Frost / Nixon it was not. And nor could it ever have been. Last night, George W Bush emerged from his self-imposed isolation and silence to begin his publicity tour for his book, Decision Points. But this most war-happy of presidents has, as usual, avoided being in the line of fire himself by carefully designing a tour that is guaranteed to cause him as little personal discomfort as possible. This week he will be interviewed by the right wing ranter, radio host Rush Limbaugh, Limbaugh's TV equivalents, all three prime time hosts on Fox News, and play verbal softball with Oprah Winfrey. Last night was his first interview, given to Matt Lauer, the host of NBC's cosy and cheerful breakfast TV show, 'Today.'

Lauer - who US viewers had watched that morning interview Lindsay Lohan's mother, Dina, on 'Today', asking questions as "So is shopping part of Lindsay's therapy?" - sat opposite Bush at a dimly lit wooden table, like a policeman interrogating suspect, but this was not an inquisition. All the big subjects were hit upon but Bush would wiggle crossly away, still wearing his criticism-repelling cloak of self-righteousness.

"Was there ever any consideration of apologising to the American people for taking them to war?" Lauer asked.

"Apologies would basically be saying it was the wrong decision, and I don't believe it was the wrong decision," he replied. He was, he admitted, "deeply disappointed" to have found neither Osama Bin Laden nor weapons of mass destruction. But no, il ne regrette rien.

There were flashes of sentimentality – almost entirely for his father – but, more frequently, there were sharp flares of the brattish bully boy one could easily imagine him having been as a teenager, and beyond. When he could tell that Lauer was about to ask a question he didn't like – why didn't he replace Rumsfeld after the Abu Ghraib scandal, what did he think when even Republicans were criticising the surge in 2006, didn't he only get the legal advice that said what he wanted it to – Bush's response, every time, was a self-defensive smile (which looked particularly weird when Lauer was reeling off details of waterboarding), followed by overly expansive hand gestures and, finally, sharp aggression shutting the question down. Only occasionally was there any sign of self-recrimination, albeit just with his eyes, not his words:

"4000 people lost their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan –", began Lauer.

"Yes," replied Bush, smile fading and his eyes sliding downwards.

Yet in his opinion, the worst moment of his presidency, according to Bush, and his suddenly hyper active body language testified to the truth of his belief in this statement, was not any losses of life in Iraq, Afghanistan, New York or New Orleans – it was being criticised by Kanye West on TV who claimed that the president's slow reaction to the victims of Katrina proved he "doesn't care about black people":

"I didn't appreciate it then, and I don't appreciate it now," he said stoutly, as though the consistency of his reaction somehow gave it more credibility, drumming his fingers manically.

"I wonder if some people are going to read this and they might give you some heat for it," said Lauer.

"Don't care," barked Bush, like a spoilt toddler.

"You're not saying the worst moment of your presidency was watching the misery in Louisiana, you're saying it's because somebody insulted you because of it," continued Lauer.

Bush made an irritated exhalation: "I also make it clear that the misery in Louisiana affected me deeply as well."

But not as much as a diss by Kanye, mind.

But if Bush's body language was weird, than his answers at times were paradoxical to a point they could have been crafted by Lewis Carroll.

"Let's talk about waterboarding!" said Bush, with an eager, come-and-get-me arm gesture.

"Why is waterboarding legal?" asked Lauer.

"Because the lawyer said it's legal," Bush retorted.

"Would it be OK for a foreign country to waterboard an American?"

"All I ask is that people read the book," he replied, suggesting that maybe some kind of secret get out clause is hidden within its pages.

President Obama is often criticised for superciliousness and arrogance. But these qualities in Bush were all too apparent in last night's interview, particularly in the way he would dance away from any acknowledgement of culpability by saying that he could "understand why people feel that way", whether it be about what he euphemistically called a "lack of a crisp response" to Hurricaine Katrina, or anger at the bank bailouts. Saying he understands why people feel a certain way is an infuriating way of avoiding responsibility and ultimately puts the blame on them for being so silly as to not to see things properly.

There were two things he regretted, though: standing beneath the Mission Accomplished banner on May 2003, and being photographed looking at the effects of Hurricaine Katrina from the safety of Air Force 1. "It's always my fault," he said humbly. But only in matters regarding his own PR. When it came to what was best for the American people he was, he said, "a success."