Analysis: Bush Legacy _ Grim Times, Gloomy Nation

[Purveyor]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Wars. Recession. Bailouts. Debt. Gloom.

The unvarnished review of George W. Bush's presidency reveals a portrait of America he never would have imagined.

Bush came into office promising limited government and humble foreign policy; he exits with his imprint on startling free-market intervention and nation-building wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

He was the president who pledged not to pass on big problems. Instead, he leaves a pile for Barack Obama.

Grading Bush's performance has its limitations. History offers a warning about judging a president and his tenure in the moment: The wisdom and decisions of a leader can look different years later, shaped by events impossible to know now. Leaders are entrusted to act in the nation's long-term interests.

That's fine for history, but people lead their lives and make their judgments in real time. And it was one of Bush's heroes, Ronald Reagan, who crystallized the way modern presidents are judged: Are people better off than they were when the president took office?

Based on that standard, the Bush report card is mixed at best. It is abysmal at worst.

This is his tenure: eight years bracketed by the worst terrorist attack in U.S. history and the worst economic collapse in three generations. In between came two wars, two Supreme Court appointments, a tough re-election, sinking popularity, big legislative wins and defeats, an ambitious effort to combat AIDS, a meltdown of the housing market, a diminishing U.S. reputation abroad, and more power invested in Dick Cheney than any vice president in history.

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AP: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hNsGNGP4CuCYzjN7l_IeYPxOW5awD95K9TE00

[D-Lee]

1. Remember this broken promise: "No Foreign Policy Wars"

And, as our nation knows now to its regret, so many other promises were broken.

Not that a majority voted for him in either election ... no, it was just "political capital" that Bush loved, for the purpose as enriching his friends and family and followers ...