How Will The George W. Bush Legacy Be Taught In Thirty Years

Posted by BGH

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How will President George W. Bush’s legacy be taught in social studies or history class thirty years from now?

I am old enough to remember much what happened during the time in office of the last four presidents, my memory gets a bit fuzzy around the Carter administration, but Ronald Reagan, George Herbert Walker Bush, William Jefferson Clinton and George Walker Bush are pretty clear. As each president leaves office they leave behind a legacy of things they will be remembered for, some scandal and some good things, but a legacy nonetheless.

With Ronald Reagan we remember:

• The Cold War
• The Berlin Wall
• The assassination attempt
• The Iran-Contra scandal
• Reaganomics
• Nancy’s “Just say ‘no’” policy
• Grenada
• Booming 80's economy resurgence
  

With George Herbert Walker Bush we remember:

• “Read my lips, no new taxes”
• Desert Storm
• Dan Quayle misspelling ‘potato’
• The fall of the Soviet Union
• Americans With Disabilities Act
• Panama / Noriega
• Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START I)
  

With William Jefferson Clinton we remember:

• Monica Lewinsky
• A thriving economy
• Somalia
• NAFTA
• DMCA
• Serbia / Kosovo
• The Branch Davidians
  
• Elian Gonzalez
  
• Soaring public opinion
• Low unemployment
  

So what will we remember of George Walker Bush?

• September 11, 2001
• The Patriot Act
  
• The Afghan War
• The Iraqi Quagmire
• Torture
• Water Boarding
• Abu Ghraib
• Falsified intelligence
• Suppression of climate science
• Sinking economy
• Soaring gas prices
• Sinking public opinion
• The Katrina debacle
• Cheney shooting someone in the face
• Wire Tapping
• Loss of Habeas Corpus
• Veto of stem cell bill
• Inflation
• Rising unemployment
• Firing of U.S. Attorneys
• Alberto Gonzalez
• Scooter Libby
• Enron
• Tyco
• Blackwater
• Faith Based Initiatives

How will the history books salvage anything positive from the last eight years of the George W. Bush presidency? With other presidents, scandal and success seem to be mixed, and if not mixed, an administration is usually labeled ineffective at worst. With G.W.B there is little from his time in office that can held up as a success or accomplishment, and more than a fair share of items that can be viewed as complete and utter failures. George W. Bush and his administration seem to have caused nearly irreparable damage on the world stage and unfortunate regression in domestic policy.

While I may not be democrat or republican, I lean more towards libertarian, though I am not fully there either. I value civil liberties and am entirely ready to accept some risk in order to preserve freedom. This administration has done more than almost any other presidency to infringe on our rights in order to make us feel safe, though we are in reality no more safe than we were eight years ago but we are whole lot less free.

When my grandkids are in school what will they learn of the G.W.B. presidency? They say the victors write the history books, well we all have lost something during this presidency, what will be written by the historians?
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