As a history teacher, discussing modern political figures always presents a unique problem in the classroom. Because of the hyper-political era in which we live, any criticism or praise of a living president immediately results in charges of bias or partisanship. Yes, I have my political opinions All teachers do. But that shouldn't take away from our ability to fairly and accurately assess the successes and/or failures of politicians and policies, regardless of our political leanings. Some will immediately dismiss my low ranking of our 43rd President as "liberal propaganda", but I hope that you will find that my arguments are based upon historical trends and observable truths. That being said, please feel free to share your thoughts if you disagree with anything I've written. First, let me start by saying "I like George W. Bush." To my super liberal friends, I'm sorry. To my ultra-conservative friends, I'm serious. I find George W. Bush to be an engaging, likable, and honorable man. Whether it be through his inarticulate speaking style or his Texas confidence, Bush has a way of connecting to voters. At no point, even during my more liberal college years, did I ever find George Bush to be anything other than genuine. I have never doubted George W. Bush's patriotism or sincerity. When he would give a speech, support an policy, or sit for an interview, I never questioned that he truly believed the ideas he supported were in the best interest of the country. I believe George W. Bush is a man of principle and his brand of "compassionate conservatism" is something the current GOP could certainly benefit from. All that being said, George W. Bush entered the White House under less than ideal circumstances. He like 3 Presidents before him, was elected without the consent of the governed. That is to say, he lost the popular vote to Vice President Al Gore. This fact has hampered every administration that has entered office under such circumstances. Bush would be no different. Of course, given the disaster that was the 2016, in which Donald Trump lost the popular vote by nearly 3 million ballots, the roughly 500,000 that separated Gore and Bush seems laughable. Bush's inability to win a majority of votes wouldn't have been as serious an issue had it not been for the state of Florida. Bush's brother, Jeb, was the governor of Florida and elected officials in the Sunshine State had close ties to the Bush campaign. Because the vote was so close, state law required a recount. Of course, before all ballots were recounted, the Supreme Court intervened. Voting along ideological lines, the high court ordered that the recount stop. To interfere with a state issue like election administration is certainly an odd thing for conservative judges to do. Nevertheless, the court awarded Florida and the election to Bush. Did George W. Bush actually win the state of Florida? Probably. However, the optics of the scenario looked very bad. In the end, George Bush was elected, took the oath of office, and the country moved on. The peaceful transition of power, even in the midst of so much controversy, is a testament to our nation and our Constitution. George W. Bush took office and began moving forward with a strong conservative agenda. He had big ideas: a huge tax cut, education reform, and entitlement reform. Some of these policies he was successfully able to implement. However, Bush's presidency will always be defined by the events of September 11, 2001. When Al Qaeda terrorists hijacked four planes and crashed them into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and thanks to heroic passengers, into an empty field in Pennsylvania, the world forever changed. Suddenly, the singular focus of the United States government became keeping Americans safe from terrorism. I was a junior in high school, living in rural Ohio on September 11th. I remember being very confused as my classmates and I spent the entire school day watching coverage of the attack. The first thing my dad said to me when he walked through our front door that afternoon was "This is the worst thing that has ever happened." Truth be told, he was probably right. No single day in American history had ever been worse. Later that evening, my parents and I rushed out to the fill our cars with gasoline. When we arrived at the gas station we found long lines and police officers. Older Americans, remembering the 1970s, were worried that renewed struggle in the Middle East would lead to an oil embargo and economic catastrophe. I was confused. The story seen in my hometown played out in small towns across the country. In large cities, families worried that their city might be next. I can't imagine the horror, fear, and uncertainty that played out in New York and Washington. As President Bush addressed the nation following the attacks, Americans experience a sense of unity not seen since the days of World War II. Americans have differences; deep and significant. However, at the end of the day, we all love our country. Tea Parties, Bernie Bros, NRA members, and libertarians, we all love our country and will rally together. It is a shame that it often takes unspeakable tragedy to unify us. But in 2001, all Americans looked to President Bush to leadership. For a few short months, the President did not disappoint. When the United States invaded Afghanistan to dislodge