This guy was vilified so much. I was also really critical of him. But in hindsight, I feel like he was a decent man. He was surrounded by some people who seem a bit shady to me, like Cheney and Rumsfeld. But it seems to me that this guy's heart was and is actually in the right place, no matter whether you agree with all of his decisions or not. What do the leftists on this forum think about him, now that you have Trump? Spoiler
Yes...Bush is a decent man. Proven by his post-presidency activities. The Neo-cons that surrounded him where pure evil.
I imagine this is similar to how Republicans felt about Clinton after they had to deal with Obama. When you continue to lower the bar, the past starts to look much better.
Well he started two wars and destroyed the world's economy so yeah, he's pretty much earned that. I mean he's the one who hired Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, etc and didn't get rid of them. Bush is also the guy who used anti-gay marriage amendments to get himself re-elected. Give me the ******* that is a great President over the good guy who screws the world every day. Of course, the ******* that screws the world is President now so of course we yearn for someone with even a modicum of character.
Bush's mistakes and their lingering effect simply exemplify the risk of electing someone like Trump; and pretty much belie their shared voters' desperation in watching their regressive social views marginalized by every other responsible public official. And while the hatred and small-mindedness behind their bigotry is nothing new, Bush's foreign policy choices are still bizarre and damaging. There is simply no reason for the United States to have a 750 billion - 1 trillion annual military spend and 5,000 combat deaths twenty-five years after the end of the Cold War.
The guy wasn't a great president. I think he was in over his head. He was smart, and I agree that his heart was probably always in the right place. That being said, he is a million times better and preferable to Trump.
Bush was mediocre as President, in my opinion, except during the aftermath of 9/11. While I don't think he handled himself well while the horrible crisis was happening, he did a great job of rallying the nation for the inevitable war in Afghanistan, AQ's safe haven. Where he really went off the rails was during the 2nd Gulf War, a ruinous war that haunts this nation many years later. A war we didn't need that led directly to the chaos in the Middle East today. It's been bad there since at least WWII, when the colonial boundaries ended up being used to create countries that simply do not make any sense, but Gulf War II made us look weak and floundering, not a good look for the world's one remaining superpower (at least at the time). Maybe the Rightists will have a different opinion.
You have to give him credit for a few things: 1) His response after 9/11 was outstanding 2) The great work he did in Africa - saved millions of lives battling AIDS He was better than Obama by a long shot. Obama doesn't have anything that could touch either of the above.
What do I think? He was not equipped to be President. Former employees said that he was often pushed around by Cheney and others. I think in his heart he wanted to do what was right but at the end of the day he went along with and sometimes championed some horrible things. He was a bad President and did a lot of long term harm. Reagan and Carter were likeable and good people when they were in office but they don’t get a pass and ultimately Bush shouldn’t either.
He’s the reason I stopped identifying as a Republican, and in fact, took a turn toward the left. But boy do i miss him now. Or any of the previous presidents I’ve lived with.
An argument could be made for that. While Govenor of Texas, Bush largely let Bob Bullock, the Lt. Governor, run things. A smart move. My significant other worked with him some (as well as Bullock) and liked the guy. Didn't agree with all his politics, of course, far from it, but the man was a decent Governor of Texas. A good friend went to the same Methodist Church the Bushes attended in Tarrytown, a wealthy neighborhood in Austin, not far from downtown. He said he was a nice guy. My point being that apparently people liked him, and as long as competent folks surrounded him, Bush did a pretty good job. Bush was far from being a Bible thumper, if you know what I mean. Methodists are sort of tea sipping, cookie eating church goers. In general, nice people who don't try to cram their religion down your throat. Sadly, Bush picked poorly when he came to the White House.
come on, how convenient to omit the invasion of Iraq, under the false claim of WMD, claiming that the oil in Iraq will pay for the war this war, longer than WW2 and Viet Nam War, has cost us close to a hundred trillion $, and still going his ineptness drove the US economy into the ground, the first economic depression since FDR's time in the waning months of his presidency, the US economy was losing > 100,000 jobs a month his half-assed effort to bail out the financial industry failed miserably As the POTUS, GWB was incompetent. But at least he was not a traitor like Trump say what !
He was the last Republican president I voted for and probably ever again. Decent man. Did lasting damages.
That post is completely unfair. You clearly have no clue as to my posting history. I made countless posts attacking the man's policies. I was against the 2nd Gulf War before it started, and said so here. Blah, blah, blah. No way am I going to revisit how much I hammered the guy. Oh, and I stand by my post.
just the facts. btw, i forgot to mention his absence of leadership as demonstrate by his F***-up w the Katrina disaster; his infamous " atta boy, Brownie" comment
Ditto and also agree with original ATW post. He was a horrible president but a decent man. When our current so called "president" has us nostalgic for W then you know we made a bigly mistake.
All due respect, Bush was far from mediocre. Bush Sr. was mediocre. Bush Jr. was a disaster for this country. We should not romanticize Bush Jr. because the new band of Republicans are know-nothing trolls.
