An Optimist's Guide to Bush's Legacy

Here's the bottom line: George W. Bush has not been good for business.

He is terribly unpopular, especially regarding Iraq, and his approval ratings have been in a tailspin since 2004. These dismal numbers have been reflected in not one, but two elections, with Democratic sweeps in 2006 and 2008. His beloved GOP has all but abandoned him, keeping him out entirely of the Republican Convention and only mentioning his name with the caveat "I'm not him."

I would very cautiously argue, however, that history may be kinder to him than the present.

I'm not saying he's a good president now, to do so would toss any semblance of political or journalistic credibility overboard. But I am claiming that there may be a potential upswing of favorable remembrances for W. And let me constrain myself to say that I do not believe that there is any way history will ever remember him as a great president; his potential, in my opinion, can only lift him from the ranks of 'bad president' to 'not bad president.'

We cannot deny Bush's handling of the Iraq War, which most would say was altogether disastrous. Faulty intelligence showed that there were W.M.D.'s in Iraq and that they were indeed a viable threat to the United States. Granted, it wasn't Bush telling himself there were weapons there, it was the hitherto reliable intelligence agencies who were, but Bush really dropped the ball on this one. W. used the same bull-headed tactics that had done so well for him in Afghanistan (or had been doing well for him), when all he needed to do was let diplomacy run its course.

Speaking of bull-headed, his abandoning of conservative principles was offensive to conservatives. For a party whose primary figurehead, Ronald Reagan, called for limited government, one would think that this president would not be one of the most government-expanding and empowering presidents since Lyndon Baines Johnson. Au contraire. So not only was Bush losing favor with those who he regularly would quarrel with, namely Democrats, but he was also losing Republican comrades along the way. In fact, many suspect that the very ideological fabric of the GOP may have been irreparably altered, as 2008-conservatives are scrambling to appeal to voters who have sacked them in consecutive elections.

That was very bad. But, Bush has not been all bad.


We cannot deny Bush's handling of September 11th, which most would say was altogether masterful. Many of the idea-void individuals in the GOP cling to this day as some kind of banner of victory like someone clinging to an iron bar in a tornado, and subsequently trivialize Bush's actual accomplishments. Bush coolly and calmly went about handling the situation, uniting the country under one patriotic emblem. (SIDENOTE: That's not an excuse to trivialize Sept. 11, though. What happened on that day was God-awful, and to speak frankly about someone benefiting from it is unsettling, while possibly true.)

So, for now, everyone is down on this Bush fellow. Presidential-hopeful John McCain, who is about as liberal as a Republican can get, was hamstrung by any and all associations he had had with Bush, and ultimately lost the election. A mandate from the public against Bush, Democrats won across the board.

But let's say everything from now on, following Bush's administration, goes his way.

Optimistically speaking, what if Bush's Middle Eastern democracy-manufacturing plan firms up and carries on? Iraq has been making marked improvements since the ballyhooed Surge, and perhaps could gain self-sufficiency in the future. If the country is in fact better in fifty years than it was prior to 2003, Bush could be regarded as a national hero. That potential is certainly there, although it may be far-fetched.

Which are people more likely to remember, his blunder of Iraq or his grace under fire in September of 2001? A lot of this has to come from hindsight and hindsight alone. The projection is there, in fact it is all Bush and Heir Cheney cling to: "We are safer than we were on Sept. 11." Well, we've only come seven years. Call me naive, but I'd like to think that there are some safeties that have to be monitored for longer than that span of time. Maybe we are and maybe we aren't.

This could go in Bush's favor, or blow up in his face. If it doesn't bounce his way, it will be just one more thing topped on a pile of grievances. Recall when the economy - Bush's economy - nearly crumbled this fall? No one was any more angry at Bush than they were before. You can only be so mad, before it's just noise. It was like everyone expected it.

If it does somehow go in his favor, then perhaps history can salvage as much a morsel of dignity from the Bush Administration, which won't be much, but it could be something.

One thing is certain; there's nowhere to go but up.