While many observers and commentators are totally absorbed in guesstimating who would be the next president of the United States of America, few are still devoting the news space to finding out whether the present incumbent in the White House would be able to achieve anything before his term in office comes to a close in January 2009.
Among the exception is The Economist: “Few presidents have a pleasant time of it in their last year in office. Their chickens come home to roost. Their political capital dries up. Their advisers start worrying where their next pay cheque will come from. The entire country is fixated on the question of who will replace them.
“Woodrow Wilson was humiliated by America’s failure to join the League of Nations and then incapacitated by a stroke. Dwight Eisenhower was haunted by Sputnik and his multiplying medical problems. Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton had to deal with the fallout from Iran-Contra and Monica Lewinsky respectively.
“George Bush is likely to have a better year than Wilson (he is remarkably fit for a 61-year-old), but a worse one than most other presidents. Yet 2007 was a surprisingly good year after the debacles of 2006. The ‘surge’ in Iraq proved fairly successful—and vindicated Mr Bush’s decision to back his own judgment against the collective wisdom of the Iraq Study Group.
“The White House also played a successful defensive game against the Democratic-controlled Congress, outmanoeuvring it on everything from Iraq funding to the federal budget to energy bills to wire-tapping. Mr Bush blocked the expansion of a children’s health insurance programme of which he disapproved. He is now talking about ending his presidency ‘in a sprint’…
“This is unlikely. Mr Bush has little going for him in 2008. Only one in three Americans thinks that he is doing a good job. Almost all of his closest political advisers have decamped. Congress is determined to get its revenge and block anything that he sends it. And in reality he has much less than a year to play with.”
Personally I would be more interested in knowing what President Bush would do after retirement. His two dear/closest friends did unusual things. Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair decided to change his faith after quitting office – from Protestant to Catholic. Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf (although he removed his General’s uniform under pressure) decided to cling on to presidential office despite continued public protest in the country (described as “the world’s most dangerous place”).
(Illustration above courtesy The Economist/Kevin Kallaugher)
Swaraaj Chauhan describes his two-decade-long stint as a full-time journalist as eventful, purposeful, and full of joy and excitement. In 1993 he could foresee a different work culture appearing on the horizon, and decided to devote full time to teaching journalism (also, partly, with a desire to give back to the community from where he had enriched himself so much.)
Alongside, he worked for about a year in 1993 for the US State Department’s SPAN magazine, a nearly five-decade-old art and culture monthly magazine promoting US-India relations. It gave him an excellent opportunity to learn about things American, plus the pleasure of playing tennis in the lavish American embassy compound in the heart of New Delhi.
In !995 he joined WWF-India as a full-time media and environment education consultant and worked there for five years travelling a great deal, including to Husum in Germany as a part of the international team to formulate WWF’s Eco-tourism policy.
He taught journalism to honors students in a college affiliated to the University of Delhi, as also at the prestigious Indian Institute of Mass Communication where he lectured on “Development Journalism” to mid-career journalists/Information officers from the SAARC, African, East European and Latin American countries, for eight years.
In 2004 the BBC World Service Trust (BBC WST) selected him as a Trainer/Mentor for India under a European Union project. In 2008/09 He completed another European Union-funded project for the BBC WST related to Disaster Management and media coverage in two eastern States in India — West Bengal and Orissa.
Last year, he spent a couple of months in Australia and enjoyed trekking, and also taught for a while at the University of South Australia.
Recently, he was appointed as a Member of the Board of Studies at Chitkara University in Chandigarh, a beautiful city in North India designed by the famous Swiss/French architect Le Corbusier. He also teaches undergraduate and postgraduate students there.
He loves trekking, especially in the hills, and never misses an opportunity to play a game of tennis. The Western and Indian classical music are always within his reach for instant relaxation.
And last, but not least, is his firm belief in the power of the positive thought to heal oneself and others.