43

Eight years ago, George W. Bush prepared to take the oath of office as President of the United States. Eight years is a long time. Prior to that, Bush had been Governor of Texas since 1995. Basically, since I graduated from high school, George W. Bush has been in the spotlight as my Governor (except for the two years we lived in Florida – where Jeb Bush was Governor) or President. No one could have imagined how these past eight years would play out. Our world has changed dramatically in the last eight years – particularly since 9/11.

Bush leaves office with historic lows in approval ratings. How will history treat the 43rd President of the United States? Going back to 2001, I would never have thought that Bush would become the polarizing figure that he is. So why did he become so polarizing? I think his strengths and weaknesses contributed to it.

Weaknesses: Bush was always slow to adjust to the situation. He was a very reactionary president rather than a proactive one. Take Katrina for example. Now, one can easily make the case that the mayor of New Orleans and the Governor of Louisiana did nothing to help, but Bush certainly was slow in his response to the tragedy as well. He should have been on the ground immediately, ordering rescue crews into New Orleans. But he didn’t do this; he instead allowed the government to drag along with the rescue, while praising “Brownie” as doing a “heckuva job” with FEMA. (Hmm, seems a little like he may have Wade Phillips Syndrome.) On Iraq, when the initial strategy to secure Iraq was failing badly, Bush did nothing to shake it up, and again, stuck by the official in charge, Rumsfeld, saying he was doing a good job. Another weakness was his willingness to go with party politics over sound policy. In an attempt to establish a Republican hegemony in US politics, he attempted to take away Democratic campaign points by adopting them, thus growing governmental spending and enlarging the national government – No Child Left Behind for example. This strategy abandoned conservative principles and doomed the Republican Party to major losses in 2006 and 2008. The strategy gained him no Democratic support and lost him Republican support, thus plummeting his approval ratings.

Strengths: The slowness to adjust should not be mistaken for what he has accomplished in Iraq and the War on Terror. While he was initially slow in adjusting strategy and moving Rumsfeld out, his steadfastness to victory in Iraq will eventually be seen as a strength of his presidency. When all thought Iraq was lost, Bush pushed ahead with the surge. While there is still a long way to go, the situation in Iraq is now closer to victory than ever before. So much so, that Obama has adjusted his campaign rhetoric and has adopted Bush’s policy in Iraq, even keeping Bush’s Secretary of Defense as his own. The same with the War on Terror. Back to 9/11/2001. Who would have thought that seven years later, we would not have had any more terrorist attacks on US soil? Bush has to be given major praise for keeping us safe these last seven years. As he mentioned in an interview – we quickly went back to life as usual, he never did. Additionally, his commitment to fighting HIV/AIDS has been under reported. Bush has done more than any other president in the fight against AIDS. Did it win him any political support? No, but he did it because he knew it was the right thing to do.

So how will history judge Bush? Of all the presidents, he will probably fall somewhere in the middle of the pack. His legacy really depends on Iraq though. If it turns into a stable democracy that leads to the spread of democracy in the Middle East, Bush will be seen as a genius. But if it reverts back to the hands of a dictator, his stock will always remain low. I think Bush is a very good man who wanted to do right for America. Unfortunately, at times, he was too loyal to people around him and too slow to adjust, costing him political clout and damaging some of the good he wanted to do.

Welcome back to Texas, President Bush. And thank you for keeping my family safe and serving our nation. Now, would you please apply for the job you were meant for? Commissioner of Major League Baseball.