George W. Bush took his final walk through the storied White House Portico and then handed the reins of power to Barack Obama, America’s 44th President.
Shortly after this sublime yet poignant moment, the former President and First Lady were to cross the South Lawn to board Marine One on the first leg of their return to private life and Crawford, TX.
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No sooner than the White House and Capitol fade from their view, historians will begin to pen their accounts of the Bush presidency.
Love him or hate him , with George the Decider, there was no middle ground.
His idiosyncratic butchering of the America language was droll fodder for the kings of late night. His exit has left comedy writers from coast-to-coast scratching their heads and scrambling for new material.
Despite his fêted gaffes, none can genuinely doubt that in his heart of hearts, George Bush did what he believed was best for our country.
Love of Country
His policies may have infuriated you. And you may be relieved that his term of office has finally ended. But George Bush stood testament to a man who loved his country no less than you or me.
The American Presidency is an institution molded by the flux of human events that more often than not are beyond the control of the man behind the Resolute Desk. It is the response to these trials that frames each President’s personal legacy.
Jimmy Carter is identified by the wrenching turmoil of the Iran hostage crisis and his inability to wrest control over the paralyzing grip of double-digit stagflation.
Ronald Reagan rode the triumphant release of the Iranian hostages and an assassination attempt early in his Presidency to build the seemingly unstoppable political momentum that characterized his two terms. Though his Presidency was later tarnished by the Iran-Contra Affair, the Reagan legacy has had a lasting impact on the national psyche.
Clinton Fenced Successfully with Failings
Although foreign policy, including the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet Union, dominated his time in office, the Presidency of the elder George Bush was ultimately marred by his failure to hold the line on taxes. His inimical “read my lips;no new taxes” came back to haunt him. A ballooning federal deficit – the residual of Reagan era economic policies – forced his hand, effectively scotching his chances at a second term.
Some Presidents, like Bill Clinton have the political dexterity to overcome challenges, even if they are of their own making. In spite of his many peccadilloes, Clinton retained widespread popularity that was buoyed by an unprecedented period of economic expansion that took root before he ever took office.
A Promise Fulfilled
For George W. Bush, the horrific slaughter of innocents on American soil elevated a Presidency that was otherwise awash in a sea of uninspired mediocrity. In his bullhorn moment atop the smoldering rubble at Ground Zero, George Bush galvanized a nation to his side.
In the wake of attacks, he was entrusted to protect us from the looming threat of an undefined enemy whose only apparent aim was to destroy our cherished way life.
Whether you applaud or abhor the means and method he used to keep our nation safe, it was a promise kept.
Too Much and Too Little
Confidence in George Bush began to unravel as his surrogates vainly searched for the weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, and when President Bush stood the astride the flight deck on the carrier U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln, buffoonishly framed by a banner that pre-maturely proclaimed “Mission Accomplished.”
The wheels really started to come off the Bush Presidency following his seeming indifference and bafflingly slow response to Hurricane Katrina. Public opinion of the Bush White House finally cratered as the bleak realities of an increasingly unpopular war combined with the strain of a rapidly weakening economy came home to roost.
In retrospect, this President, like his predecessors, will get too much blame for his failures and be credited far too lavishly for his successes.
No matter how his legacy ultimately is reflected in the lens of history, there is no disputing that George W. Bush was a decent man who should be remembered as an American patriot.
John Cohn is a senior partner in the Globe West Financial Group[ based in West Los Angeles. He may be contacted at www.globewestfinancial.com
