Poll: Fair to speculate on Bush's legacy?
Probably not, but it sure doesn't help that everyone's asking the question before the next guy takes over. The observation below by University of Texas political scientist Sean Theriault puts the talk of letting the historical perspective on the Bush presidency work itself out over time into, well, historical perspective. From the San Francisco Chronicle's Jan. 4 front-page feature on the Bush legacy:
Conditions are worse now than when Truman left office, said Sean Theriault, a political scientist at the University of Texas. "The objective standards by which we can evaluate the presidency are just so bad. The economy is truly in tatters, and I don't think any Republican or Democrat, liberal or conservative, can dispute that. When Bill Clinton left office you could argue that Americans were generally pleased, but people thought he wasn't a beacon of integrity. But we can't have an argument about the success of Bush's economic policies."
Theriault touches on a good point: When the emotions surrounding Bush have faded and it comes time to evaluate him purely on his merits and historical context, it will still be hard to think of any mitigating factors that could whitewash his well-known failures (and I'm sure you thought of more than a few without my having to provide examples). Indeed, it may be indicative of Bush's eventual legacy that much of the current speculation over it has just as much to do with whether it's fair to place him among the pantheon of failed chief executives as it does with his actual policies. Ouch.
As for Bush's competition, he'll have to compete with current bottom dwellers James Buchanan, Warren Harding and Franklin Pierce (whom the Chronicle notes is a distant relative). If it comes down to a Pierce-Bush horse race in need of a tie-breaker, the 43rd president can at least take comfort in his staying on the wagon.
So I'll ask you, dear Opinion L.A. readers, in a completely unscientific poll:
Hat tip to Nick Gillespie at Reason's Hit & Run blog.
So Bush had lots of character and class, eh, Gary Robb? Was he employing any of it when he sided with Enron at the expense of the California people and his laissez faire policies toward the oil and pharmaceutical companies, military contractors, mortgage brokers, etc. ran our economy into the ground? I'm sure the grieving relatives of the Iraq war dead (on both sides) can cling to your words as cold comfort in view of their losses, especially since he declared mission accomplished eons ago with no end in sight. Then there was the traitorous outing of Valerie Plame with no one accepting responsibility and of course there's Katirna... How does Bush's alleged character and class help the recently evicted homeless and unemployed? Sorry if we disagree with your groundless and uninformed observations. Shall we emulate Bush by reading a childrens book while earth-shattering events occur? How classy. More like fiddling while Rome burns.
Posted by: Joe Avg. | January 16, 2009 at 12:52 PM
I haven't heard anyone say how much better the world would be if only Saddam Hussein and his two sons were ruling Iraq for the next 30 years. With billions of dollars of oil money at his disposal and a hatred of the United States and Israel, it would be only a matter of time before he would purchase an atomic weapon from North Korea. He was a future Hitler-in-the-making that was removed before he could commit even greater attrocities than he had to date. Europe declined to prevent Hitler at a cost of 50 million lives. Bush acted at a relatively minor cost! Objective historians in the furture will recognize this.
It is interesting to note the degree of cooperation President Bush has given Obama compared to the reception he received upon taking office. He was trashed from Day One by the Democrats and made aware he would get no cooperation from them. Liberal Democrats are unable to recognize the character and class of the man.
Posted by: Gary Robb | January 12, 2009 at 08:59 PM
We have only seen 1 per cent of the horror and crimes Bush as done in the pass 8 years. Cheney learned well from Nixon but this time the Media was brought as well as Law Makers from both Parties. We have a Propaganda Department in the White House which people just passed over. Every Bush appointee has lied and got bribe money to keep their mouth shut. We can see who some of the Democrats are as Obama tries to help the taxpayer while Feinstein, Pelosi, Reid, Shumer side with the GOP to stop him. Now looks like Dems/Republicans are in agreement on helping the Porn Industry with bailout money.
Many generations to come from all over the world will use the Bush Torture/invasion Policy that the UN did nothing about.
Posted by: Jackie Rawlings | January 12, 2009 at 12:33 AM
Atleast we can thank G.W. Bush "THE "worst president of all time for forcing us to reble at the voting urns unlike little sheep we have been brainwashed to behave. We now will have to evaluate his failures his out dated "Good Ole Boy", governing policies that can ruin our economy and reputation around the world. Our next 44th president has yet to take office but has done wonders to repair our morale and negativity towards humanity in general.
Posted by: fabian scarpetaº | January 12, 2009 at 12:30 AM
How could a monetary conspiracy against the American people been successfully carried out by the notoriously incompetent officials of the Bush administration?
Cultivating chaos is a time-honored method of advancing
anti-democratic agendas, as described by Naomi Klein in The Shock Doctrine. The invasions and occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan have been extremely lucrative for Bush administration cabinet officials, many of whom have strong ties to the oil and weapons industries.
Average profits for the Big Five oil companies doubled from 2000 to 2007, and awards to the top ten Pentagon contractors increased 75% between 2001 and 2003.
In carrying out their Constitutional responsibilities to the people, the Bush administration was indeed utterly incompetent. In enriching its insiders and their cronies and evading criminal accountability for its acts it couldn't have been more competent.
Posted by: E. Buzz Miler | January 12, 2009 at 12:27 AM
I can't see how this is even a valid question. The scary thing is that the four past presidents weren't found out and the flaws in the "elected ceasar" were never so easily spotted as when this dictator in muppets clothing began screwing up.
Posted by: hooligan | January 12, 2009 at 12:23 AM