These are many of the names that first popped into my mind as well; not because I necessarily think they did brilliant things for our country, but because history books have chosen to call these presidents “great.” It’s easy to see why. John Adams was the biggest proponent of declaring independence from England, and Thomas Jefferson wrote our declaration! Abraham Lincoln liberated our country from the abomination of slavery. Ronald Regan is the Great Communicator of our day. These acts seem to call for us to give special recognition to the presidents who performed them.
What about our president? What will history books call him? Great…Horrific…Success…Failure? The November 11th edition of the Economist head story is titled “The incredible shrinking presidency”1 showing their view of our current president. A rolling stone article went so far as to call George Bush the “worst president in history” 2. What makes them shed such a bad light on this presidency? Immediately a few bad decisions Bush has made spring to mind in answer to that question. The ‘No Child left Behind Act’ that gave teachers incentives to no longer teach subjects, but to teach kids how to pass “the Test”; the NSA wiretapping that still goes on today, circumventing many American’s civil rights; the weapons of mass destruction (WMD’s) in Iraq…that weren’t. George Bush has made some mistakes – and if we focus on those wrong steps it’s easy to make a quick judgment and say that the history books will not be putting his name in a list with John Adams and Abraham Lincoln any time soon.
But wait a minute. Abraham Lincoln suspended Habeas Corpus during the civil war. John Adams threw newspaper editors in jail for printing rhetoric in opposition to his party. Thomas Jefferson’s ‘Embargo Act’ and the ‘Iran-Contra Affair’ of the Regan presidency made CNN’s top 10 Presidential Blunders 3. We don’t seem to read about these mistakes alongside the praises sung of Lincoln, Jefferson, and Adams in our history books. Why? Precisely because the writers of the history books have seen these errors overshadowed by these presidents accomplishments which we discussed earlier.
Does George Bush have a chance to do the same? Do his successes have the possibility to eclipse his slip ups?
After September 11, 2001, America went on the offensive into Afghanistan. We succeeded in freeing the citizens from the Taliban regime that had kept them in bondage for years. Most parties now agree that the war in Afghanistan was a victory. Afghanistan held elections in 2004 and 2005; women and children are now being given the opportunity for an education. The entire country of Afghanistan will be left a better place than before George W. Bush took office.
In spite of the fact that there were no WMD’s, America has also done much for the country of Iraq. In January of 2005, 8 million Iraqi’s voted (for the first time in 50 years); the former dictator of Iraq who tortured and killed his people, Saddam Hussein was recently convicted and sentenced for crimes against humanity.
The war against terror is moving forward. Earlier this year, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, leader of al-Qaeda was killed in Iraq; and according to Vice President Cheney “We’ve captured and killed hundreds of their [al Qaeda’s] senior people.” 4
Are these accomplishments enough to override President Bush’s blunders? Will our grandchildren’s teachers focus on the NSA Wiretapping or the liberation of Afghanistan when they discuss the George W. Bush presidency? Will history be kind to our current president? That is a question that will ultimately be left up to the text-book writers to answer.
Sources:
1 – http://www.economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=8140002
2 – http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/9961300/the_worst_president_in_history
3 – http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-02-18-presidential-goofs_x.htm
4 – http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/09/20060910.html
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