Is Bush's legacy as a failure reasonably assured now?

[wuushew]

In the historical ranking of Presidents, relative success is always in a state of flux. While there have been numerous mediocre one-term Presidents, Bush is in the select club of twice serving failures to that office.

How does Bush compare to the following POTUSes?

Grant=in process of historical rehabilitation
Taft= unpopular in 1912, average now
Harding = failure then, failure now
Truman= unpopular 1952, rehabilitated currently?
LBJ=failure for Vietnam, failure now
Nixon=batshit insane 1974, appears reasonable next to Bush.
Raygun=idiot buffoon in the 80's, nostalgic grandpa figure now to many?

What themes need to be hammered and kept alive in writing so that the historical record will be assured a correct and negative tone for 2001-2009 era?

[ThomWV]

1. Stunning Incompetence throughout his "Unitary Executive"

Unable to accomplish anything other than opening the vault for friends and family.

[bryant69]

2. You can't look at presidents objectivelly

While they are still around.

Oh, and Harding has seen some more positive stuff come out about him as well.

There won't be an objective look at Bush 2 until 2112 or thereabouts.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[Cosmocat]

5. Yeah ...

I don't buy that ... It is too black and white ... There are certain things that could develop over time, but for the most part, five years into it, you can make a call ...

Blowing up the first balanced budget in decades, only to throw the budget into historical deficts for four years running ... COUNTLESS disasterous pieces of legislation like the prescription drug bill ... ZERO veto's in nearly six years ... ZERO vetos of spending bills ... NO amount of time is needed to call this the most fiscally irresponsible president we have known ...

With Katrina, the worst response relative to the age, to a natural disaster in our country's history as merely the highlight, no further time is needed to call this the most incompetent (or more accurately, not even the first bit interested) president in terms of overseeing the basic functions of the goverment ...

The blatent lies leading to the Iraq occupation, the most disasterous international action our country has ever been involved with as the highlight, there is NO time needed to even begin to question that this has been the absolute worst president relative to international policy/relations we have ever known ...

The environment ... Book closed ...

The ONLY thing in question, that we need time to play out, is just how bad the tax cuts are going to screw the budget/deficit down the road ...

The "objective" look at Reagan right now ... A president who would generously be categorized as mediocre is currently being redefined as a great president ...

[bryant69]

8. The rehabilitation of Reagon just proves my point

He's being rehabilitated by the people who supported him while he was alive - now that those who oppose him are focused elsewhere.

[Cosmocat]

12. No ...

it proves against your point ... You said objective ... There is NOTHING objective about the current remaking of Reagan ... They get done "ramaking" his presidency, the are going to scrap Lincoln's face off of Mount Rushmore and put his up ...

[bryant69]

14. Allow me to repeat

Because you obviously didn't get it the first time.

While people are drriven by the passion of the moment a real accounting for a presidents legacy isn't possible. That applies to both Bush and to Reagan. Reagan hasn't been dead a long time, and there are still plenty of people who remember his presidency. More to thep oint, there are still plenty of peole who have strong emotions about President Reagaons presidency. Thus they are trying to rehabilitate him, not based on reason or a solid historical approach - but based on the emotions Reagan engenders in him.

It takes time for those emotions to die off - grimly, what needs to happen is that all the people who remembe lving through Reagan need to die. OR most of them anyway. So that you can appraoch his legacy without the emotional context that distorts everything. Thus Johnson is just now moving into a stage where we can more accurately assess his presidency and life - frankly he might not even be all the way there yet. Certainly reagan is judged emotionally, and so is President Bush.

Bryant

[Richard Steele]

7. B*sh is the exception to that rule. Clearly the WORST president EVER.

No other incompetent or criminal even comes close.

[Surya Gayatri]

3. "Fourth Defeat Seals Bush's War Legacy"...

Here's a short, but bitterly sweet analysis from the English-speaking Gulf Emirate press. And remember, these are GWB's "good buddies" in the region: (with a nod to TominTib for finding this!)


http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.aspx?cu_no=2&item_no=103566&version=1&template_id=46&parent_id=26

[peace frog]

4. His place in history is assured

in the bottom four or five Worst Presidents In THe History Of The United States.

[DemonFighterLives]

6. He is a shoe in

With all the death and destruction and laughter eh eh, his total lack of decent governance is unsurpassed.
When the National Debt numbers put him head and shoulders above even Reagan, him and poppy will be proud. The cronies have been taken care of.
The people= let them eat cake.

[A Simple Game]

9. Now? Not as far as I am concerned.

As far as I am concerned he was a failure the day he was selected!

[Virginia Dare]

10. The trials for corruption and other crimes...

will be going on for years to come.

[Jacobin]

11. It was assured as soon as they nominated the sock puppet

BTW its the Cheney administration. Cheney just lets Commander Codpiece think he's in charge.

[Marr]

13. Much more than that.

I think GW Bush is going to be shorthand for something more insulting than simple incompetence. He's going to be the new Edward II, the example of how wealth and a last name trumps intellect. Bush has screwed up so many things so fundamentally, that he's reached the point where he's a punchline.

He is, to borrow Joe Scarborough's characterization, "in a league of his own".