In W's World, Life After the White House Is Fairways and Greens
For former President George W. Bush, retirement from politics looks a lot like, well, retirement.
He paints. He spends time with his grandkids. And according to story in The New York Times this week, he plays a lot of golf.
"He's a golf-aholic now," Bush's friend, Charlie Younger, told the Times.
After mothballing his sticks during his presidency, paying deference, he said, to American troops, W has taken up the game with renewed fervor. He's often out with the early-birds at courses close to his Dallas home, including Brook Hollow Golf Club and Las Colinas Country Club. He hosts a charity golf tournament to raise funds for wounded military veterans. And he has built a putting green outside his house.
In today's political climate, sitting U.S. presidents routinely catch flack for playing golf (as Barack Obama has surely learned), but post-White House life is a different story.
The Times story presents a picture of a relaxed former president, largely removed from politics and unconcerned about his legacy. Not that he's entirely stress-free. According to the story, W worries privately about the rise of the Tea Party and what he sees as America's growing isolationism.
Who knows? He may even struggle with his putting, too.