deputy communications director for Bush when he was governor of Texas, saw him in December for the first time since the president's portrait was unveiled in the Texas State Capitol in January 2002.

"When we walked in the Oval Office and met him for the first time in years it was as if we had just spoke to him yesterday." he said, saying Bush was the same man he worked for in Austin. But he added: "You can certainly see the wear and tear on him physically."

Bush talks about the aging process a lot too. "Let me start with the second, then you can refresh my 62-year-old memory for the first," he said trying to remember two questions from a reporter just before his trip to Asia last summer.

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