History's First Draft Of The Bush Legacy

Historians, Journalists, Bush Aides Discuss How They Believe The 43rd President Will Be Judged

(CBS)  How will history assess the Bush legacy? Correspondent Thalia Assuras starts by looking back to his first inaugural eight years ago:

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"I, George W. Bush do solemnly swear …"

As always, it was a day for new beginnings. On January 20, 2001, George Walker Bush became the 43rd president of the United States …

" … to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States …"

… his presidency and the future, a blank slate, back before 9/11, before the Iraq War, before Abu Ghraib, before Katrina swept ashore, before the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.

In nine days, after eight turbulent years, George Bush will depart Washington, and leave behind a radically different country and a changed world.

And the inevitable wrangling will officially begin over the Bush legacy: How this man and this presidency will be viewed through the long lens of history.

"I think he'll be able to look himself in the mirror when he is done and say, I did my best, I made decisions based on principle," said former Bush communications director Dan Bartlett.

"As a judicial historian looking at what's occurred on his watch, it is almost void of genuine accomplishment," said presidential historian Douglas Brinkley.

"In foreign policy where he has taken so much criticism, I think the assessment of history will be surprisingly positive," said former Bush speechwriter David Frum.

"I think President Bush might very well be the worst president in U.S. history," said Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Joseph Ellis.

Because today's historians, including Ellis, get to write the first draft, the Bush legacy seems to be in for a bumpy start.

"He's unusual," said Ellis. "Most two-term presidents have a mixed record. Lyndon Johnson, one of the greatest achievements in the 20th century was civil rights legislation; on the other hand you have the extraordinary tragedy of Vietnam. Even Richard Nixon opened the door to China and had foreign policy credentials. Bush has nothing on the positive side, virtually nothing."

And that's not a minority opinion. In a 2006 Siena College survey of 744 history professors, 82% rated President Bush below average, or a failure.

Last April, in an informal poll by George Mason University of 109 historians, Mr. Bush fared even worse - 98% considered him a failed president. Sixty-one percent judged him, as Ellis does, one of the worst in American history.

"John Adams, the second president, said that there's one unforgivable sin that no president will ever be forgiven, and that is to put the country into an unnecessary war," Ellis said. "I think that Iraq has proven to be an unnecessary war, and will appear to be more unnecessary as time goes on."

Assuras asked journalist Bob Woodward if the Iraq War is the defining component of his presidency.

"The Iraq War is the defining variable because it was his decision," he said. "No one has the illusion that a president is commander in chief of the economy, he is not. He is commander in chief of the military, and in the end you wind up getting judged and held accountable for what you're in charge of."

Woodward has written four books on the Bush presidency.

"I've interviewed him for close to 11 hours," Woodward said. "One of the questions I asked him was about how history would look at his Iraq War. And he rightly says, 'We won't know, we'll all be dead.' May look very different in 50 years, if there's democracy, more stability. If that's the case it's quite possible historians (who are measuring that legacy) will look back on it and say he did fine."

"When we look around the world, we see all sorts of quiet successes for the United States over the past eight years," said Frum, now with the American Enterprise Institute. Regardless of how Iraq turns out, he says, it's not the only issue on the table.

"We have this rising power of China that has shown a lot of aggression," said Frum. "The Bush administration has managed to avoid confrontation with China, to open the way to a peaceful and normal future for China.

"And where there have been new governments from Japan to South Korea to Germany to France, each change of power has brought to power a more friendly government to the United States," said Frum.

On the domestic side, President Bush claims credit for the No Child Left Behind Act, the prescription drug benefit, and putting a conservative stamp on the federal courts.

He's recognized for progress fighting AIDS in Africa, and just last week set aside a huge tract of the Pacific as a protected wildlife area.

Opinions vary on the impact of these and other programs, but the consensus is Bush's legacy will largely rest on one event - 9/11 - and his response to the attacks.

"At the eye of the storm, he was a very calm person," said Bartlett, "making very methodical decisions. This was a man who met his moment in many respects as a leader."

Bartlett, now a CBS News consultant, was President Bush's communications director, and was with him during the attacks.

Mr. Bush's greatest legacy, he believes, is that there have been no more attacks on U.S. soil since 9/11, "which at the time was not something that was considered to be possible. Many people thought it was only inevitable that the terrorists who want to do harm to our country would be successful."

"I think President Bush was a good man, so infuriated and angered by 9/11 that he put on his ideological blinders and forgot that we have other things we represent: civil liberties here at home, a constitution, global human rights," said Brinkley. "Then he started disliking the world community, alienated allies for no reason."

Brinkley, also a CBS News consultant, sees 9/11 as a different kind of turning point.

