Bush's Legacy

As the end of the Bush years draws closer by the minute I have noticed show after show about this legacy. The chorus from all but the most partisan individuals seem to put him in the bottom half of the presidential lists, so this got me thinking as one who has done a lot of studying of history and politics to consider the validity of statements such as the one by historian Robert Mcelvaine on whether Bush justifiably is the worst president so far:

Like a majority of other historians who participated in this poll, my conclusion is that the preponderance of the evidence now indicates that, while this nation has had at least its share of failed presidencies, no previous presidency was as large a failure in so many areas as the current one.

Arguing with these sentiments definitely proves to be something above both my paygrade, to quote the incoming president, and would be an affront to my belief in using reason. On the domestic front Bush had many failures, which all stem from a basic inability to govern and instead takes the worst of all approaches by compromising to appease nobody but special interest. Let us take the case of the response to the 9/11 attacks as just one example of this ineptitude. Rather than beefing up domestic security in vital infrastructure such as actually checking the cargo coming in at ports, Bush instead set up a giant bureaucracy in the Department of Homeland Security. Since the new jobs created by the bureaucracy such as the TSA airport screeners were unionized, the Democrats signed off on the creation of the DHS along with the very questionable Patriot Act. Now the government became too busy making sure that travellers were not carrying four ounces of liquids on planes or not patriotically reading the proper books. We are not any safer as a result, but billions of dollars were spent in a knee jerk reaction which took in many people, myself included in the days following September 11. The list of failures to accomplish anything meaningful for the American people is long during these eight years, from dealing with illegal immigration to the social Security System to bailing out billionaires.

Now for the hard part, to find achievements of Bush's to contrast with the myriad failures of the past eight years. Among his better acts was the increased funding for NASA, which not only improved greatly human understanding, but it is also a way to increase the prestige of the US around the world with such wonders as the Hubble(and soon to be Webb) telescopes, the ISS, and the manned space program. The only other positive act from this administration that immediately comes to mind was the product of Bush meeting one of my favorite world leaders, Lula da Silva(president of Brazil), in Rio de Janeiro. There Bush finally removed the tariffs on Brazilian ethanol, which is produced much cheaper than the corn ethanol in the US and opened up trade with one of the world's future economic powers.

In light of a brief examination of the Bush years, where would I rank him among presidents? The answer follows below with an explanation of the presidents below him:


39-Bush
40-Warren G. Harding-had cabinet members selling the oil reserved for the Navy for personal gain
41-William Henry Harrison-died shortly after taking office, so nothing was done
42-Andrew Johnson-His refusal to grant civil rights during his term made reconstruction much more acrimonious.
43-Andrew Jackson-Removed the Cherokee and Creek Indians to gain the gold on their land, in violation of the Supreme Court. He destroyed the banking system of the US by removing the second national bank. Why he is on the twenty dollar bill is still a mystery to me.