The dedication on April 25 of the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum was more than an opportunity for the five living U.S. presidents to compare notes on what Stefan Lorant called "the glorious burden" of the office.
It also was the beginning of Bush's campaign for rehabilitation. As Bill Clinton said at the ceremony, all presidential libraries are attempts "to rewrite history."
Bush's ultimate goal — already hawked by his former political adviser Karl Rove — is to become another Harry S. Truman, a regular-guy commander-in-chief whose stock rose sharply about 20 years after he left office.