Published on Author Christopher Fahey26 Comments

I loved this picture so much I just had to find a way to look at it every day to make the moment last. And now, if you have an iPhone, you can, too.

Presenting the Farewell George Bush iPhone Wallpaper!

Download it.

Credit for this image is “Reuters AFP/Saul Loeb/Pool” (UPDATE: Full credits in comments, below). I touched it up and modified it for clarity and to make it fit nicely on the start screen without the iPhone’s UI elements cropping off any of the important and meaningful imagery.


26 Responses to Farewell

  1. Sweet.

    I had to watch the footage of the chopper flying away. Needed to make sure it didn’t turn back.

    Little known fact: The destination of the flight was Andrews Air Force Base, which is southeast of the Capital. However, upon take off, the helicopter flew due west out of the city.

    Does anyone else see that as symbolic?


  2. It didn’t get much mention yesterday, but it’s not traditional for the new President to walk with the outgoing President to the helicopter (or, in older times, the limousine or carriage) to see them off. Obama was the first to do this.

  3. Nice picture.

    I did notice on the tv coverage that the chopper appeared to do a circle around the White House before heading west. I assumed it was to avoid traffic from DCA, which is also to the southeast.

    But you never know.

  4. Hi Chris,

    Just a quick correction, Its actually an AFP photo, Reuters picked it up through the Whitehouse Pool as Saul was on Pool duty.

    UNITED STATES, Washington : US President Barack Obama (L) waves alongside his wife, Michelle, and US Vice President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, as former US President George W. Bush and his wife, Laura, leave the US Capitol on the presidential helicopter after Obama was sworn in as the 44th US president in Washington, DC, on January 20, 2009. AFP PHOTO / Saul LOEB

    More about Saul here http://www.saulloeb.com/bio/aboutsaul.html

  5. Thanks Christopher,

    It was picky I know but couldn’t help myself it was a great shot and I couldn’t let AFP not get the credit.

  6. Actually, Ronald Regan may have started the tradition of a final flyover of the White House according to several new reports I’ve heard recently. Sorry I can’t provide a link for verification.

  7. I watched recently the Nixon good-bye speech and Ford’s inauguration/acceptance. There was a big ceremony of Ford walking Nixon to the helicopter and watching him fly off.

  8. @doug: That’s true. I guess Ford’s swearing-in isn’t what most people think of when they say “inauguration”, nor was his sending-off of Nixon what most people think of as a “ceremony”, so that might explain why people thought that Bush & Obama were the first to do this. But it counts.

  9. I think the precedent Obama set here is that he was the first President to walk his predecessor from an opposition party to the helicopter.

  10. Fly away into obscurity and ridicule 43 you numbnuts. Did Barbara B not teach you to clean up after yourself?… Clearly not.
    Bye Bitches!

  11. The account I heard is that George H.W. Bush and Barbara started the tradition of seeing the outgoing president off to the helicopter, hence they waved good-bye to Reagan. Clinton did the same with respect to GHW Bush, George W. Bush the same with the Clinton’s, and now Obama with #43.

  12. Alternate Caption: “Bush, having screwed it all up in his unique and inimitable fashion, hands it off as tradition and law prescribe to the next guy who will screw it up in his own unique and inimitable fashion.”

  13. Well….at least bubba gets it.

    It will be funny when you all stop sucking Obama off for long enough to see that he’s only going to fail just like every other pres.

  14. @dan & @bubba: Right. Every President has been a failure. That would explain why the country keeps getting invaded and pillaged, why we have no technology innovation, no industry, no universities, zero influence in the world, and why we’re all starving and poor.

    Eight years of Bush has apparently left you scarred with the impression that it’s impossible to have a President who doesn’t make almost every problem worse. I am taking a wild guess that you are both under 25 and can barely remember what it was like to live in a prosperous and peaceful country. Believe me, it is possible and it has been done before.

  15. It is, indeed, a striking picture.

    But I can’t help but think that it’s the children waving goodbye to the adults.

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