Issue date: 1/20/09 Section: Opinion

Media Credit: File [Click to enlarge]

For eight years, politicians and historians have questioned what the legacy of the Bush presidency would be. Where would he rank among the nation's past presidents? How would his term in office be graded? As of noon Tuesday, Bush will officially be history and I am ready with the first official judgment of the Bush presidency from a historic perspective.

To cut the suspense short, it's not good. In fact, it's not even decent. The man's legacy falls somewhere between Hoover, whose accomplishments include a dam and the Great Depression, and William Henry Harrison, who served only 31 days in office before dying of pneumonia.

Given who the vice president was, I am happy to say that Bush never suffered Harrison's fate. G.W.'s eight years of fine personal health are quite the contrast to the health of a country which has spent eight years thinking, "Damn, I miss the 90s."

On a quick stroll down memory lane, we can relive some moments that defined the Bush administration.

Dimpled chads, hanging ballots and a state governed by Bush's brother; the beginning of the Bush presidency did its best to foreshadow what would make for interesting television, if nothing else. It all began with an election where our representative government decided the popular vote isn't really the best way to pick a president. Oh, and recounts aren't important either. Bush was declared president of the U.S. with 47 percent of the vote compared to the Al Gore's measly 48 percent, but who's counting?

After his election, Bush spent most of his first two years in office under scrutiny for how much he vacationed on his ranch in Texas and the way he handled a downed spy plane in China by setting his priorities straight. According to his media aide Karen Hughes, Bush asked, "Do the members of the crew have Bibles? Why don't they have Bibles? Can we get them Bibles? Would they like Bibles?"

All concerns about spy planes and Bibles vanished in an instant on

Sept. 11, 2001. In a moment that changed and shaped the trajectory of Bush's presidency, America was attacked by al-Qaida. The details of the day have been rehashed innumerable times, but for Bush, it meant two things. He was now a wartime president, and by merit of standing strong in a time of insecurity, he had almost instantly attained the highest approval ratings ever recorded by a sitting president.

Continued...

Page 1 of 2 next >

Article Tools