You win some, you lose some.
He may have won two presidential elections, but George W. Bush was not the chosen one Wednesday morning when he was called into a jury selection panel in Dallas. He was dismissed when he was not chosen to be a juror.
Dallas Morning News reporter Julie Fancher was live tweeting about the former president’s appointment with his civic duty this morning. She tweeted at 12:39 p.m. Wednesday that Bush had left the George Allen Courthouse.
Former President George W. Bush has left the George Allen courthouse. He was here this morning for jury duty.
— Julie Fancher (@juliefancher) August 5, 2015
Sheri Coleman, a potential juror, said Bush was “very personable, very friendly. He asked a questions and was just very nice.”
— Julie Fancher (@juliefancher) August 5, 2015
President Bush spokesperson confirms the president sat through jury selection panel but was not picked to serve as a juror.
— Julie Fancher (@juliefancher) August 5, 2015
Bush’s spokesperson said he sat through the selection panel for a case in Judge Eric Moye’s court on the 14th civil district.
— Julie Fancher (@juliefancher) August 5, 2015
This isn’t the first time Dubya has been called upon by the judicial system to participate in a service most people dread. In 2005, Bush was called for jury duty in McLennan County where he owns a ranch.
Conversely, in 2010, President Obama was called up for jury duty, but sent his regrets to the judge saying that he had to prepare for his State of the Union address.
In an article that year, U.S. News reported that although no sitting president had ever served on a jury, Obama was the only president to flat out say “no” when called upon to serve. Other sitting presidents had shown willingness to perform their civic duty, but were either dismissed by the judge, like Bush, or deferred their service to a later date when they were not president, such as Ronald Reagan in the 1980s.
Not being chosen for jury duty is one loss that we’re pretty sure Bush isn’t going to lose any sleep over.
