George W. Bush

George W. Bush: 'Of course, some people are surprised I can even read.' Photo: Reuters

Ten years after leading the United States into war with Iraq, and despite leaving office with historically low poll ratings, George W. Bush says he has no regrets about his presidency.

''I'm comfortable with what I did,'' Mr Bush said, during a rare interview. ''I'm comfortable with who I am.''

Breaking a silence that he maintained through the costly war's 10th anniversary, Mr Bush said it was ''easy to forget what life was like when the decision was made'' to invade.

However, ''nobody likes to be criticised all the time'', he told The Dallas Morning News, his local newspaper in Texas.

The 43rd president, who became a grandfather for the first time over the weekend when his daughter Jenna gave birth to a girl, spoke as final preparations were made for the unveiling next week of his presidential museum and library in Dallas, the city where he lives with wife Laura.

Shrugging off sharp criticism of his legacy from his successor, Barack Obama, Mr Bush also urged Republicans to return to ''the principles that guided me'' to recapture the White House.

Despite his party's shift to the right, he stood by the so-called ''compassionate conservatism'' of his tenure. ''These are principles that need to be articulated and defended as time goes on,'' he said.

Mr Bush left office in January 2009 with a public approval rating of just 22 per cent - the lowest for a departing commander-in-chief in the 70-year history of the Gallup poll.

While being assailed by Mr Obama for driving the US economy into crisis, Mr Bush has also seen his legacy attacked by the conservative Tea Party movement.

They have criticised education and health schemes introduced by Mr Bush as expensive examples of big-government intervention and urged Republican candidates on the party's right to reverse them.

Speaking after his newest hobby, painting, was disclosed in photographs obtained by an email hacker, Mr Bush said he enjoyed new challenges and thought it ''important to set goals in life and have purpose''.

''People are surprised'' to discover his new pastime, said the former president, who was frequently mocked for his garbled syntax. ''Of course, some people are surprised I can even read.''

Telegraph, London