In November 2008, Barack Obama, a junior senator from Illinois, was elected President of the United States. On January 20th, 2009, George W. Bush stepped down as the 43rd President and retreated to the quiet of West Texas. He managed to stay out of the public eye, and spent much of his time on charities for wounded veterans, relaxing with his family, or on the golf course. As tempting as it may have been, he refrained from weighing in on the impassioned public debates as they unfolded across his television over the next 8 years: hot-button issues such as universal healthcare, closing Guantanamo, the Iranian nuclear program, and climate change.