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Re: Bush reputation starting to rebound
Miss him? Bush's reputation might be ready for a rebound
By Steven Thomas
McClatchy Newspapers
WASHINGTON '” Is George W. Bush about to start a political comeback?
Written off as one of the worst presidents in U.S. history when he left office, the 63-year-old Bush has been keeping a low profile, fading from view as the country turned its attention to his successor, President Barack Obama .
Now, some events might be turning in Bush's favor just as he and his family emerge to tell their side of the story, first with the release this week of Laura Bush's memoir, "Spoken From the Heart," then in November with the release of his book, "Decision Points."
"The rehab's well under way," said Mark McKinnon , a Bush confidant who still bikes with the former president in Texas .
"His loyalists have always believed that history would be much kinder to the president than public opinion was during his term. We also believe that leaders who make tough decisions are rarely popular when they're president, but that history puts things into context."
Most notably, the war in Iraq may not turn out to be the political albatross it was while he was in office.
While problems persist there '” and the weapons of mass destruction that Bush cited in ordering the invasion never were found '” democracy does appear to be taking hold, the U.S. is on track to withdraw combat troops by August and even Democratic Vice President Joe Biden now calls the war in Iraq a success.
"I am very optimistic about Iraq ," Biden said recently. "You're going to see a stable government in Iraq that is actually moving toward a representative government."
At the same time, Obama already has overrun and overshadowed the soaring budget deficits and record debt that Bush ran up while he was cutting taxes, launching two wars and expanding Medicare to cover prescription drugs. Gross federal debt in fiscal 2001, Bush's first year as president, was $5.7 trillion ; it was $9.9 trillion in fiscal 2008, his last full year. Obama's budget projects that the gross federal debt will be $16.3 trillion at the end of fiscal 2012, the last full year of his first term.
Still, Americans blame Bush more than they do Obama, by about 3-1, for the weak economy and the deficits, according to an ABC-Washington Post poll this week.
Democratic National Committee Chairman Tim Kaine said his party would campaign against Bush this fall even though the former president wasn't on the ballot, blaming him for the recession that started on his watch '” rather than the Democrats who controlled Congress starting in 2007 '” because "presidential leadership sets the tone."
Republicans see it differently. Sen. John Cornyn , R- Texas , thinks that the Bush comeback is under way.
" President Bush 's reputation is getting better by the day," Cornyn said. "Bush's reputation will do nothing but improve over time."
Perhaps, but it's also true that Bush's standing had almost nowhere to go but up. He left office with some of the lowest approval ratings in American history, and they've changed little since.
A CBS-New York Times poll this month, for example, found that 27 percent of Americans had favorable opinions of Bush and 58 percent had unfavorable opinions. That was essentially unchanged since the week he left office.
A CNN poll found him gaining 10 percentage points in his first year out of office; a Fox News poll found him losing 11 points.
Besides watching events unfold, a former president such as Bush can influence his post- White House standing by how he acts and how well he makes his case.
Bush insiders say that his refusal to join in the Obama-bashing that's prevalent in his party probably endears him to many Americans, particularly when compared with that from former Vice President Dick Cheney , "By contrast, it makes President Bush look good," McKinnon said.
His book could help him, too, if it's well written and well argued. Richard Nixon spent years writing on foreign policy to bolster that part of his legacy. Jimmy Carter helped his cause with extensive humanitarian work.
Ultimately, even the hint of a rebound for the 43rd president is a reminder that the first verdict might have been premature.
Surveyed in April 2008 , while he was still in office, 61 percent of historians said that Bush was the worst president in U.S. history, according to the History News Network at George Mason University in Virginia .
Yet historians also say that it can be decades before they can analyze a president's impact objectively '” time for policies to take hold, for details of internal debates to become known and for partisans on both sides to leave the stage.
"You can't begin to really assess a presidency with any sort of objectivity until they've been out of office for years," said Steven Schier , a political scientist at Carleton College in Minnesota . "It will be 30 years before we can accurately assess the Bush presidency."
"We aren't going to have a really good perspective for a while," said Bert Rockman , a presidential historian at Purdue University in Indiana . "I don't think his presidency will be regarded as top drawer '” it may well be well below the median '” but it may not be at the bottom any longer."
Re: Bush reputation starting to rebound
And it will continue to rebound. I have no doubt in 30 years, maybe less, this guy will be highly regarded, at least on the Republican side. Look at Ronald Reagan. Democrats HATED him HATED him in his presidency. Reagan was able to get moderates to vote Republican, so did Bush. The only difference was Reagan had higher approval ratings, but those started to tank towards the end. But then again, Reagan did have two wars and a terrorist attack to deal with. About the only guy who can relate to that is Franklin Roosevelt.
