President Bush Returns To Central Texas
Raw Video: Bush Waco Celebration
Raw Video: Bush Party In Midland
WACO (January 20, 2009)-- Former President George W. Bush told a crowd estimated at 2,000 to 3,000 Tuesday night at Texas State Technical College Airport he is “grateful for my friends in Texas,” ending a day that started early at the White House and concluded with a short helicopter flight to his Central Texas ranch.
“I am grateful that you all came out tonight and I am than thankful for having had the chance to serve our great nation for eight years,” Bush said.
“I come home with my head held high,” he said.
He expressed gratitude to Waco, Crawford and Central Texas for helps with his trips here over the last eight years and for “putting up with the nuisance” of having the president for a neighbor.
“I can assure you things aren’t going to be quite as hectic these days,” Bush said.
The former president and first lady spent time greeting and thanking friends and supporters before boarding a Marine helicopter for the flight to the ranch.
Organizers of the welcome home celebration bussed the crowd of invited guests onto the airport’s tarmac in advance of the arrival of the former president and first lady on a flight from Midland, where Bush told a cheering crowd of 20,000 earlier Tuesday evening he’s home and he’s home to stay.
"It is good to be home,” he said.
Bush described the presidency as a "joyous experience," but he says nothing compares with Texas at sunset.
Bush said he went to Washington with a clear set of principles, and left with them intact.
"I never took an opinion poll to tell me what to think, and I'm coming home with my head held high and a sense of accomplishment,” he said.
Some of those in the crowd during the late-in-the-day ceremony at Centennial Plaza, waved cardboard red, white and blue "W's."
One boy held a sign that read, "President Bush, thank you for keeping me safe."
Bush, who grew up in Midland, earlier Tuesday ended his two-term presidency as Barack Obama was sworn in as the nation's 44th president.