"He put all the chips on Iraq, took the entire agenda of a new century and played it on one number," Brinkley said. "The presidents that operate with certainty can be great presidents, but you better be right. To be certain and be wrong is a disaster."

There is a handful of presidents usually included in the top tier of historical rankings: George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt.

So where will George W. Bush fit in?

Bartlett believes the debate is still too tinged with partisan politics for any objective measure.

"I think the politics of the moment, and they've gotten very acrimonious, will slowly fade," he said. "And then you can have a more dispassionate view of what did this person achieve, what was he trying to do, and was that actually right? My sense is it's going to be a more favorable picture."

So is President Bush's current low rating among historians just liberal bias? Rice University's Douglas Brinkley doesn't buy it.

"When I'm sitting here telling you that Ronald Reagan and Theodore Roosevelt and Dwight Eisenhower were outstanding presidents? These are Republicans," Brinkley said. "I'm telling you Ronald Reagan was one of the five greatest presidents in American history. I'm not saying that because I'm a liberal. I'm just saying it 'cause it's a fact.

"But you have to then accept when I'm telling you George Bush is one of the five worst presidents in American history. It's not 'cause I want to stick it to him. He simply failed on the big questions of his day."

"In his mind he sees himself a little bit like Harry Truman or Abraham Lincoln," said Woodward. "Misunderstood in their time. And we'll have to go to another time to get a really solid historical judgment on that.

"And he's right when he says we'll all be dead, we won't know."

[forparity]

RE: Jack Delaney and Ted White - From PBS - Frontline:

"The stunning and logical question that hangs in the air about John O''Neill''s compromised USS Cole investigation in Yemen is, "What if?"

What if FBI headquarters had backed O''Neill and pushed the State Department to allow him to return to Yemen in January 2001 (over the objections of former [1997-2001] U.S. Ambassador Barbara Bodine) to continue his investigation?"

Both administrations share in missed imagination. My view is that the biggest barrier to preventing 9/11 was the wall between intelligence and law enforcement, which the Clinton administration, which had been advised to tear down following the 1993 bombing of the WTC, instead, sought to strengthen.

[jacquesmoore]

You say that BUSH put us in a WAR that was not nessary ,but CLINTON let our Troops get killed all through his time in office & did nothing .What was Bush supposed to do after 9/11, run like a scared rabbit . What Did this nation do after Pearl Harbor, we went to war & WON, but this WAR is different because we had people who just did not wat to WIN, they said that we would never forget ,but man how quick they forgot the 3000 + that died on 9/11, That is all but President BUSH & his MEN in the Military. I am 70 years old & I remember it all, but all of those on the left just want to call it a war that was not needed, but when you kill 3000 people then something must be done & BUSH did it & when he leaves office, you had better watch your backs , you see , BUSH wont be there to watch over you .

[jacquesmoore]

All I know is President BUSH took over after BILL CLINTON had distroyed our Military & set our nation on a monetary path to Destroy our Economy with Fanny & Freddy. Then Bush took our Nation after 9/11 & pulled us together & kept us safe for 8 years.
While he was in office he put our economy to it''s highest leavel But then Clintion Economics caught up just befor he left office & he still kept us flying .
President Bush will go down as my favorit President, because he Stood by his word , even when the Left Wing Press made up lies about him, This man was & is a Gentleman .

[popking11]

I am relieved too see him go. I am just sorry he and cheney are held above real culpability for all the shame and misery that they have brought to bear on our country''s working class. I don''t know how he can honestly live with himself after the damage he has done. My guess is that he will continue to hold himself in high reagard and block out the devastation and pain that he has allowed to be perpetrated upon the majority of us that entrusted him with our common welfare. I truly believe he has shamed his office and our country and for that I do not wish him harm but I commend him to God''s justice and I am just thankful that he is going out of office.

[ms1-1-11]

5. John O''Neill
He was Director of Counterterrorism at the New York offices of the F.B.I. until he resigned in August 2001. One of the world''s top experts on Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda, he grew to believe that "all the answers" regarding what they needed to destroy Al Qaeda lay in Saudi Arabia. However, starting in January 2001, Bush blocked all efforts by Mr. O''Neill to investigate Saudi ties to bin Laden. In the summer of 2001 O''Neill declared that the main obstacles to his investigation were U.S. oil interests.
In late August, a frustrated O''Neill quit the FBI and took a position as head of security for the World Trade Center. From Democrats.com:
September 11: On O''Neill''s second day of work on the 34th floor, the WTC is hit by the first plane. O''Neill makes it out of the building safely, calls his son to say he is OK,. then goes into the other tower to help guide those still inside to safety. Minutes later, O''Neill, along with hundreds of others, is dead, killed by the terrorist the Bush administration refused to allow him to pursue to the best of his ability.

