MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) -- U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders has persuaded the Smithsonian Institution to change the caption on a new portrait of President George W. Bush.

The Vermont independent had objected to wording in the caption that said Bush's time in office was "marked by a series of catastrophic events" including "the attacks on September 11, 2001, that led to wars in Afghanistan and Iraq."

In a Jan. 7 letter to the director of the National Portrait Gallery, Sanders said the notion the terrorist attacks were linked to or led to the Iraq war has been widely debunked.

Gallery Director Martin Sullivan wrote back Monday to say the label will be revised and will delete the words "led to."