The Bush Legacy?

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Beretta686

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I was reading through some of the older posts from 9/11 and the start of the Iraq War and found many amussing predictions and statements ("we'll be greeted as Liberators, with parades and flowers......." or "OMG! The Jihad is coming!").

However, I'm interested in what kind of predictions people have of how President Bush will be remembered by history.

Those of you with an academic background in government or history understand that it is WAY too early for us to have any sort of meaningful appreciation of the true legacy of a president (many historians argue a 50 year minimum and just look at Harry Truman as an example). But let's still take a shot at it.

So, how will history remember George W. Bush?
 
My bet is that he'll be thought of as one of the worst and it will be the repudiation of neo-conservativism.

Here's what he'll be remembered for IMHO:
-Iraq will be his Vietnam, since it was his idea from the start and we are going to be paying for it for a long long long time, both on the human side (PTSD, injuries, etc) and financialy (fixing everything we have broken), not to mention what this is doing to our Army.
-Afghanistan will be lumped in with Iraq
-Being too cozy with Big Oil
-The ballooning national debt
-Destroying our reputation abroad
-Torturing people
-Compromising Civil Liberties
-Fostering a sense of cynisism both at home and abroad

I don't really know who to compare him to (perhaps Hoover, but than he screwed up from inaction, rather than Mad-Cowboy Disease).
 
A man with good intentions, but who really, honestly, did not measure up for the job, and who was therefore able to be swayed by others to change his mind on important Conservative issues. Because of fiscal mismanagement, a refusal to veto spending bills and a general trend away from protecting the privacy of the American citizens, his presidency is considered a turning point in which the Republican party ceased to be a party in which Conservatives called home.

.... Sorry Bush lovers. I used to be a fan, but can't stand by and say nothing after he flubbed the big issues.
 
Well stated Max.

I'm just not able to express my deep and multiple frustrations with Bush and what has done to our country. There is so much I want to say and it all gets rolled up in to a ball of disgust. What a waste of opportunities, lives, treasure and individual rights.
 
Simple, worst President ever. History will not be kind to Bush II. He singlehandedly destroyed the conservative movement in the country. Republicans will be a minority party for a long time. You can thank him for a generation of solid Democrat rule over congress.
 
Poor, more harm to the American middle class then I thought possible with one man in 7 years,we are and will pay for generations for the mistakes made and I'm really not sure if America will ever recover totally and as I look at our current crop of candidates I certainly don't feel it will improve.
 
My bet is that he'll be thought of as one of the worst and it will be the repudiation of neo-conservativism.

Here's what he'll be remembered for IMHO:
-Iraq will be his Vietnam, since it was his idea from the start and we are going to be paying for it for a long long long time, both on the human side (PTSD, injuries, etc) and financialy (fixing everything we have broken), not to mention what this is doing to our Army.
-Afghanistan will be lumped in with Iraq
-Being too cozy with Big Oil
-The ballooning national debt
-Destroying our reputation abroad
-Torturing people
-Compromising Civil Liberties
-Fostering a sense of cynisism both at home and abroad

I don't really know who to compare him to (perhaps Hoover, but than he screwed up from inaction, rather than Mad-Cowboy Disease).
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Well put but would like to add:
-Habeas Corpus, Rest in Peace.
 
Certainly not the "best" president in history, but I believe he's basically an honest man and I'd like to personally know him.

I agree with many of the comments, but I take exception to this one:

"Iraq will be his Vietnam, since it was his idea from the start..."

If you have a minute, please view this video:
 
Wow, and it's a wonder we are looking at the dems taking office witht these quotes.

How about some more positive thoughts. Like one's that reflect conservitism.

Bush cut taxes, creating growth. Recessions happen, and we are lucky we didn't have more, as I feel Bush prevented a full blown depression.

Bush allowed the AWB expire.

Bush appointed to the Supreeme Court constitutionalist judges.

Bush has under his term no subsequent attacks on our soil since 9/11. He liberated 25 million people in Afganistan.

Banned partial birth abortion (big issue for me).

Oh, and I guess restoring Honesty and Dignity to the office after Clinton left it a cat house is nothing.

Oh, and didn't we get Saddam?

Got three raises for the millitary. Actually, he had to re-establish the military after Clinton devistated it.

Disarmed Lybia without war or bloodshed, guess they saw the writing on the wall.

Challenged the UN on gun control.

Come on guys, let's be real about this. Bush was a great president, and it looks like Moveon.org and the like have done what they set out to do.





For God sakes, he's not the devil folks.
 
Bush was a great president
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Wow. I'm just speech-less....... How is life on the Dark Side of the Moon? ;)

Oh, and I guess restoring Honesty and Dignity to the office after Clinton left it a cat house is nothing.
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You have a peculiar sense of Honesty & Dignity

Oh, and didn't we get Saddam?

Got three raises for the millitary. Actually, he had to re-establish the military after Clinton devistated it.
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Uhhh.... You must not spend much time around the military and see what's really going on.

Typically people with that kind of view-point are the ones with a "Support the Troops" sticker on the back of their SUV, who love war but for some reason never got around to joining up themselves or much less encouraging their kids to enlist (especially not for a Direct-Action MOS).

If you have a minute, please view this video:
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That's a Red Herring which is irrelevant, to the idea that Iraq is a massive failure. All that video shows is that Democrats were just as silly as Bush.

But we're dealing with the management of Iraq after the invasion, which is all Bush. It is still impossible to avoid the obvious that we are caught in an almost hopeless situtation there, that probably could of been avoided if the administration had focused on the realities of Iraq rather than puffing their chests and letting political cronies run it rather than compotent people.
 
