Sunday, January 18, 2009
The Bush Legacy pt. 1
As George W. Bush spends his final days in office, a national poll suggests that two-thirds of Americans see his presidency as a failure. Sixty-eight percent of those questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll released Sunday said that Bush's eight years in the White House were a failure, with 44 percent saying this was because of his personal shortcomings and 22 percent blaming the failure on circumstances beyond his control. In Sept. '01 President Bush had an approval rating of 90%, more than any other President in the history of approval rating. However, as he leaves office on Jan. '09, he will have the lowest approval rating than any other President in history.
Having the job as the Executive-in-Chief is not easy, and there are bound to be situations whereby the best decisions are not the most popular. Here is my reflection on the President's past two terms.
President George W. Bush's first months in office were arguably more successful than asserted in post 9/11. Most notably, in June 2001, Bush signed into law a major tax-cut package that he said was the third across-the-board tax cut since World War II. He did this tax-cut with bi-partisan support, mind you. Bush also successfully resolved at least one international crisis in his first months. In April 2001, the Bush administration negotiated the safe return of the 24-member crew of a Navy EP-3 surveillance plane that collided mid-air with a Chinese jet fighter and that was forced to land on Chinese territory. However, Bush did see some major setbacks as well. Most notably, the Republican party lost control of the Senate when Senator Jim Jeffords announced on May 24, 2001 that he was leaving the Republican party to become an independent allied with Democrats on organizational matters. Jeffords said that the Republican party under Bush was becoming more conservative and that "looking ahead, I can see more and more instances where I will disagree with the President on fundamental issues."
It was this change in allegiance that was a hint of what was to come of the real Bush Legacy...
Having the job as the Executive-in-Chief is not easy, and there are bound to be situations whereby the best decisions are not the most popular. Here is my reflection on the President's past two terms.
President George W. Bush's first months in office were arguably more successful than asserted in post 9/11. Most notably, in June 2001, Bush signed into law a major tax-cut package that he said was the third across-the-board tax cut since World War II. He did this tax-cut with bi-partisan support, mind you. Bush also successfully resolved at least one international crisis in his first months. In April 2001, the Bush administration negotiated the safe return of the 24-member crew of a Navy EP-3 surveillance plane that collided mid-air with a Chinese jet fighter and that was forced to land on Chinese territory. However, Bush did see some major setbacks as well. Most notably, the Republican party lost control of the Senate when Senator Jim Jeffords announced on May 24, 2001 that he was leaving the Republican party to become an independent allied with Democrats on organizational matters. Jeffords said that the Republican party under Bush was becoming more conservative and that "looking ahead, I can see more and more instances where I will disagree with the President on fundamental issues."
It was this change in allegiance that was a hint of what was to come of the real Bush Legacy...
