In a time when he can be judged fair and objectively, will President Bush be remembered as a national hero?

Question

Upon the death of Lincoln's generation, history was finally able give him a fair and objective evaluation and today, Lincoln is one of America's most celebrated leaders.

How will President George W. Bush be judged based purely on facts and outside of the blind, harsh, unreasonable, unfair and hyper-partisan hatred of him?

Answer 1

Once the media hype disappears the democrats have either failed or been successful, the intelligent will evaluate Bush's presidency accurately. I predict that history will remember him as a steadfast, moral and decisive president who played the cards that were dealt to him in the most effective way possible in order to protect his country and assist others victimized by terrorism, despite rabid partisan opposition by those desparate to regain political power. His predecessor is still lionized, but once his and his wife's supporters have gone away he will also be remembered for what he really was, an intelligent politician with a gift of gab whose presidency was both ineffective and a national embarassment. It all levels out once the dust has settled. We survive because of who we are, not what our politicians are.

Answer 2

Obviously, you've already made your decision on what that judgment should be. Bush is no Lincoln and will pretty well be remembered as he is known to be today, an incompetent president that led his country into an unnecessary war that will be seen as having accomplished nothing of value. Bush has divided a nation, Lincoln may have also divided the nation but ultimately reunited it. Bush cannot do that while in office considering his unrelenting policies of placing party and politics before country.

Answer 3

His economic policy has been masterful and that is how it will be remembered by economists.

His foreign policy, well he bit off more than he could chew. At the end of the day what's "wrong" about our involvement in Iraq is that we did not have the resources to do it right, and we mismanaged the process on top of it.

The problem I have is that the same people who crucify Bush give JFK a pass. Saddam may not have been an immediate threat to the US but he was a lot more of a threat than Hi Chi Minh was.

Crucify Bush all you want for Iraq but Bush:Iraq::JFK::Vietnam and don't you forget it.

Answer 4

Actually I believe he will be seen as a national disgrace, a failure. It won't be as bad as now because some issues will be forgotten or deemed less harmful to the country but over all he will be regarded as the worst president the US has ever had. That is quite an accomplishment. Previously the worst was James Buchanan who left office in March of 1861. That is 146 years and will be closer to 148 when Dubya leaves office in January of 2009.

The same will apply to Clinton. Once out of office and people who were not there to witness the Administration but to see the impact of it will judge differently than contemporaries. Some presidents fair better than in their life times and others worse. I believe both Clinton and GWB will fair better.

Answer 5

I think he will get a pretty good rating Because he's stuck out the eight years, and won reelection is something in itself. He did have to follow Clinton, whom gets low marks all around from me, as he sanctioned marijuana, and was so uneducated politically about world events. He stuck to the Middle East and we are still cleaning it up. I don't think Clinton ever should have run for office higher than governor, and we've had a time turning our nation's values around. Clinton used Air Force One to party around the globe, with little respect for the consequences. Some of the consequences of his acknowledged illegal and careless actions were brought against our country in 2001. This may be a reaction from people all over the globe, used to one American doing whatever they willed at random, to someone whom was politically raised and expected a degree of effectiveness. This caused uneasiness, as no one could predict where it would lead.There was no effective leadership ever displayed by the Clinton administration, as everything was gung ho, let's go for it with the good old boys, and we are above the law. He knew no military boundaries or respect for countries in this regard. I lived in the South some of those years, and more than a few Baptists I knew were sickened when Clinton was impeached. They were glad he was going, but didn't want the legal entanglements. They couldn't justify his actions, and continued disregard for the law, and international policies.
Bush has far better leadership qualities, although has let this military action go too far for most of us, and he claims Southern loyalties , too. I think he will rate much higher than Clinton, and I really hope we can look forward to someone
with a different and better qualified, acknowledged background than either of the Clintons, in the next four years, thank you.

Answer 6

I think there is a chance he could be. People do not realize just how hated Lincoln was. I think he was hated even more so then Bush is now. Lincoln instituted 4 drafts can you imagine the outcry if Bush tired to institute a draft. I do not think Bush is of the same caliber as Lincoln but I think he will be remember in a much different light then we see him now.

Answer 7

Can you be objective? Honestly? The failures of this president from 9-11 to the Iraq war to the record deficits, to the Katrina response disaster are off the scale. The corruption is beyond Nixon, beyond Reagan. The state of this nation at home is by all accounts poor, and internationally at an unprecedented low level. And let's face it, to any objective, intelligent observer, the truth is obvious: this guy is just plain stupid. What an embarrassment.

What will historians say about it? They will point to this president and say, "That's when America lost it. That was the turning point."

Answer 8

There's a lot of rhetoric on all sides, and you are right it is vicious.

I generally support Bush's policies on fighting terrorism, but he has made some big mistakes also. Any fair appraisal in future will discuss it all.

And of course we don't know how things will turn out yet.

Historians still argue about Lincoln too. So no one knows what the future will bring!

Answer 9

Impossible to say. If I had to lay a guess, I figure that he will be judged by history as no worse or better than many of the other presidents we've had. However, as you say, Lincoln was one of the most hated presidents in his day and is now noted as one of our greatest presidents ever. Only time will tell.

Answer 10

He'll be one of America's 10 worst.

Iraq will not end well (whether it is his fault or not, history will not care). His out of control spending, creating bureaucracies for "homeland security" while the borders are open and the deficit will all ruin him on the domestic front.

In effect, what GOOD has he done, even in an objective sense?