Will History Prove "W" To Be Better Than We Gave Him Credit For?

pjalive21
pjalive21 St. Louis, MO Posts: 2,818
edited November 2008 in A Moving Train
thoughts?
Post edited by Unknown User on
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Comments

  • BinFrog
    BinFrog MA Posts: 7,314
    I truly believe that will not be the case.
    Bright eyed kid: "Wow Typo Man, you're the best!"
    Typo Man: "Thanks kidz, but remembir, stay in skool!"
  • pjalive21
    pjalive21 St. Louis, MO Posts: 2,818
    BinFrog wrote:
    I truly believe that will not be the case.

    i believe his first 4 years were good, but the last 4 even left me scratching my head

    i believe he kept us safe and that im thankful for
  • decides2dream
    decides2dream Posts: 14,977
    no.
    personally, i think if anything...with time and distance..i think history will prove the opposite. i think his presidency was far more damaging than we even imagine...and we will live and feel th repercussions for a long, long time.
    Stay with me...
    Let's just breathe...


    I am myself like you somehow


  • Anon
    Anon Posts: 11,175
    Of course it will be somewhat dependent upon who's writing the history...but I tend to think not.

    One does not achieve all-time lows in recorded popularity without some justifiable cause.

    You can argue to high heaven (and some will) that the multiple tragic failings of his administration are not entirely his fault. That is probably true. However, his lack of vision and temperance, insistent practice of cronyism, father issues, and almost total absence of intellectual curiosity surely didn't help.
  • slightofjeff
    slightofjeff Posts: 7,762
    Guess it depends on what happens in Iraq.

    If it becomes, basically, Germany 2.0 ... I think that would help his legacy immensely.
    everybody wants the most they can possibly get
    for the least they could possibly do
  • PJ_Saluki
    PJ_Saluki Posts: 1,006
    Nothing is impossible and it shouldn't be too hard given how little credit he got (earned?) while he was in the Oval Office. I guess it depends on Iraq, though who knows how things would have gone had we not invaded.
    "Almost all those politicians took money from Enron, and there they are holding hearings. That's like O.J. Simpson getting in the Rae Carruth jury pool." -- Charles Barkley
  • aNiMaL
    aNiMaL Posts: 7,117
    http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/11/06/bush.legacy/index.html?iref=newssearch
  • Jack_C_Gregory
    Jack_C_Gregory Posts: 540
    I would have to suggest no, at the moment. I don't think anyone that was actually alive during his reign will ever have a nice thing to write.

    However... they do always talk about how unpopular Lincoln was during his time in the White House, and if for some unexplainable reason the invasion of Iraq did lead to democracy and peace in the middle east I could see where down the road he might get some credit with taking the initiative to getting that done. In which case he would probably be praised, the way Lincoln is praised for saving the Union all these years later. ( I really doubt this though. It is just a LONG shot in my opinion.)
  • g under p
    g under p Surfing The far side of THE Sombrero Galaxy Posts: 18,249
    decides2dream wrote:
    no.
    personally, i think if anything...with time and distance..i think history will prove the opposite. i think his presidency was far more damaging than we even imagine...and we will live and feel th repercussions for a long, long time.

    More along these lines for sure. However comedians had a field day, 8 years of CONSTANT material.

    Peace
    *We CAN bomb the World to pieces, but we CAN'T bomb it into PEACE*...Michael Franti

    *MUSIC IS the expression of EMOTION.....and that POLITICS IS merely the DECOY of PERCEPTION*
    .....song_Music & Politics....Michael Franti

    *The scientists of today think deeply instead of clearly. One must be sane to think clearly, but one can think deeply and be quite INSANE*....Nikola Tesla(a man who shaped our world of electricity with his futuristic inventions)


  • MayDay10
    MayDay10 Posts: 11,895
    I would say no. But nobody can say for sure. I think it will be clearer in a shorter term though than usual. It wont take more than 4 years to a decade to see what history will make of Bush II.
  • decides2dream
    decides2dream Posts: 14,977
    g under p wrote:
    More along these lines for sure. However comedians had a field day, 8 years of CONSTANT material.

    Peace




    seriously, our first truly pre-emptive war, us being the agressors...and for what? and does it set a precident for future actions? it cannot be undone. for that alone he should go down as one of the worst presidents. ever. imo of course.
    Stay with me...
    Let's just breathe...