Harry S. Truman was not just disliked, he was loathed when he left office. I consider Harry S. Truman one of the greats. Carter was also hated, still hated, but now he has his very own Nobel prize.

The Baseball Hall of Fame requires that potential inductees have to wait several years (isn't it 5?) after retirement before any consideration, even if the player is a shoo-in.

As for Bush, let's give it some time for ____'s sake.
 
If we get a new administration that passes a significant number of new gun laws (assuming Heller goes awry) - his legacy will be that of an incompetent presidency that led to a GOP defeat and the unintended consequences against the RKBA.
 
Bush cut taxes, creating growth.
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Cut taxes, but only for the rich, and simultaneously increased spending, turning a several trillion dollar surplus into a several trillion dollar debt. Estimates range from $20K-$30K of debt for every American man, woman, and child. Thanks a lot for that.

Bush allowed the AWB expire.
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Incorrect. Congress did this. Bush also said that he would sign a new AWB if only congress would put it on his desk. He's an Anti, same as Hillary.

Oh, and I guess restoring Honesty and Dignity to the office after Clinton left it a cat house is nothing.
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OK, this statement shows that you're not even trying to think rationally. Bush is a national/global embarrassment.

Oh, and didn't we get Saddam?
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And it only cost a few trillion dollars, our national pride, the lives of 4000 American kids, and maimed tens of thousands more. And for what? Saddam hated Bin Ladin, al quaeda was not in Iraq (until Bush let them in, that is.) I think we've learned that the only way to run Iraq is the way Saddam was running it. Look at what a mess it is now. Saddam ran a tight ship.

Disarmed Lybia without war or bloodshed, guess they saw the writing on the wall.
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(1)You mean Libya? (2) What are you talking about? Libya has been quiet since Quaddafi's daughter was killed by F111's ages ago, took all the fight out of them.

Challenged the UN on gun control.
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Which is about as difficult as challenging your little sister to arm wrestle.
 
Bush has been a mediocre president and has disappointed almost everyone that supported him. That being said, he has been alot better than Gore or Kerry would have been.

He has had some mistakes and errors, but its aloy easier to look back in hindsight and second guess the decisions after the fact. Democrats have been doing this to the point that they second guess their own decisions and blame Bush for acting on the intel that the Clinton administration and its appointees provided.

Hoover was much aligned, but it's only a couple of generations later that historians recognize that Hoover didn't cause the Great depression, and that the congresses turned arecession into a deppression by over reacting with punitive tarriffs.

Bush's biggest failings have been in his refusal to hold congress accountable on spending and allowing the political situation in Iraq to dictate military policy. Bush has been too compassionate and not conservative enough.

There is an irrational hate and fear of Bush that is illiogical and patholgical in many people, including posters here.
 
ISC -- awesome post. Thanks.

Like has been said ... it's history that will make the final judgement on Bush. But it will also judge our society and the amazing amount of hate and blame we've managed to put on one man.

Everything Bush did was supported by our Congress. And if the Iraq war turns out positive, he may be remembered as an insightful, strong president who continued to do the right thing no matter how much resistance he met.

And anytime I get angry at Bush, I just remember what the other options were. Comparatively, he is a great president. 2 years into a Hillary or Obama presidency we may wish we could get him back.

Or not. But history will decide either way.
 
Hoover was much aligned, but it's only a couple of generations later that historians recognize that Hoover didn't cause the Great depression, and that the congresses turned arecession into a deppression by over reacting with punitive tarriffs.
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Absolutely. Add to that that Rosevelt's much hailed New Deal did nothing to end the Depression, though one wouldn't know that by the way he's usually treated in the press.

The demonization of Bush around here gets pretty comical sometimes.
 
Bush's tax cuts were only for the rich? I didn't realize a 5% drop in the lowest marginal rate was "only for the rich." Silly me.

My take on Bush II:

Began well, and exhibited good leadership in the immediate aftermath of the worth terrorist attack on US soil.

However, he abandoned worthy domestic programs (Social Security reform) in favor of pushing an unpopular war with Iraq. He disregarded contrary intelligence, choosing to abuse the benefit of the doubt given him by Congress and the American public. His prosecution of the war was poor, and the entire thing ended up being seen as an expensive mistake, expensive in lives, time, and money, especially when containment of Saddam was working.

He didn't meet a spending bill he didn't like, and as a result the budget deficit ballooned. His leadership quickly became ineffective, and although he claimed to be conservative, it was quite clear he did not hold to the true conservative principle of smaller government.

He won a second term mainly on the weakness of his opponent, and then proceeded to act as though he had received a mandate. He acted as though he was the arbiter of right, but placed too great a value on loyalty over introspection. He just could not comprehend that maybe, just maybe, he might be wrong in his actions.

Ultimately, he left the nation weaker than it was before, with an economy stumbling under massive federal debt and a weak dollar, having failed to do anything of real value on the domestic front, and having destroyed any goodwill America enjoyed on the foreign front.

I do not know if he will be classed as the "worst" President ever, but IMO, he is definitely one of the top few worst, right up there with others who managed to cause lasting damage to our nation.

It will take far more than one good president to fix the damage, but unfortunately, of the current field I don't see even one who qualifies.
 
Immpossible to say, because the how you view history is the results, the results of the Iraq war will not be in for at least ten years, some sort of democracy or a dictatorship only time will tell.

Economic upturn soon, even a few months after he is out of office could be credited towards him.

No way to tell. But I do think he will be remembered as a man who stood by his convictions, unlike his predecessor who twisted and turned with every poll.
 
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