President Barack Obama and four former presidents were in Dallas this morning for the dedication of George W. Bush’s presidential library and museum. Highlights from the speeches are here and here.
The Washington Post published this timeline of Bush’s eight years in office. Asawin Suebsaeng listed eight things you won’t find at Bush’s presidential library. Dylan Matthews summed up Bush’s presidency in 24 charts.
In my opinion Bush was one of the very worst presidents in U.S. history. I wish he had stayed out of politics, either by becoming a painter many years ago or being named Major League Baseball commissioner in the early 1990s. Although his approval rating is higher now than it’s been in years, I don’t believe future historians will look favorably on him. His administration had “the worst track record for job creation since the government began keeping records.” We’ll be paying for his unaffordable tax cuts and the ongoing costs of the war in Iraq for decades to come.
But in an effort to say at least one positive thing to mark today’s event, I will give Bush credit for supporting the DREAM Act in Texas and at the federal level. Share your own thoughts about “43” in this thread.
UPDATE: George W. Bush and his mother disagree on whether former Florida Governor Jeb Bush should run for president.
7 Comments
Wapo Timeline
That timeline is pretty bad – no labels on the Y axis? What is the unemployment a measure of?
drew-miller Thu 25 Apr 8:26 PM
it's interactive
the label on the Y axis changes, depending on what trend you are looking at. If you click on a dot, it will show you the major news event of that time.
desmoinesdem Fri 26 Apr 8:15 AM
Sure
But what do the numbers mean? 🙂
drew-miller Sat 27 Apr 11:59 AM
W was the worst president in my lifetime.
Historical rankings of presidents confirm that. Composite rankings in surveys of historians and political scientists rank Bush 2 as 34th best of the 44, Warren G. Harding was the worst. (Renaming Harding Road in DSM to MLK was a good move.) The other presidents ranked worse than W were in office in the 19th century.
cocinero Sat 27 Apr 11:37 AM
Bush the Worst
He was the worst President ever. But I will respect him. After the 2000 election theft the Democrats held 50-51 votes in the senate. After the 2002 election the Demos held 43 votes in the Senate after the 2004 elecetion the dems held 46 votes in the Senate. After the 2006 electin the dems held 52 votes in the Senate.
Yet the Senate Democratcs could not block anything Bush wanted. He had the Senate Democrats absolutly terrified. They all thought that if they don’t do what George Bush wanted that he was going to punch them in the mouth and make them eat their own panties.
I will respect him for how he could make the dems in the senate do anything he wanted. I didn’t like him at all. But I will respect him. Much like I would respect a rattlesnake.
keithnichols Sat 27 Apr 11:36 PM
it was ridiculous
how terrified Democrats were of going against him, even after his approval rating fell back to earth.
If Bush hadn’t overreached so badly in 2002-2003, he could have realigned politics in the country for the GOP. So we can be thankful for his incompetence and willingness to be Dick Cheney’s puppet.
desmoinesdem Sun 28 Apr 6:55 AM
I agree
It was rediculous watching the Dems cave in time and again. Even when they had 50 votes. Not a one of them had any kind of a backbone.
As much as I dislike republicans. I will give them credit. They will stand up for what they believe in. I can respect that. Rand Paul and Ted Cruz are nut jobs but either one of them has more courage and spine in there little toe, Than all the Democratic Senators in Washington DC combined.
Those spineless sacless cowards could have stopped Bush several times they were just cowering in fear. After all G W Bush migh come over and personally punch me in the mouth. They were terrified of Bush.
keithnichols Sun 28 Apr 11:11 AM