WASHINGTON, Jan. 12 (Xinhua) -- With only eight days left in office, U.S. President George W. Bush reflected on his legacy at his final White House press conference Monday.

U.S. President George W. Bush is pictured during his last news conference in the Brady press briefing room at the White House in Washington January 12, 2009. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

   "MISTAKES, DISAPPOINTMENTS"

    Bush acknowledged his mistakes and "disappointments" on the war in Iraq and the government's response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005, while defending his overall record.

    "Clearly putting a 'Mission Accomplished' (banner) on an aircraft carrier was a mistake," he said, adding that "it sent the wrong message."

    On May 1, 2003, the president stood on the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln under that banner and declared that "the United States and its allies have prevailed."

    However, more than 4,225 U.S. soldiers have been killed so far in the war, which drags on and on, and has been unpopular at home and abroad for years.

    It was also believed to be a major reason for the Republican Party's consecutive defeats in 2006 congressional elections and 2008 presidential race.

    "Obviously," the president continued, "some of my rhetoric has been a mistake."

    He also said the scandal at the U.S.-run Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq "was obviously a huge disappointment."

    "Not finding weapons of mass destruction (in Iraq) was a significant disappointment," said Bush, conceding his major rationale for invading Iraq in 2003 turned out to be baseless.

    Bush also said that he should have pursed a comprehensive immigration overhaul after the 2004 election.

    "GOOD, STRONG RECORD"

    On Katrina, the president appeared to be both regretful and defiant.

    The Bush administration's response to the hurricane disaster was widely criticized.

    "Don't tell me the federal response was slow when 30,000 people were pulled off roofs when the storm passed ... Could things have been done better? Absolutely," Bush said.

    The president also defended his widely-criticized decision not to visit Louisiana after Katrina hit that region.

    Bush said that if he "landed Air Force One in New Orleans or Baton Rouge" shortly after the hurricane, "law enforcement would have been pulled away from the mission."

    The president only brushed a little on recent events during the50-minute session.

    On the issue of whether to request the second 350-billion-U.S.-dollar part of October's financial-bailout package, he said it is up to President-elect Barack Obama.

    "I don't intend to make the request," Bush said, "unless he specifically asks me to make it."

    About an hour after the news conference, Obama asked Bush to make the request, and the White House said that the president would do so.

    Bush touched upon the Israel-Palestinian conflict.

    "I'm for a sustainable cease-fire," he said, "and a definition of a sustainable cease-fire is that Hamas stops firing rockets into Israel."

    "And there will not be a sustainable cease-fire if they continue firing rockets. I happen to believe the choice is Hamas' to make."

    Overall, Bush insisted that he has "good, strong record" during the 8-year tenure.

    "You know, presidents can try to avoid hard decisions and therefore avoid controversy," he said. "That's just not my nature."

    At one point, responding to a question about why he had evoked such passionate criticism in some circles, Bush likened himself to Abraham Lincoln.

    "I've been reading, you know, a lot about Abraham Lincoln during my presidency and there's some pretty harsh discord when it came to the 16th president, just like there's been harsh discord for the 43rd president," he said.

    "HISTORY UNDERSTANDS BETTER"

    During recent weeks, Bush has been focusing on his legacy.

    In many interviews and speeches, he tried to explain how history someday will "better understand and appreciate" his presidency.

    However, the poll numbers are still quite disappointing, if not pessimistic.

    His approval rating is still hovering around 30 percent, one of the worst among outgoing U.S. presidents.

    The president's rating was so low that many media has begun debating the proposition that if "Bush is the worst president in the last 50 years."

    However, people close to Bush said that is not the case.

    They said the president's strong leadership has been tested by 9/11 attacks, two wars, Hurricane Katrina and the ongoing economic crisis.

    "I think history will judge, and we'll see later," First Lady Laura Bush said in a recent interview.

    Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice also rejected claims that the Bush presidency has been one of the worst are "ridiculous."

    "I think generations pretty soon are going to start to thank this president for what he's done. This generation will," she said.

    Bob Woodward, a well-known U.S. journalist who wrote four books about Bush, said the president's best hope for his legacy is that the Iraq war will eventually turn out well.

    However, "the preponderance of the evidence is that it may not turn out well," he added.

    Bush will leave office on Jan. 20, the day President-elect Barack Obama is going to be inaugurated. 

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