If George W. Bush travelled back in time, to where he was January 2001...

[Blue3]

If the George W. Bush of today...September 2016... who is

-horrified by Trump, especially his rhetoric against Muslims/Hispanics

-put off by the obstructionist Tea Party

-depressed about Iraq

-recognizing of his errors in things, like "axis of evil" and much more

-very sensitive to race relations and the plight of the African-American community

-regretful about torture, Guantanamo, etc.

-no longer on good terms with Dick Cheney

-aware of events coming up, like:
9/11
Hurricane Katrina
the 2004 Tsunami
the Oil Price Spike
the Financial Crash
the Arab Spring & ISIS
how relations with Iran can improve (and Ahmadinejad isn't elected yet)
North Korea gaining nuclear weapons
what stopped peace deals between Israel-Palestine
who in his administration would turn out to be corrupt
how opinion will shift on gay marriage
how Putin will turn out
the names of those who turned out to be major terrorists
etc.


...travelled back in time, to where he was January 2001... retaining complete memory of the last 16 years, and knowing it wasn't just a bad dream...

What would he do? How would the country and world turn out differently?

[Person Man]

Seems like no one is going to bite here. Bush was moderate on race relations though he was very hawkish but he did moderate a little even after he won in 2004. He was definitely an idealistic globalist and he had some libertarian ideas worth talking about. However, he was very culturally conservative to the point of potentially restricting future growth  and thought income inequality work. If he knew what he knew now, maybe he would have listened to McCain and tried to push off the tax cut if war came?

[rob in cal]

  Perhaps he would say who needs all this aggravation, life is too short, I'm resigning, no, fleeing DC.

[Blue3]

  Perhaps he would say who needs all this aggravation, life is too short, I'm resigning, no, fleeing DC.

And leave Cheney in charge?

[The Arizonan]

If George W. Bush traveled back in time, he would probably meet his 2001 self and cause a time paradox.

There's a theory that if time travel was possible, a time traveler would be unable to change the past and the future.

If we assume that he can change the timeline without the said issues, he could create a timeline that was better during the first sixteen years, but the future ended up being far worse. History is really just a huge crapshoot.