the Taliban and destroy Al Qaeda, we did so with nearly universal support. Americans of all walks of life rallied to the cause. Our Allies did their part as well. Invoking Article 5 of the NATO charter, the western alliance sent troops to Afghanistan. Canadian, French, German, British, and numerous other troops fought side-by-side with American servicemen and women. This is to say nothing of the invaluable amount of intelligence sharing that took place between European allies to bring terrorists to justice. NATO is important. This isn't to say that there were not debates in early days of the "War on Terror", because there were. A good example of this would be the creation of the Department of Homeland Security. Realizing that intelligence agencies and security organizations didn't do a good enough job communicating in the years leading up to 9/11, the decision was made to put them all under one cabinet level department. The role of the DHS, the NSA, the FAA, and many other organizations tasked with keeping us safe is still something that is hotly debated today. It is ironic however that Bush, a conservative who has decried the expansion of government, oversaw the single greatest centralization of federal government power in a generation. Fear makes us do funny things. The extraordinary thing about the Bush presidency is how his support evaporated in the years following 9/11. Historically, Americans will give a President the benefit of the doubt during times of crisis. Therefore, it must tell us something about the magnitude of the mistakes the Bush administration made in the years following 2001 to explain the President's loss of support. George W. Bush had a historic opportunity to transform the United States for the better following September 11th. Had the U.S. stayed focused on Afghanistan, given the political and international support the mission had, it is possible that American troops would not still be fighting and dying in Afghanistan today. Bush could have announced that 9/11 would mark the beginning of the end of our nation's reliance on Middle Eastern oil. Without economic dependence on the Middle East, the U.S. would be less likely to engage in military operations in the region. With the support of our allies, the NATO alliance the Western world could have become stronger than ever. The democratic world could use our alliance to further combat terrorism, address economic concerns, and combat climate change. Instead, due in large part to the terrible decisions made by the Bush administration in 2003, Afghanistan once again fell into chaos, the Middle East was destabilized, and a generations old alliance was strained. In 2003, the Bush administration made the biggest foreign policy mistake in American history: the invasion of Iraq. Looking back, it is hard to understand how the the United States allowed itself to be pushed into war in Iraq. We know that within weeks of 9/11 discussions at the highest level of government began to focus on Iraq. We know there were those in the White House and those in the Pentagon who hungered for war in Iraq and salivated at the idea getting access to Iraq's oil supply. We know that Saddam Hussein's government, while evil, had nothing to do with Al Qaeda. We know that despite some very shaky intelligence suggesting that Iraq might be pursuing Weapons of Mass Destruction, the overwhelming opinions of intelligence agencies around the world and the United Nations, they were not pursuing WMDs. We also know that no weapons were ever found in Iraq. We also know that Iraq, isolated and alone, with a second rate military, posed no threat to the United States or our allies. Despite all of this, members of Bush's inner circle, many of them with strong financial ties to the Middle East, convinced the President to order the unprovoked invasion of Iraq. Without the support of our allies (save a halfhearted Great Britain), valuable resources were diverted from the unfinished work in Afghanistan to the Persian Gulf. In March, the war had begun with the support of more than 60% of Americans. All of us remember the scenes on television. The American military quickly dismantled the Iraqi security forces. within weeks Baghdad had fallen and Saddam Hussein was hiding in a spider hole. On May 1, 2003 aboard an aircraft carrier President Bush declared that major military operations in Iraq had ceased, The United States had won. In short, "mission accomplished." Soon all hell would break loose. Bush was reelected in 2004. The true cost of the Iraq War was not yet known. Americans appreciated the President's leadership in the days following 9/11, and the Democrats put forward an honorable but ultimately weak candidate, Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts. It also helped that the Bush campaign successfully, in my opinion, took advantage of people's faith for political gain. Rallying the Religious Right against the "threat" of gay marriage, the strong evangelical voting block organized in Bush's favor. For me the election of 2004 was important for two reasons. It was the first election in which I could cast a vote, which I found to be very exciting. It was also the first time I was told in a Sunday School class that it was my Christian duty to vote for the Republican Party. I quickly looked around half expecting to see a money changer a few tables over.
