Friday, August 28, 2015

George W. Bush Returns To New Orleans For Katrina Anniversary

President Bush during a tour of the Katrina wreckage in 2005

Susan Walsh / ASSOCIATED PRESS

Ten years after his administration faced serious backlash for its handling of Hurricane Katrina, former President George W. Bush will return to New Orleans on Friday and deliver a speech on the anniversary of the storm.

Historians and political experts said that the Bush administration's response to the catastrophe, its handling of recovery efforts, and his own personal reactions marked perhaps the lowest point in his presidency. Particularly raw moments came when Bush first flew over the wreckage and when he congratulated then-Federal Emergency Management Agency Director Michael Brown by saying, "Heckuva job, Brownie."

"That's when I think his presidency started on a downward trend," Douglas Brinkley, a presidential historian at Rice University and author of "The Great Deluge" told the Associated Press.

Bush will deliver his speech at Warren Easton Charter High School, which he visited a year after the storm struck. The school is seen as a success story because it was badly flooded but fought to stay open.

Several protesters were outside the school, including Aaron Grañt, a 35-year-old river boat manager who grew up in New Orleans.

"I wanted to let the president know, we still remember," he said, holding up a sign that said: "You're early, come back in a week."