Back when he was President, I called him the Living Definition of the Peter Principal because he was a decent governor. A hell of a lot better than Perry, who was a disaster. As you said, things went to **** when he became President. He placed his trust in people he shouldn't have, and ignored advice from those he should have listened to. In fact, he's a good example of why Trump is so dangerous. As crazy as Cheney was, and as out of the loop as George allowed himself to be, you knew our nukes were in safe hands. I thought they were, anyway, and Bush/Cheney drove me crazy. Trump? He's quite capable of doing anything. Anything.
He does, but you still gotta win and that always takes an effort. He ran a disciplined enough campaign and grabbed a governorship that should have been Republican by the late '80s if Clements and Williams weren't so unpleasant. Also, E&P back then was pretty brutal all around; lots of competent or otherwise successful speculators had a tough time. He could have probably eased into a consulting or bond trading role, learned the business and been somewhat productive without nearly as much risk. That being said it's fairly skeevy how he got his ownership share of the Rangers and got enough visibility to run for governor.
I always thought GW cared, I just think he was in over his head and had the devil and satan as his top advisers in Cheney and Rumsfeld.
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/jzCXcO856JU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> First several minutes is Fred Thompson introducing George Bush. I'm telling you, set aside what you think about GW, this is an amazing intro. Fast forward to the 5 minute mark for story about the pitch.
This. Unfortunately the most important job of the president is to surround himself with good people as there is no way he can make all the decisions and craft all the policies himself.
LOL punch him in the face? And 2 seconds later, Trump would get his ass stomped out. Dude is a pu$$y. Punch him in the face . . .
<iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/jkghtyxZ6rc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Look at that teeny, tiny, itsy bitsy, little bitty fist. LOL I'm pretty sure that George W is glad that Trump is making him look like a man of fairly average intelligence.
Trying to be tough, Trump throws his First Pitch wildly over the catcher And, Trump gets beaned by flying shoes, because for a fateful split second he worries about his toupe. No way Trump dodges shoes like Bush. <img src="http://harryallen.info/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/picture1.jpg" height=300><img src="http://a.abcnews.com/images/Politics/abc_george_bush_shoe_wy_140411.gif" height=300>
Bush was a damn good Governor and a good President but then the damn invasion of Iraq happened and it all went to hell. I wish we had a Presidential candidate with his tone and charm, I think it helps with bipartisanship. I thought Obama could replicate that but it came off as smug. Hillary is dead inside, no charm at all. She makes you want to gag. Trump is a billionaire with little man syndrome, he's severely unlikable.
GW Bush might be the worst president in the history of the US of A. By destroying and then leaving Iraq, he initiated Isis.
Liberals tore Bush up with the Iraq war, deservingly so in retrospect. The average Joe who has met Bush and Clinton in person speak very highly of them. Bush was dealt a bad hand and played it bad with the Iraq war. From there, it was all defense with liberals playing him out as a moron.
You make the Iraq war sound like an sudden rainstorm. Bush caused the Iraq War/ISIS. Should have been playing "go fish" but the big meanies of the world made him play bridge.
Really the only thing he did wrong was agree to leave Iraq prematurely. He bowed to the pressure the liberals were putting on him and it ended up being by far the biggest blunder of his presidency.....which the next president saw over and took credit for until it was seen as a bad thing. Bush wasn't a very good president, he made mistakes in his staff and who to trust, Rumsfeld was one of the worst. That said, we've only gone down since then.
Isn't it almost always not what you were dealt with but how you respond? 911 and recession due to 911 wasn't his fault. Those were definitely bad cards to start with. Two wars, one quite voluntary + massive tax cuts. That combination were bad cards to play.