I think he'll be remembered like Reagan. A visonary to Republicans and a pain in the ass to Democrats. Even still, when Reagan died, universally he was acclaimed.
I have an American History textbook, right now in 2010, which calls George Bush a "radical". No bullshit. A "RADICAL". This is in higher education.
This country has no fucking concept of a radical or a facist. NONE. The same dumbass that calls W a radical is the same dumbass that calls Obama a Marxist dictator.
We have a really big fucking problem in this country, wanting to write history 7 seconds after it happened. It takes DECADES for history to tell it's story accurately. More and more will come out from Bush's presidency that puts him in a sympathetic light, and his positive vibes from people will rebound gradually.
I'm not a Bush nutswinger, but I thought he got a real bad wrap in his presidency. He did do certain things wrong, but they all do. Obama gets a bad wrap right now, despite the fact the economy is rebounding.
If anyone is held completely unaccountable for their ignorant, short-sighted, and crippling policies in the United States, it's every fat cat that sits their ass in the Senate.
The President is simply the manager that gets fired or blamed when the team doesn't make the playoffs. The reality is, it isn't the managers fault that the Left Fielder choked or the Pitcher gave up a 3-run HR.
- Communist China
- Rep: 130
Re: Bush reputation starting to rebound
We're still in his recession and his wars. He failed to solve any domestic crisis that he faced whether it was how he ignored Katrina or ran away screaming from social security reform after declaring an intention to overhaul the system in a SOTU address.
While I think Bush will eventually be called just a bad president instead of a potential 'worst' president which he clearly isn't, any dreams of being the next Truman are absolutely absurd.
I do agree tremendously with you Axlin in that the Senate is our government's biggest failure. Regardless of their policies or their bickering, they have sought to completely erase all accountability on their part. They refuse to declare war, and refuse to not declare war, refuse to propose a budget, now refuse to approve a budget, refuse to cut spending, refuse to raise taxes, refuse to reform any entitlement that would make a faction angry at them. They are completely spineless. We should repeal that 17th amendment.
Re: Bush reputation starting to rebound
The only difference was Reagan had higher approval ratings, but those started to tank towards the end.
Actually another difference is Reagan didn't have a near 2nd Great Depression under his presidency, whereas Bush did.
I agree alot with pretty much everything else you said (7 second history, fired for not making the playoffs, Senate etc)
EDIT: As for "7 second history" as quick as we shouldn't be to label him worst president ever, we also shouldn't reverse our thinking and say "Yeayyy he wasn't that bad overall". I think he'll go down as bad, pretty f'ing bad, but the whole "Worst.President.Ever" stigma may fade some, but I think he'll always be a politician who is somewhat disassociated from future "Great Republican talk". I don't think he'll be reflected upon highly. And the economic collapse & wars will be laid onto his regime. Somewhat fairly as well.
Re: Bush reputation starting to rebound
Axlin08 wrote:The only difference was Reagan had higher approval ratings, but those started to tank towards the end.
Actually another difference is Reagan didn't have a near 2nd Great Depression under his presidency, whereas Bush did.
I agree alot with pretty much everything else you said (7 second history, fired for not making the playoffs, Senate etc)
EDIT: As for "7 second history" as quick as we shouldn't be to label him worst president ever, we also shouldn't reverse our thinking and say "Yeayyy he wasn't that bad overall". I think he'll go down as bad, pretty f'ing bad, but the whole "Worst.President.Ever" stigma may fade some, but I think he'll always be a politician who is somewhat disassociated from future "Great Republican talk". I don't think he'll be reflected upon highly. And the economic collapse & wars will be laid onto his regime. Somewhat fairly as well.
But see that's the problem. Bush catches hell for that economy dive at the end of his presidency, Obama gets blamed (despite inheriting it), and the reality is NEITHER of them were primarily at fault.
The irony is, once again, like I said about the Senate, they were the exact people in the mid-2000's screaming about "we need to get people into homes, RIGHT NOW, NO QUESTIONS, WE HAVE TO DO THIS"... so they rushed it. What did they get? Massive foreclosures which destroyed the economy, and we still haven't recovered.
And by the way - Democrats were pushing that one, with Barney Frank leading the brigade.
There's always grey in politics. Will Bush get blamed? Yes. Will Obama get blamed? Absolutely. Like I said, they're blaming the manager for poor execution by the team.
Re: Bush reputation starting to rebound
And the irony of it all, is now we're providing government incentives to get people back into homes, in order to revive the real estate market, when that was the precise thing that caused the entire collapse in the first place.
And the beat goes on...
- dr_love6977
- Rep: 38