6. Jack Delaney and Ted White

et al.,

[ms1-1-11]

BUSH - CIA Kill List continued


4. Salem bin Laden

In 1979 Bush business Arbusto Energy obtained financing from James Bath, a close family friend. Bath had extensive ties to BCCI and the bin Laden family. Bath was the sole U.S. business representative for Salem bin Laden, the brother of Osama bin Laden. It is well known in certain circles that the Arbusto money came straight from Salem bin Laden, although Bush denies it. Salem bin Laden died when for no apparent reason, he flew his airplane into power lines where it became entangled, and fell 150 feet to the ground. "He was a very experienced pilot. He was a good pilot. We just can''t understand why he decided to go right instead of left," recalled airstrip owner Earl May field.



et al.,

[ms1-1-11]

Tuesday. 13 January 2009

BUSH LEGACY

BUSH.....CIA KILL list:

MILITARY AWOL Witnesses:

1. Lt. Colonel William Harris, Jr.

Lt. Col. William Harris was one of two commanding officers who could not perform George W. Bush''s annual evaluation covering the year from May 1, 1972 to April 30, 1973. They stated in their filing that "Lt. Bush has not been observed at this unit during the period of this report.

2. Lt. Colonel Jerry B. Killian

Lt. Col. Jerry B. Killian was another of George W. Bush''s commanding office WAS to testify as to George W. Bush''s dereliction of his sworn duty. Lt. Col. Killian is dead

3. William Colby

This former CIA director disappeared in an apparent boating accident, and a body was later discovered (minus the life jacket Colby''s friends insisted he always wore while boating) and buried promptly. John DeCamp, a lawyer from Lincoln, Nebraska, and Colby''s close friend and confidant, said Colby''s death was not an accident. He stated that Colby was prepared to disclose that missing P.O.W.''s were working for a dope smuggling operation orchestrated by General Colin Powell, Pentagon official Richard Armitage, and George H. W. Bush.

[solarrays247-2009]

..."Pres Ellen Sirleaf Johnson, of Liberia (1st freely elected woman in Africa''''s history): "Under the leadership of Pres Bush [..]..What a legacy, Mr. President..." "..America''''s commitment to democracy and development and to supporting low-income countries around the world has been a signature of foreign policy achievement for Pres Bush, Sec Rice, the bipartisan support of the U.S. Congress, and the American people.."

See-you feel good already-and it didn''''t take putting the MSM''''s man in the WH, did it?

Posted by forparity at 02:17 PM : Jan 12, 2009

It''s just too bad that Bush wouldn''t do the same for his own country!!!! Other than lead us down the path of possibly joining these other third world countries!!

[stinginrich]

We will all have fond memories of the Bush administration and we will all miss the good times and prosperity we had under his gallant leadership.


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Posted by mrs_zambesi at 09:07 AM : Jan 12, 2009
+ report abuse

See Kids, now this is good Trolling....

[bradkt1]

Only time will tell whether he is one of the worst Presidents in history. I can only say that he is the worst in MY LIFETIME! His minions misled us into an unnecessary war in Iraq (they cherry-picked the intelligence), the economy was totally mismanaged, the Hurrican Katrina response was awful, government regulatory agencies were sabotaged by appointees who did not believe in their missions, our international reputation went in the toilet, he divided the country as a matter of political strategy at the behest of advisors like Karl Rove, his environmental policies put the wolf in charge of the henhouse, he was an inneffective communicator and leader...I can go on and on...

[mavnomore]

Sunday morning''''s review of the Bush "legacy" allowed the Bush administration to co-opt CBS as part of this administration''''s continuing spin - no facts about failure to find perpetrators of 9/11, no facts about the promotion of torture and renditions and the loss of respect for the US in the world, no facts about Bush''''s use of an ideology that denied scientific facts on global warming for 8 years, no facts about the lack of oversight of financial markets, and failing to calculate the consequences of waging an unjustified war while cutting taxes of the wealthy, etc., etc. Somehow the media has accepted Bush''''s misguided notion that the US has the right to "spread democracy" in the Middle East. Where is this written in the constitution? The current disaster in Gaza is connected to a premature attempt to promote a "vote" -which resulted in the Hamas election, etc., etc. CBS also accepted without question the Bush 11th hour designation of a marine sanctuary in the middle of the Pacific. Perhaps a laudable effort to enhance a tragic environmental record, but does the US own the Pacific? Do other nations - Japan, China, Russia - support this ban? Once again a unilateral decision.. that assumes that Bush is above ordinary international legal considerations...
The spokesmen CBS chose to suport the Bush "legacy" in your report were employees of the administration - hardly objective voices that could provide balanced historical perspective.


