Tonight, Storytellers:Bush

Bush's Farewell Address Airing Tonight

President George W. Bush's farewell speech is more than a goodbye to the nation that elected him twice. It is his last chance in office to define his tumultuous presidency in his own, unfiltered terms _ a mission that will keep his fire burning even after he fades off to a quieter life.

Bush will say goodbye to the country Thursday night. He will follow the script of Presidents Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter and many before them: Express thanks to the country and pride in the honor of serving, wish the next president well and outline what he considers to be the biggest challenges ahead.

And there will be looking back.

Oh I like that, "last chance to define his Presidency". Like millions of people are sitting home thinking "You know I'm on the fence on this Bush Presidency, if only I could hear a final argument from the man himself to sway my opinion one way or the other." Maybe Bush does have a final argument that makes Iraq OK or Katrina great or makes us understand why he had to slit the throat of the economy and toss it under a bridge. After all we've heard quite a number of times that the main problem was Bush just wasn't getting his message through to the American people, it was getting blocked out by liberals, people's own observations about the state of things, and a series of terrible messengers with hamhanded messages. Now, with a Thursday night audience hoping he isn't going to delay the new Earl or Grissom's last CSI, he'll have the chance to fix all that.

Here are some of the messages delivered by the last three Presidents to give farewell addresses:

• Clinton said in his farewell, "I'll leave the presidency more idealistic, more full of hope than the day I arrived and more confident than ever that America's best days lie ahead."
• Ronald Reagan invoked images of the shining city on the hill: "We made the city stronger. We made the city freer, and we left her in good hands. All in all, not bad, not bad at all."
• And Jimmy Carter told the nation, "From the bottom of my heart, I want to express to you the gratitude I feel."

Other famous last speeches included Ford singing the nation a song he wrote about liberty, Kennedy's famous "Hey Jackie, is that a guy on that knoll over there" speech, and Eisenhower's final speech about the need to avoid the encroaching influence of the military industrial complex that we promptly ignored. Bush? Who knows. It'll either be filled with excuses, apologies or possibly a crazy, wide eyed rant, ending with a screamed "It was like this when I found it" before George jumps out an Oval Office window and makes a break for the nearest wall. I guess we'll find out tonight.