If anything, George W. Bush has been an entertaining president. Yip, you could always count on Dubya — or, as he likes to call himself, 'the commander guy' — to pepper dull statements with malapropisms, ignore established protocol and put his foot in it.

So, as Barack Obama measures the drapes for the Oval Office and mulls pulling America back from the brink of collapse, we take a look at some of Dubya's more spectacular gaffes.

Firm grasp on international affairs

Proving, at a G8 summit in St. Petersburg in 2006, that contrary to popular belief, Americans are actually good at geography: "Russia's big and so is China".

Australia, however, is another matter entirely.

At an Apec (Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation) forum in Australia in September 2007, Bush was a little... well... muddled.

"Thank you for being such a fine host for the Opec (Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, of which Australia has never been a member) summit."

In the same speech he referred to his Australian hosts as Austrians and made special mention of the Austrian troops fighting in Iraq.

On America's enemies

"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we."

Indeed.

Quite the charmer

When the Queen made her official visit to the US in May 2007, Bush accidentally aged the monarch by a couple of centuries: "You helped our nation celebrate its bicentennial in 17-". He stopped himself just before 1776 could slip out, but nevertheless received a stern look of censure from the Queen.

At the 2006 G8 summit (the same summit where Bush was caught on microphone casually greeting his British counterpart: 'Yo, Blair! How are you doing?') Bush earned himself the nickname 'Groper-in-Chief' when he treated German Chancellor Angela Merkel to an unsolicited back rub. Footage from the event shows Dubya waltzing up to a shocked Merkel and squeezing her shoulders a few times before she throws her arms up in protest.

On victory in Iraq

"The war on terror involves Saddam Hussein because of the nature of Saddam Hussein, the history of Saddam Hussein, and his willingness to terrorise himself." — 29 January 2003.

"The ambassador and the general were briefing me on the — the vast majority of Iraqis want to live in a peaceful, free world. And we will find these people and we will bring them to justice." — 27 October 2003.

And we thought that the challenge in Iraq lay with insurgents...

On the importance of education

"We want results in every single classroom so that one single child is left behind." — 10 November 2003.

Poor kid. But before you begin to pity that child too much, take comfort in the fact that he or she probably isn't missing out on too much: "Rarely is the question asked: Is our children learning?" — 11 January 2000.

Familiarity with African affairs

"We spent a lot of time talking about Africa, as we should. Africa is a nation that suffers from incredible disease." — 14 June 2001.

Slightly more disturbing than Bush's eradication of international borders on the continent, however, is his proclamation of the death of one of its favourite sons.

"I heard somebody say, 'Where's (Nelson) Mandela?' Well, Mandela's dead. Because Saddam killed all the Mandelas" — 20 September 2007.

Just for clarity: Nelson Mandela seems to have escaped the wrath of the ghost of Saddam as he is still very much alive.

On the food crisis

In May 2008, Bush — with a customary disregard for facts — laid the blame for the international food crisis firmly at the feet of the Indian middle class.

"There are 350 million people in India who are classified as middle class. That's bigger than America. Their middle class is larger than our entire population. And when you start getting wealth, you start demanding better nutrition and better food. And so demand is high, and that causes the price to go up."

In another reality, India's middle class only numbers 50 million and Americans are renowned for obesity.

A family man

"And make no mistake about it, I understand how tough it is, sir. I talk to families who die." — 7 December 2006.

He sees dead people? But wait, there's more...

"Families is where our nation finds hope, where wings take dream." — 18 October 2000.

And just for fun... some classic Bush

At the unveiling of his official portrait: "I'd like to thank y'all for coming to my public hanging."

On enemies subject to the desires of wilful attire: "Free societies are hopeful societies. And free societies will be allies against these hateful few who have no conscience, who kill at the whim of a hat."

And, finally, on fools: "There's an old saying in Tennessee — I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee — that says, fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again."

What did we miss? Share your favourite Bushism below...