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WASHINGTON

The 13-minute farewell address was a somber, gentle defense and reflection of his two-term presidency, which was defined largely through the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“As the years passed, most Americans were able to return to the vital spark much as it had been in advance of 9/11, except I never did,” he told an hearing of 200 in the White House East Room, including 45 invited to respect what Bush called their “courageous” acts. The audience gave him standing ovations while he entered and while he finished.

The talk was the 43rd president’s final scheduled public appearance until Tuesday’s inauguration of President-elect Obama. It was the last of divers farewell

Bush is leaving office with one of the lowest approval ratings of any president in modern times. His approval rating soared to 90 percent after Sept. 11, but he’s leaving office as a new Gallup Poll puts it at 34 percent. That’s up from 25 percent happy before the November election, reflecting a bump that presidents commonly procure to be just before they leave.

On Thursday, he tried to remind a national television audience of his convictions and his accomplishments.

“Our nationality is equipped with new tools to monitor the terrorists’ movements, freeze their finances and break up their plots,” Bush said. “And with strong allies at our side, we have taken the contend to the terrorists and those who support them.”

He acknowledged “you may not agree with some tough decisions I have made. But I hope you can agree that I was willing to make the tough decisions.”

Much of the public has turned against the war in Iraq, where more than 4,200 Americans have been killed in the clash.

Many tactics the Bush administration employed in waging its war on terrorism drew widespread animadversion, such being of the class who establishing the prison pitch one’s tent at Guant

Bush said Iraq “has gone from a brutal dictatorship and a sworn enemy of America to each Arab democrats at the affection of the Middle East and a friend of the United States.”

His initiatives, he said, have kept Americans safe: “There can be little debate about the results. America has gone else than seven years without any other terrorist attack without ceasing our dirt.”

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