Posted by ellenviby

HUGE!

[jokr8790]

In response to Mr. Brinkley, Ike was an acceptable President, he actually "got it" when he was almost out of office with his speech warning America about the military industrial complex. Ronny Raygun, on the other hand, was the 2nd worst President this country ever had right after GWB. His policies in Afghanistan ultimately brought about the 9/11 attacks and his destabilization of the Soviet Union made it more likely that nuclear devices would end up on the black market. When you include his turning a blind eye to the sale of heroin in the U.S. by the Mujhadin to finance their activities, Ronnie Raygun probably did as much, if not more, than DUMBYA to destroy this country.

[forparity]

His historical effort in 3rd world to combat HIV/Aids pandemic & malaria head-on should hardly be considered small?

Bush''s PEPFAR program, as a small part of it''s effort, distrib 2 billion condoms in Africa; it required that only 6.7% of total funding would be directed to abstinence only" issues yet, in Nov 2008, the Mercury News ed board snarled:

".. Bush''s insistence that health workers teach abstinence only as a policy for combating AIDS in the developing world, has been partially responsible for millions of deaths in Africa."

No, folks-by any measure, Pres. Clinton''s looking the other way, & policy of complacency in Africa, alone, was partially responsible for millions of deaths there during the late 1990''s alone - not to mention elsewhere in the world.

Why doesn%u2019t CBS mention this from just a few months ago:

Sir Bob Geldof(Humanitarian activist-Live 8 organizer)"..a great adventure..what America was born to do..the sense that this is America at it''s best.."

Pres Ellen Sirleaf Johnson, of Liberia (1st freely elected woman in Africa''s history): "Under the leadership of Pres Bush [..]..What a legacy, Mr. President..." "..America''s commitment to democracy and development and to supporting low-income countries around the world has been a signature of foreign policy achievement for Pres Bush, Sec Rice, the bipartisan support of the U.S. Congress, and the American people.."

See-you feel good already-and it didn''t take putting the MSM''s man in the WH, did it?

[used2bfedup1]

CMON we can get another Bush in the white house...

Jeb Bush for president!

[lochlan-2009]

Worst president ever. A criminal regime that got away with murder because of the office they stole.

Will any American stand up for America and get these piles of trash where they belong? We know we can''t rely on the government for justice.

[briannorwood]

"To all the pundits knocking President Bush, you elected him not once but twice."--Withad

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Sorry mate, I NEVER voted for the Idiot in Chief. And...Bush did not win in 2000, he was appointed. Remember he lost the popular vote by over 2 million, and definitely lost in Florida.

In 2004, were it not for the shennanigans in Ohio, Kerry would have won that year too.

So, in my opinion, the Bush was never really elected!

[jokr8790]

The Bush administration will go down as the most incompetent, one of the most corrupt and certainly venal administrations in American history. History should not judge this administration alone in a vacuum, however, it should also judge the large numbers of Americans (by no means a majority, when you take into account vote tampering, rigging and suppression)who also voted for his administration and its policies.

[used2bfedup1]

Under those curcumstances any newly elected president would say the same thing, including McCain.

Posted by chitownfire1 at 11:29 AM : Jan 12, 2009

No McCain would say the economy was "Fundamentally sound"

[chitownfire1]

Well folks, it appears that Obama is backtracking on many of his promises. Catch phrases such as "Believe", "We Can Do It", and "Change" got Obama elected. The inauguration hasn''''t even taken place and Obama is already telling us that some of the campaign promises won''''''''t happen and some media paundits are accepting this without question. Have we been hoodwinked again?


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Posted by rhs648

Obama: some campaign promises wont be fulfilled as quickly as we had hoped.

Why?

SIX OR SEVEN TRILLION DOLLARS DEFICIT AND A 8% AND RISING UNEMPLOYEMENT RATE....

Under those curcumstances any newly elected president would say the same thing, including McCain.

If you havent been living in a bubble, then you would know that we are in a economic crisis in this country. Lets be realistic here.....

[rhs648]

correction

Hooray! Our national nightmare will be over in nine days!


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Posted by briannorwood

Well folks, it appears that Obama is backtracking on many of his promises. Catch phrases such as "Believe", "We Can Do It", and "Change" got Obama elected. The inauguration hasn''t even taken place and Obama is already telling us that some of the campaign promises won''''t happen and some media paundits are accepting this without question. Have we been hoodwinked again?