Doing his darnedest
George Herbert Walker Bush, 41st president of the United States, died on November 30th, aged 94
⑴ Wherever he went, as America’s president or before it, George Herbert Walker Bush usually carried a felt-tipped pen and a supply of notecards.
⑵ On these he wrote letters. Some were thank-yous; others a clumsy, but courteous, attempt to get his views across to other people; yet others just a “good to see you” kind of thing.
⑶ When the time came to write his presidential memoirs, to salve some of that desperate hurt after Bill Clinton thrashed him in 1992, he published instead 600-plus pages of correspondence.
⑷ They ranged from doting letters to newborn grandchildren to his worries, as a young seaman in 1943, that his girlfriend Barbara, “so darn attractive”, would drop him while he was away; from his attempt to explain the Watergate scandal to his four young sons, to his mortified account of throwing up in 1992 on the Japanese prime minister, “the damnedest experience”.
⑸ He admitted that some of the letters were nutty. But they were also of the moment. As he said, “It’s all about heartbeat.”
标题Doing his darnedest
Darnedest
⑴ The most possible， 竭尽全力
⑵ a euphemistic word for damnedest，也是第 ⑶ 句 中的“the damnedest experience”. 荒谬的
在电影《飞屋环游记》中，有这样的一个片段，一个老人看到Cane的飞屋，觉得很荒谬。他说，
“In a house? A floating house?That‘’s the darnedest thing I've ever seen”
一座飞屋，一个房子？这是我见过最荒谬的事了。
说话老布什，作为个人，他是战争英雄，以彬彬有礼为人称道，他的一生是大多数普通人所艳羡的“别人的生活”。 事业有成，爱情美满，家庭和睦，子孙昌隆。
作为总统，他的政绩和优势却不是那么明显。小小布什Jeb Bush 竞选时候的标语也有意地去掉了“布什”的姓氏。对于老布什的总结，可以看看BBC的Obituary: George HW Bush是怎么讲的：
As president, he proved himself an efficient chief executive - more of a manager than inspiring leader. His public image suffered because of his Ivy League background and many voters saw him as lacking a common touch.
作为一名总统，他更像一名经理而不是领导者。
His foreign policy was successful in the handling of the invasion of Kuwait and the fall of communism. His domestic agenda will be less well applauded - with critics complaining he came across as a somewhat confused president with a shaky grasp of economics.
他的外交政策还算（入侵科威特，共产主义势力的垮台），但是国内经济搞得一团糟。
And personally, George Herbert Walker Bush will be remembered as, essentially, a cultured family man, uncomfortable with the rough and tumble of politics.
但就个人而言，布什将被人们记住，他是一个有文化、顾家、不喜欢政治动荡的男人。 （对总统而言，这绝不是称赞）
第⑴ 部分， 有写便签的（好）习惯。
第⑵部分，3种类型的便签。
1 表达谢意。
2 表达观点。
3 客套话（很高兴见到你）
⑵ On these he wrote letters. Some were thank-yous; others a clumsy, but courteous, attempt to get his views across to other people; yet others just a “good to see you” kind of thing.
courteous, 彬彬有礼的，客气的。近义词还有gallant, well-mannered等。
get across, When an idea gets across or when you get it across, you succeed in making other people understand it. （使自己的想法）被理解，被接受
If you can't communicate and talk to other poeple and get across your ideas, you're giving up your potential. （来自巴菲特）
这种老式的习惯，虽然寻常但是常人难以坚持。而这也成了老布什的个人品质印记，赢得了不少好感。
他给很多人写过信，从国家的领导人（比如克林顿）、到政府官员、以及普通人， 到家人都曾经收到过他亲笔写的信。
这肯定不是什么“人设”，而是习惯和学养。正如开篇所讲， as America’s president or before it
《华盛顿邮报》还专门有这样的一篇文How George H.W. Bush used handwritten thank-you notes to build bridges.
CNN也有这样的文George H.W. Bush was a prolific letter-writer. Here's how one of his letters touched my family
第⑶⑷部分，4重身份来看老布什。和家庭有关的都做得不错，和职业有关的就有点勉强了。
1 作为晚辈，对孙辈的关爱。
他在All the Best, George Bush: My Life in Letters and Other Writings 就写过。
2 作为丈夫（对象），对感情的认真。
(这里选的是darn attractive, 不知道是不是故意的darn, damn, darnedest)
参加二战那几年，书信没有断过，而且自己的战机名字也都是芭芭拉。
每年的结婚纪念日，都会给芭芭拉写信（情书），73年没有断过。
3 作为父亲，向儿子解释水门事件（职业有关）
水门事件中他的处境其实“艰难”
4 作为总统（职业），吐在日本首相身上（尴尬的外交）
mortified, 尴尬的。 mortify v （使）脸上无光
"[Mr. Darcy's] pride," said Miss Lucas, "does not offend me so much as pride often does, because there is an excuse for it. One cannot wonder that so very fine a young man, with family, fortune, every thing in his favor, should think highly of himself. If I may so express it, he has a right to be proud."
"That is very true," replied Elizabeth, "and I could easily forgive his pride, if he had not mortified mine."(来自Jane Austen的 《傲慢与偏见》 )
有两个解释1 当时老布什患着胃肠型感冒，身体不适。
还有一种说法是，因为想到二战时8名战友被日本人俘获后肢解，做成了人肉火锅，所以才吐。
第⑸部分，老布什也自嘲有些写的荒唐， 但都是真情实感（heartbeat）；
老布什：你们都说我是特权阶级，贵族的生活，但是这些烦恼我都有呀。 我也是性情中人。
这里让人想起了富兰克林在他的自传里，不用等别人来吐槽，自己先黑了一边曾经做过的荒唐事。 比如去追求好朋友的女友。
说起heartbeat, 除了写作的时候用
也很符合他的人生经历了
1 二战九死一生。8名战友惨死，他侥幸生还。
2 想连任却失利。
3 好好的外交却尴尬收场。
4 喜爱跳伞。
