In 2000, millions of people exercised their democratic right. This country made a choice. And then George Dubya Bush became president. In the years since, we’ve laughed with him, we’ve cried with him, we’ve misunderstood him. (We’ve mostly cried.) And despite the media frenzy that is Election 2008, America is still being overseen (overlooked?) by good ol’ Dubya. And he’s still off doing presidential things, trying to squeeze every last bit of legacy out of his eight years in office.

So with the focus off him for once, and considering the Democrat-controlled Congress is probably not jumping at the chance to let him pass some last-minute legislation, what has Dubya been up to? From a rousing visit to Africa, to choosing a location for his presidential library, to starting wars in space, to the $400 billion deficit he’ll happily leave behind for his successor to sort out, George Bush is focusing on building his legacy. Here’s what he’s doing to try to help cement his place in history.

Visiting Africa
Did you know Bush was in Africa last week? He came back with a smile and a 30-minute slideshow of his adventures, reportedly telling the crowd that the trip was the “most exciting, exhilarating, uplifting trip I’ve taken since I’ve been the president.” Dubya has always gotten on pretty well with his African buddies, and his trip to Africa last week was no exception. He hopped around to five different nations, holding press conferences and glad-handling African leaders.

He may be slipping in popularity here in the U.S., but the Africans greeted him with open arms. Thousands lined the streets to cheer him on in Tanzania, Benin declared a national George W. Bush Day and Ghana announced that a new six-lane highway, funded by the United States, will be called the George Bush Motorway. He also visited Rwanda and Liberia.

Though he may have avoided some of the stickier situations in Africa (Zimbabwe, Chad, Kenya, etc.), the affection may be well-deserved. His AIDS initiative (nicknamed Pepfar) has spent $18 billion on AIDS prevention and has been heralded by Bush as a great success, though its effectiveness has been questioned. Congress refuses to extend Pepfar because in addition to providing access to antiretroviral drugs and condoms, it also aims to educate Africans on the joys of marital fidelity and sexual abstinence before marriage.

Backing up Musharraf
Everyone’s favorite dictator received a personal phone call from Dubya last week. Bush has supported Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, who came to power in a Pakistani coup in 1999, because of Musharraf’s support of the War on Terror. Bush’s faith in Musharraf didn’t waiver even when he declared martial law last November. Musharraf went effectively ape shit, firing the Supreme Court Chief Justice, dissolving parliament and shutting down the free press. Despite last month’s democratic elections, the stability of the country is far from sure, and many are calling for Musharraf to finally step down.

But Bush stands by his man, insisting that Musharraf played a key role in helping Pakistan on its “path to democracy.” Some democracy.

And oh yeah, um, we’re still at war
Dubya’s most enduring legacy will of course be the Iraq War (sorry, I mean the War on Terrorism). The war, which is costing Americans $275 million a day and has claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people, has fallen off the media charts in the last few months.

But the “situation” in the Middle East will be the first foreign policy issue the next president must address — John McCain has even said that Iraq may be the thing that costs him the election, though he later retracted that statement. And as if Iraq just wasn’t enough, Dubya now won’t stop talking about Iran and Syria.

Bush is expected to continue to focus on foreign relations in his last year in office because it doesn’t require legislative approval. He will make eight trips overseas in 2008, more than any other year in his presidency. Destinations include Israel, Romania, Slovenia, Japan, China and Peru.

My question is, why is he working so hard to secure a legacy? After all, he’s done so much other stuff to make the memory of his presidency last. It’ll be hard to forget our eight years of Dubya. At least he’ll spend most of his last year out of the country.