There was a legitimate affinity between Bullock and Bush. People I know who worked in the comptroller's office have told me that they were very good friends. Bush, while governor, forged alliances with people from both parties. This is something he lost when he became President. That led to his ineffectivness. Back in the day, even Molly Ivins referred to Bush as one of the most affable fellows you will ever meet.
I don't technically vote, but I'm enough of a statist to value the creation of Homeland Security, our overall enhanced TSA procedures and the underlying intent behind enhanced surveillance. I also think that while OIF was the second or third biggest mistake in American history; the overarching WOT did demonstrate our military strength and reaffirm our presence in the Middle East. Unfortunately we didn't partner strongly enough with post-Soviet Russia, China or the non-aligned countries in the '90s to be able to back away from the Alpha spot or any of the ancillary global resentment. I happen to think Hank Paulsen kneeling down to the House Speaker in mock desperation to convey the real dangers of the impending credit crisis was the bravest and possibly most singularly impactful thing a "big four" Cabinet member's ever done; between his and Bernanke's appointments and actions I think Bush has to be politely thanked for backstopping his, Clinton and Greenspan's regulatory aloofness.
Anyone been to the new GW library at SMU? It was a great outing. I really appreciate the candor he has about himself and his failings. He was also a very funny guy it seemed.
He didn't "accidentally shoot" someone, like Dick Cheney. I guess that's good. Let's be honest, GWB's years in office put us in one of the worst times in American history. To me, he is by far the worst president ever. You cannot forgive him for starting the most meaningless war with a country that was not involved in 9/11. He acted on speculation. You cannot forgive him for all of the troops that were lost and all of the Iraqi casualties. You cannot forgive him and his administration for the aftermath of Katrina. It is still dreadful to this day to consider how much time was wasted and how inaction killed just as many people as the actual destruction. If it were a democrat that made the same idiotic decisions, I'd feel the same way. I'm glad he disappeared from the public eye. Although he won't, it would be nice if he apologized for Iraq. We deserve it.
Calm down, man. I'll give you worst president in our lifetime. But I could probably name 10 presidents that did worse than W. Worst in history is a bit of an overstatement.
Everything I have ever heard or read about him has been in a positive light. He seems to be a very compassionate, humble man who is vilified by the media and Democrats who think they know everything. Hindsight is 20/20, we didn't go into Iraq on pure speculation, we had eye witnesses who made false claims...our own intelligence officers lying to us to get us into war because of Saddam's brutal and violent past. I approve removing Saddam from power. I don't approve of our strategy, it was almost too good. We completely destroyed the government infrastructure and were not prepared to piece it back together. That is our fault, but I do not for one second regret removing that POS from power. I only wish we had a better exit strategy and would have anticipated the insurgency that followed. It's interesting that we were so unprepared, considering that the Pentagon required every one to study the movie Battle for Algiers prior to the invasion, which detailed the exact strategies that we alter faced in Iraq.
It will be very difficult to honestly label any President after Carter as either the worst or the best; as America's stability, security and prosperity has been reasonably well stabilized since then, and genuinely unique accomplishments or failures require the types of challenges that have either been pre-empted or avoided by predecessors' experiences and legacies, or for which the responsibility of addressing has been delegated to multiple different departments and agencies years in advance.
It's no coincidence that the first positive thing about George W. Bush that popped into my head was his time as governor, not his time as president.
An opinion that is very VERY debatable. Just like mine: Obama = worst president I have ever experienced, and my awareness starts with JFK.
I have, SMU alum here. He actually came to one of my classes and ill share this gem... Bush addressing the class: Paraphrased obviously. " you know I remember when I was in your position not too long ago. I was the guy who came in to a class like this, looked down and would be like, 'who the hell is this guy talking' (laughter). But let me say you guys need to work hard an you will be successful because your education can take you anywhere! I see all these kids up front, taking notes, A students! Incredible, I know you will live a great life and don't stop working so hard. All you B student in here, you know what? That's great to, it's not easy doing well and really your probably a more entertaining person than these a students. C students, while they say that is average, you are average versus the elite of this country! Push yourself and you will realize you are really no different than the A or B students! And then we get to the D students...well...all I can say is...You can be president too!!!!" Dunno if I can type a good delivery but he killed it haha.
Well under him stock market sucked worse than pretty much any president in the last 50 years. The biggest economic crisis since the great depression. Real wages went down. Deficit Exploded. Two very unpopular wars. He didn't even get bin laden.
Ford and Nixon were worse, because they amplified and prolonged the effects of Lyndon Johnson's worst mistake. Ironically if Vietnam and Watergate never happened; we'd need two more Mount Rushmores. Andrew Johnson could have probably prevented the Civil War if he'd been elected before Lincoln; but his lack of vision, social idealism or tact at a particularly opportune time "forced" Northern liberals to nearly destroy the Constitution. Harding is actually the closest to Bush; their reluctance to lead put decisions in the hands bureaucrats competent and experienced enough to expedite an issue; but either too greedy or overzealous to accurately consider the country's best interests. Coolidge is unmemorable, and his passive leadership has to factored into assigning blame for the Great Depression, and the leftist resentments that led to so many sweeping social and administrative changes.
He was less popular at an already complex and troubled time when America's leaders had fully lost credibility. He alienated or didn't sufficiently accommodate his Congressional majority, and failed to anticipate some big global incidents while focusing on other similarly important issues. Reagan projected an image and attitude that allowed him to push through some big bets that immediately paid off; so Carter justifiably looks bad by contrast. Bush however squandered prosperity and goodwill, and bungled the two biggest issues a President can handle, wars and our entire credit and lending function, purely for the sake of ideology.
