During his address to thousands at a "Get Motivated!" business seminar Monday in Texas, Bush looked back at his White House years and offered a glimpse of his new life as an ex-president.
"Man, my life has changed," he told the crowd at the Fort Worth Convention Center after talking about walking his dog around his new neighborhood in Dallas -- with a plastic bag in hand to scoop Barney's poop.
Much of Bush's half-hour speech had a light tone, but he turned serious as he encouraged audience members to stick to their principles.
"It's so simple in life to chase popularity, but popularity is fleeting," said the former president who saw his approval rating peak after 9/11, only to plummet to 22 percent by the end of his second term. (Just ask Vice President Joe Biden -- whose popularity is lower than Cheney's was in his first year, according to a Gallup poll.)
"You have to be willing to make decisions. ... I never shied away from decisions," said the man who once famously labeled himself "the decider."
The Afghanistan Decision
Bush made his motivational speaking debut just days after Cheney made headlines with a speech accusing Obama of "dithering" over what to do in Afghanistan.
Obama fired back Monday, insisting he would "never rush the solemn decision" about whether to send more troops into battle. The president is likely to make an announcement about his strategy for Afghanistan between Nov. 7 and 11, sources told ABC News.
Obama's decision might have personal implications for the Bush family. The former president's nephew, George P. Bush -- who is considering a future in politics -- is a member of the Navy Reserve. He told The Daily Beast "it's just a matter of time" until he's deployed overseas, possibly to Iraq or Afghanistan.
