Regional wars, housing and credit crises, international policies, global warming and climate change will determine history's view of The Bush Doctrine.
Determining the legacy of a sitting President is equivalent to predicting the outcome of a war during the heat of battle. The President’s actions along with previous facts indicate that George W. Bush will go down in history as either an ineffectual leader or a methodical demagogue. Ultimately, Bush’s legacy will be determined by historians and history has told us that what is current sentiment may be overcome by historical evaluation. However, close scrutiny of those facts today may predict what will occur in years to come.
Wars - By far GWB will be known as the President who started two conflicts around the world - Iraq and Afghanistan. However, it may be necessary to evaluate not the wars themselves but the missed opportunities those conflicts presented. The failure to capitalize on the good will of the Iraqi people after the downfall of Saddam Hussein and the failure to reconstruct the infrastructure of the oppressed people of Afghanistan will be examined. The stubborn and inept leadership that failed to exploit countless humanitarian opportunities in both countries, will be another focus.
Housing Crisis – The current housing crisis in America will also fall under Presidents Bush’s heritage. In Alex Markel’s February 28, 2008 US News and World Report article, Comparing Today's Housing Crisis With the 1930s he says: “It's been called the worst housing slump since the Great Depression.” While his analysis contains intermittent optimisms, the simple fact that comparisons are made with the "worst housing" situation in the last century, will present historical comparisons between Bush and depression era Herbert Hoover.
Credit Crisis – Yale economics professor David Dapice wrote in his article: Global Risk of US Credit Crisis, "The mortgage mess is associated with a combination of fraud, greed and recklessness…. These problems spill over into other credit markets, the ripples of which have reached foreign shores.” Maura Reynolds of the LA Times says: “Three out of four Americans…blame President Bush's economic policies for making the country worse off during the last eight years.”
International Policies – A horrid outcome for Americans will be the situation in which the Bush Administration has placed the nation. After 911 most of the world had a solid pro-American feeling; however, that sentiment was quickly squandered with arrogant actions by the administration. In an attempt to quash exaggerated problems, the administration fortified earlier insignificant enemies. Reuters News Agency reported: “Obama says Bush policies strengthened Iran, Hamas.”
Iran, a neutralized regional power, became the dominate force in the oil rich Persian Gulf while dysfunctional Syria became a necessary player in the Eastern Med. All the while Hezbollah and Hamas were able to test their strength against allies in the region and regained considerable lost power in Lebanon, Israel, Egypt and Palestine.
Eventually strong allies and world opinion left the USA and this administration. Leaders who supported Bush were routinely ousted in their countries. Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar of Spain, Britain’s Tony Blair, Australia’s John Howard, embattled Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and Israeli PM Ehud Olmert all ended their careers, in large part, because of allegiance to the Bush Doctrine.
Human Rights – Ultimately many Americans fear the administration systematically destroyed the American Constitution and international human rights. A highly charged issue, historians will determine whether these actions hurt America and its Constitutional Republic experiment.
Global Warming – The future will determine the eventual effects of this phenomenon; however, the administration has, for years, used denial and pseudo-science to dismiss all evidence.
Seven years of Presidency had far more input. Business attitude, oil prices, corporate bailouts, energy speculation, lax governance, unemployment, Supreme Court rulings, inflation and the failing economy will add to the mix of determining the Bush Legacy, but those main events will be highly influential.
The copyright of the article Legacy of President Bush in US President is owned by Frank W. Hardy. Permission to republish Legacy of President Bush in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
The Legacy of George W Bush, A Collection of Conflicting Opinions
ISBN-13 9781441455437
The debate over George W Bush is
probably the most visceral debate of our century. There often seems to be
no in
between. Folks either love him or hate him. As we
approach the inauguration of Barrack Obama, the internet has
been bombarded with opinions ranging from one extreme to the other. In
this book is a collection of dialog from all
over the world and
every walk of life. In an eight hour period of time just prior to GWB
stepping out of the White
House, one that that rings true is
that we live in an amazing country just to be able to have this
conversation.
Can a man's legacy be drawn from an eight
year period in time? What kind of a footprint has GWB left on the
American people, or the world for that matter? Has he served his country
well by protecting us from terrorism, or has
a alienated
America from the rest of the world. What role did Christianity play under
the leadership of George W
Bush? Has he acted as a Christian in
his role as President of the United States, or has he misused the Bible as
a
means of procuring votes and evoking war? Was the rebuilding
of Iraq set in motion years before the Twin Towers
tragedy, or
was this a rapid decision based on an emergent circumstance? Did Iraq
have weapons of mass destruction, or should we have been focusing on
catching Bin Ladin? What about North Korea and
Proliferation of
nukes in Iran? Was there miscommunication between the CIA and the FBI and
why was Home Land
Security restructured as it was? Were our
civil rights violated by the Echelon Program? The list of questions will go
on for an eternity and there will probably be more theories
about the Bush Administration than the JFK assassination
and
the Watergate Scandal combined.
I have tried to keep this
debate as original as possible. That includes errors in grammar,
punctuation and spelling. I
have also tried to collect them in
a somewhat chronological method in order to keep a level playing field. I
have
simply collected publicly posted comments of others from
open sources with no expectation of privacy or
concealment.
This is simply a collection of what others have had to say. I have tried to
eliminate personal attack between the folks debating (or at least
leaving out what I thought may be real names of folks) Some
of
the statements are redundant, just as they came down the pipeline. What
ever your opinion of George W Bush Is....
This is a compelling,
and somewhat disturbing read.
Jan 20, 2009 7:56 PM
Guest :
The Legacy of George W Bush, A Collection of Conflicting Opinions
ISBN-13 9781441455437
The debate over George W Bush is
probably the most visceral debate of our century. There often seems to be
no in
between. Folks either love him or hate him. As we
approach the inauguration of Barrack Obama, the internet has
been bombarded with opinions ranging from one extreme to the other. In
this book is a collection of dialog from all
over the world and
every walk of life. In an eight hour period of time just prior to GWB
stepping out of the White
House, one that that rings true is
that we live in an amazing country just to be able to have this
conversation.
Can a man's legacy be drawn from an eight
year period in time? What kind of a footprint has GWB left on the
American people, or the world for that matter? Has he served his country
well by protecting us from terrorism, or has
a alienated
America from the rest of the world. What role did Christianity play under
the leadership of George W
Bush? Has he acted as a Christian in
his role as President of the United States, or has he misused the Bible as
a
means of procuring votes and evoking war? Was the rebuilding
of Iraq set in motion years before the Twin Towers
tragedy, or
was this a rapid decision based on an emergent circumstance? Did Iraq
have weapons of mass destruction, or should we have been focusing on
catching Bin Ladin? What about North Korea and
Proliferation of
nukes in Iran? Was there miscommunication between the CIA and the FBI and
why was Home Land
Security restructured as it was? Were our
civil rights violated by the Echelon Program? The list of questions will go
on for an eternity and there will probably be more theories
about the Bush Administration than the JFK assassination
and
the Watergate Scandal combined.
I have tried to keep this
debate as original as possible. That includes errors in grammar,
punctuation and spelling. I
have also tried to collect them in
a somewhat chronological method in order to keep a level playing field. I
have
simply collected publicly posted comments of others from
open sources with no expectation of privacy or
concealment.
This is simply a collection of what others have had to say. I have tried to
eliminate personal attack between the folks debating (or at least
leaving out what I thought may be real names of folks) Some
of
the statements are redundant, just as they came down the pipeline. What
ever your opinion of George W Bush Is....
This is a compelling,
and somewhat disturbing read.