I always jokingly say to my students "I don't know why presidents run for 2nd terms, no one has ever had a good one." There is a lot of truth to that statement. However, George W. Bush might be the standard bearer for bad second terms. Thanks to the polices he pursued and events outside of his control, the younger Bush's 2nd term might be the worst in history. For starters, Iraq descended into sectarian chaos. Without a stable government, without security, without jobs, sometimes without basic necessities, the centuries old powder keg in Iraq exploded. Terrorist organizations which had previously not been in Iraq set up operations. They were easily able to find recruits, because there were so many desperate people in Iraq. When the U.S. took over Iraq, the new government it set up fired all members of the military. Now there were thousands of unemployed young men, trained in warfare, willing to displace the invader. Thousands more, driven by extremism, traveled to Iraq to enter the fray. There was one such organization, known as Al Qaeda in Iraq, that fought the United States to terrible effect during what came to be known as the Iraqi Insurgency. Today that organization is known as ISIS. Throughout 2005 - 2006, the situation in Iraq worsened. American soldiers, many times lacking the proper funding or support from Congress or the Bush administration, were under constant attack by Iraqi insurgents. Dozens of Americans died every month. The situation in Iraq did improve after Bush, to his credit, ordered a "surge" of troops to combat the violence. By the end of his presidency, the violence had (temporarily) eased. A new, extremely corrupt government would lead Iraq. The corruption and incompetence of the new Iraqi government would allow for ISIS to take control of much of their country after American forces left. Bush negotiated an end to American occupation before leaving office scheduling a withdrawal of troops that wold take place during President Obama's first term. All told, nearly 4,500 American servicemen and women died serving our country in Iraq. The vast majority of these brave warriors died after President Bush declared "Mission Accomplished." The war in Iraq was a war of choice. The war weakened America at home, destabilized the Middle East, created a power vacuum that allowed organizations like ISIS to thrive, exploded that national debt, and cost the lives of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis. There is very little one can say in support of the argument that the War in Iraq was good for America. However, the war should serve as a reminder of the amazing blessing Americans have in our servicemen and women. Thousands of American soldiers, marines, airmen, and sailors bravely and honorably served in Iraq and continue to do so throughout the world today. We owe it to these brave Americans to only send them into harm's way when absolutely necessary and to give them every resource they need to be successful on the battlefield. We owe it to them to provide them with the best medical care and educational opportunities when they return home. On these issues, even in these divided times, there should be no partisan debate. The summer of 2005 saw another dark moment of the Bush presidency. Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast in August creating never before seen damage and suffering. The city of New Orleans was most affected, much of the city was overwhelmed by flood waters. Hundreds were killed, while thousands more fled for their lives while their homes were consumed by the sea. While obviously, it is not a president's fault if a hurricane hits the United States, President Bush was rightly criticized for his slow response. The areas most affected by the storm were generally the poorest neighborhoods which were overwhelmingly black. The delayed and inadequate response by state, local, and federal agencies caused many to question whether race played a role in the slow response. Many have argued that the reaction to Katrina highlighted the struggles associated with American federalism. Such arguments are correct. The division of power between the states and the federal government can be a complicated thing. Who should take the lead in dealing with the crisis, the state's governor or the President of the United States? While federalism is a fundamental principle in our Constitution, the middle of a natural disaster, when people are dying, is not the time to debate the proper role of the federal government. People needed help. They looked to their government for assistance and their leaders let them down. Sadly, no discussion of George W. Bush's presidency would be complete without discussing the near collapse of the American financial system and the Great Recession that followed. As I've stated before, no President simply by their actions alone can cause the economy to grow or cause a recession. George W. Bush did not cause the failure of the housing market or bankruptcies of financial institutions. However, the underlying problems that led to the downturn had their basis in years of deregulation of the financial markets. Wall Street bankers and hedge fund managers were allowed to market and sell dangerous and risky products, such as sub-prime mortgages, to far too many Americans. Credit was easy, debt was high, and wages were stagnant. All of this led to a bursting of the housing bubble. When Bush, correctly in my opinion, encouraged Congress to step in and bailout the banks to prevent further suffering, his administration allowed for CEOs, many of whom were responsible for the mess, to receive lavish bonuses after taking taxpayer money. George W. Bush became the first President since Herbert Hoover to oversee a net loss of jobs. There is so much more to talk about when discussing the presidency of George W. Bush. No Child Left Behind, his failed attempt at privatizing part of Social Security, the huge tax cuts, but there simply isn't enough time. When evaluating a presidency, one must harness their inner Reagan and ask whether or not the country was in better shape at the end of the President's term than at the beginning? In the case of George W. Bush, the answer is a resounding "no." At the end of Bush's time in office the nation was in the midst of the worse recession in 70 years. America was still fighting two wars, one of which was a war of choice, and the nation was deeply divided. Bush does deserve credit for his leadership in the weeks and months following 9/11. He showed strength, determination, and spoke words that encouraged and comforted a shocked nation. However, in the years that followed economic turmoil, foreign policy blunders, and an unfulfilled domestic agenda overtook the Bush presidency. That being said, I still kind of like the guy.
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Derek Trent AshcraftA place to discuss, among other things, politics, culture, food, faith, and nonsense. Archives
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