STEVE INSKEEP, Host:
President Bush appeared in the White House briefing room this morning and looked out at the reporters who'd gathered there.
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INSKEEP: We have been through a lot together.
INSKEEP: And with those words, Mr. Bush began what was billed as his final news conference as president. He was animated, he acknowledged some mistakes, and he said history will be the judge of his presidency. NPR's Cokie Roberts was listening in, and joins us now for some analysis, as she does every Monday morning. Cokie, good morning.
COKIE ROBERTS: Good morning, Steve.
INSKEEP: I suppose we should mention that there's a reminder here that President Bush is still president of the United States. We're in the middle of this $700 billion bailout of the financial industry; the first half has been spent. He was asked if he would ask Congress for the second half, and he said no.
ROBERTS: Well, he basically said that Senator Barack Obama - President-elect Obama - that they had talked about it, and that he'd said if Obama wants him to ask for it, that it's important for it to happen on his watch, that he will do it. But he says it's essentially up to Obama.
INSKEEP: So the president will not be taking that dramatic step; he will leave it to his successor. And he spent a lot of the rest of his...
ROBERTS: Or Steve, but I wouldn't say - it could happen in tandem, with the two of them doing it.
INSKEEP: I see.
ROBERTS: Because it could happen sooner than next week.
INSKEEP: And we are still, of course, days away from the inauguration, and who knows what kind of economic news those few days will bring?
ROBERTS: Right.
INSKEEP: I suppose we should mention that a lot of this news conference was, of course, looking back at the nearly eight years now that the president has been president. And he spoke rather candidly, acknowledging a couple of mistakes.
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INSKEEP: Clearly, putting a Mission Accomplished on a aircraft carrier was a mistake. It sent the wrong message. We were trying to say something differently, but nevertheless it conveyed a different message. Obviously, some of my rhetoric has been a mistake. I've thought long and hard about Katrina. You know, could I have done something differently?
INSKEEP: In particular, he wondered if he should have landed in New Orleans to look around after that storm instead of flying over it and be photographed looking out the window from Air Force One. In both cases, he was concerned about messages that he'd sent, images that had been left in the public's mind.
ROBERTS: But he was reflective about mistakes. He - I thought that it was very interesting that he said that Social Security, after the 2004 election, to emphasize that was a mistake, that it should have been immigration. And clearly, the failure to do something on immigration reform is something that he takes away as a disappointment from this presidency.
INSKEEP: Cokie Roberts, as someone who has seen a number of presidents come and go, how much power do they have to shape the way they're remembered?
ROBERTS: But one thing I found really interesting is he said he didn't feel isolated in this job, which you've heard from other presidents. And he said, I don't think Obama will. He has a great family, and he'll be a 45-second commute from a wife and two little girls who love him dearly. He said, you know, sometimes these burdens are overstated. These are people whining, why did the - why did the economic disaster happen on my watch? He said, you know, that's not the way to do it.
INSKEEP: Cokie, thanks very much. That's NPR's Cokie Roberts, giving us analysis on this Monday morning. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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