    I am myself like you somehow


  • slightofjeff
    slightofjeff Posts: 7,762
    decides2dream wrote:
    seriously, our first truly pre-emptive war, us being the agressors...and for what? and does it set a precident for future actions? it cannot be undone. for that alone he should go down as one of the worst presidents. ever. imo of course.

    I don't mean to compare the two ... but, just consider this food for thought:

    What if invading Germany in 1939 would have ousted Hitler, prevented the Holocaust and avoided WWII? Would that pre-emptive war have been worth it?
    everybody wants the most they can possibly get
    for the least they could possibly do
  • Strangest Tribe
    Strangest Tribe Posts: 2,502
    I think we can use the world's response to the outcome of this election as a great measure of the reflection of the policies and short-commings of the George W Bush years.
    It will be hard to paint W in any light but that of a below avg President.
    He sucked balls bigtime and unless the history books are written for evangelical private schools the history concerning the Bush II will only reflect the controversy of the Iraq war and the poor economy.
    The events of 9/11 could save him some grace and keep him from being the worst president ever but any serious study of this time will only show how the American people and the world were "manipulated" for many years with false flags by those in power.
    the Minions
  • mammasan
    mammasan Posts: 5,656
    The only way I can see Bush's legacy being redeemed is if Iraq become a democratic utopia where wide spread reform flows from in the Middle East. If say 10, 20, 30 years from now the Middle East is a peaceful democratic region then Bush's will have a positive legacy.
    "When one gets in bed with government, one must expect the diseases it spreads." - Ron Paul
  • Open
    Open Posts: 792
    I think he will be seen more as a Ayatollah Khomeini rather than a Lincoln. The parallels are there...
  • jbalicki10
    jbalicki10 Posts: 517
    The downfall of Bush began when he began to reach in being a non-partisian president. He tried to reach both the right and the left and he failed miserably because both sides would not meet in the middle. When he first took office he was strictly right and he was effective.

    Obama should learn from this. He should stay left and stay clear of non-partisian politics. It just doesnt work...
  • mammasan
    mammasan Posts: 5,656
    jbalicki10 wrote:
    The downfall of Bush began when he began to reach in being a non-partisian president. He tried to reach both the right and the left and he failed miserably because both sides would not meet in the middle. When he first took office he was strictly right and he was effective.

    Obama should learn from this. He should stay left and stay clear of non-partisian politics. It just doesnt work...

    I would have to say that it is the complete opposite. What made Bush such a bad president was his inability or unwillingness to work with the other side.
    "When one gets in bed with government, one must expect the diseases it spreads." - Ron Paul
  • pjalive21
    pjalive21 St. Louis, MO Posts: 2,818
    great feedback everyone!

    i think the Lincoln comparison is plausible if things in Iraq turn out peaceful

    other than that he was an average to below average president over 8 years, the last 4 hurting him the most
  • jbalicki10
    jbalicki10 Posts: 517
    mammasan wrote:
    I would have to say that it is the complete opposite. What made Bush such a bad president was his inability or unwillingness to work with the other side.

    Nope, Remember the bailout? He voted with the Democrats. Remember the Stimulous package? He help change the bill for Non-Tax payers to get the money as well... I could go on and on...
  • Ms. Haiku
    Ms. Haiku Washington DC Posts: 7,390
    No.

    The delayed response to Katrina
    The astronomical cost of the Iraq War
    Guantanomo Bay staff treatment of prisoners
    Decreased respectability towards US from other countries. We are still a power, but not the exclusive superpower in my opinion. I have a feeling outside of the US we are seen as predatory simple mind folk. Posturing towards North Korea and Iran. It was embarrassing as an USer to read about his threatening other nations when we can't even finish a war.
    Was there better education for children? (I don't know.)
    Was there better access to health care? (I don't know.)
    Worst economic crisis since the Depression

    On his shift I saw more media advances for a common person's opinion ie. blogs/podcasts etc, but it seems that fewer entities own the airwaves or internet waves.
    There is no such thing as leftover pizza. There is now pizza and later pizza. - anonymous
    The risk I took was calculated, but man, am I bad at math - The Mincing Mockingbird

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