Saying he isn't concerned about short- or long-term history, Bush said during an interview with ABC News, "in this job you just do what you can."

"The thing that's important for me is to get home and look in that mirror and say, I did not compromise my principles. And I didn't," Bush said in the exchange that aired Monday.

He said he believes he was able to bring a results-oriented focus to Washington and push lawmakers and policy-makers to looking at results, not the process.

Bush also noted the president will carry "a lot of people's grief in his soul" because of the tragedies he faces, whether created by man or nature.

(You) spend time being the Comforter in Chief," Bush said. "But the idea of being able to serve a nation you love is -- has been joyful. In other words, my spirits have never been down. I have been sad but the spirits are up."