Bush’s object lesson in gracious departure

In 2001, soon after George W. Bush’s inauguration, a bit of gossip surfaced from the White House: outgoing Clinton staffers had crept around the place taking the Ws off keyboards, phone wires had been snipped, furniture broken, glue placed on desk drawers and satirical signs hung up directing people to the ‘Office of Strategery’. Not bad as pranks go, but the country was not in the mood for laughing. The Bush presidency was already on the back foot after a botched election and protracted court battle. There was anger and resentment all around even though everyone’s official stance was grace, optimism and moving forward. The plundered Ws struck Republicans as a grave insult to the dignity of the office.

The new White House press secretary, Ari Fleischer, was solemn. He insisted that the Bush administration, having promised to restore honour to the White House, was not going to dwell on every last Clinton trick.