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George W. Bush signs up for Facebook, but don’t expect him to weigh in on politics

Alex Pappas Political Reporter
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Former President George W. Bush, who has shied away from the spotlight since leaving office in 2009, has succumbed to the world of social media by joining Facebook — but don’t expect him to use it as an outlet to express his views on the current administration.

“I certainly would say it’s not to promote politics,” Bush spokesman David Sherzer told The Daily Caller.

By Wednesday afternoon, nearly 30,000 people were fans of the former president’s Facebook page. Two posts so far advertise former First Lady Laura Bush’s new book and tell of the Bush’s post-presidency activities — in the third person — including that he’s visited 20 states and eight countries and given more than 65 speeches.

“This definitely does not represent President Bush’s increasingly willingness or desire to start commenting on current events,” said Sherzer, who mentioned that Bush is “enjoying his retirement.”

Some politicians — most notably Sarah Palin — have used social media to promote policies, candidates and to speak out on issues. The motivation behind the office creating a Facebook account for the former president, he said, is to keep people up to date with what Bush is doing.

As for who is logging on and doing the posting, Sherzer said he wouldn’t “comment on the mechanics of the account,” but suggested that the former president wouldn’t constantly be “doing status updates.”

Two photos have been uploaded to the site, including a smiling profile photo of Bush, wearing a blue shirt, and looking off into the distance, and another showing the former president, clad in cowboy boots, and wife Laura sitting outside at their ranch with their dog, Barney.

It appeared for several hours on Wednesday that Bush had also leaped to Twitter, but Sherzer said that Twitter handle, @George_WBush, is an illegitimate account not associated with the former president’s office. The George W. Bush Presidential Center, however, does run the Twitter handle, @GWBPresCenter, he said.

As for 43 taking to Twitter on his own? “He has no plans to tweet,” Sherzer said. “I wouldn’t expect anything like that.”

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