Legacy of President George W. Bush

The legacy of President George W. Bush is not on George W. Bush’s mind - so he says.

One clue that the President is not being quite forthright with that statement is the fact that one of the first things on his agenda for 2008 is a trip to the Mid East to take the initiative in helping to push along a peace deal. That trip seems to be a sign that the legacy question is in the back of his mind.

Bush has not taken much interest in an Israeli - Palestinian peace accord over the last seven years of his reign. Contributing to a peace plan now would give him an accomplishment to be proud of during his last year in office and enhance his legacy.

Bush’s accomplishments on the domestic front during his Presidency have been mighty thin, especially considering the Republican majority in congress that he has enjoyed most of the time. The only bill that has been passed that is of much substance is the No Child Left Behind Act , which is now under attack and will have to be revisited in 2008. Bush can not expect much help in building a positive legacy from the domestic front.

That leaves the heavy lifting to Bush’s foreign policy, highlighted by the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Unless a miracle occurs with the wars progress in 2008 Bush is likely to receive extremely low marks by historians for the outcome of those wars on his watch.

While Bush can point to a reduction of violence in Iraq in the aftermath of his “surge policy” as a step in the right direction the political reconciliation process that was the reason given for the surge in the first place has thus far failed to materialize. The sad situation in Afghanistan has continued to deteriorate during 2007. 2008 will begin with America and America’s allies against the Taliban very much on the defensive.

There are political commentators who say that Bush’s decision to invade and to occupy Iraq will go down in the history books as one of the worse geo-politicial decisions in history. One that the United States will be paying for out of the nose for many generations to come.

I don’t disagree with that analysis. The cost to citizens of the US for Bush’s policies towards Iraq and for the curtailment of American’s liberties as Bush pursues his never ending war against terror have been profound. Many of the provisions of the US Constitution which have served our nation so well have been largely circumvented by the unitary Presidency pursued by Bush.

What will Bush’s legacy be? Unless 2008 is a year of miracles I expect that it is already too late for Bush to escape the critical long arm of history. Bush will probably have the dubious honor of being regarded as being one of the most ineffective, worse presidents in American history.

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