>
> Supporters say Bush is a president of vision and consequence whose
> administration has expanded democracy, battled the scourge of
> terrorism and endeavored to promote world peace.
>
> Critics label Bush's policies a disaster, point to his low approval
> ratings, and cite his administration's arrogance and unilateralist
> tendencies as the driving forces behind global tension and disorder.
>
>
http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2006/Sep/29/op/FP609290322....
>
> Each man who has held the office of President of the United States--
> from George Washington to George W. Bush--leaves behind a unique
> legacy. These men have lead the nation through times of national
> crisis and celebration, economic ups and downs, through horrendous
> wars and times of peace. Their politics, personalities and leadership
> skills have shaped the world today, for good and for bad.
>
>
http://www.oup.com/us/collections/president/?view=usa
>
> Presidential legacies are rarely clear and evident during the
> President's term, or even at their end. The problem is perspective. It
> is hard to judge how the future will see someone when it is not clear
> what their term of office actually meant in the context of history.
> Ronald Reagan's last years in office were marked by the Iran-contra
> affair, which painted him as an old man who did not know what was
> going on, yet he is fondly remembered as a beloved President who
> helped America win the Cold War. Dwight Eisenhower, a war hero while
> in office, nevertheless has had his Presidency viewed as time when
> nothing got done. Harry Truman's approval rating was 25%% during his
> last term of office, but today we think of him as a strong President,
> the coy Southerner where the buck "stopped."
>
> It is with Truman that our current President, George W. Bush,
> associates himself most with. Like Truman, he partook in an unpopular
> war based more on a belief of a threat then an actual, concrete danger
> to America (Truman feared the spread of communism; Bush the spread of
> weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East). Both men had very
> public spats with the generals who ran their wars, and both Presidents
> were regarded as quick decision makers (and very hard-headed with
> those decisions).
>
> In time, though, history validated Truman's actions. Standing up to
> Douglas McCarthur prevented the spread of the Korean conflict into a
> more global war. Protecting South Korea helped stem the spread of
> communism on the Asian continent. His conviction to decisions, indeed
> his hard headedness, is now seen as an attribute.
>
> George W. Bush hopes for much of the same. Despite his work at home
> (such as the No Child Left Behind legislation and his attempt to
> reform Social Security) or his stewardship during one of America's
> darkest hours (the terrorist attacks of 9/11), Bush ultimately is
> going to be judged on what happens in Iraq. If things in Iraq continue
> on their current course, with Iraq disintegrating into civil war and
> chaos, then Bush will be regarded as unpopular President who dragged
> this country into an unneeded war that America was ill prepared for.
> If the war creates more hatred toward America, if the next terrorist
> attacks come from a group of disgruntled Iraqis, then the blood
> spilled will be on Bush's hand.
>
> Yet if Bush's vision is actually realized, if Iraq is able to pull
> itself above the turmoil and into a working democracy, and if that
> concept of democracy spreads to the other countries in the region,
> then Bush will be regarded as a hero. History will think of him as a
> visionary, who helped to forever end the threat of terrorism by
> providing the disgruntled in the Middle East with a political avenue
> to voice their displeasure with the state of the world (instead of the
> violent ones currently being employed). He will be viewed as
> misunderstood in his time, but a genius for all time, for mankind.
>
> That is the funny thing with history and legacies. In time, with
> changing perspectives and context, history can change its view of men.
> Revolutionary heroes like Washington and Jefferson are now viewed
> through our politically correct society. We question the dichotomy of
> the men who fought for the idea of freedom and independence, who
> penned "All men are created equal," and then had the audacity to
> actually treat men as property because of the color of their skin.
> Christopher Columbus, the hero of our grade school songs, is now
> chastised for enslaving the "Indians" he encountered in the New World.
> Even Truman's military decision to drop the atomic bomb and end World
> War II is now criticized politically and socially as an unnecessary
> show of force, especially having seen what atomic radiation can do to
> the survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
>
> That is why George W. Bush's legacy has not, could not, yet been
> written. The story of Bush is the story of Iraq's war of independence,
> and it is still being penned in the streets and cities of Iraq. An
> Iraq that embraces democracy, that ends its sectarian violence, an
> Iraq that is no longer under the rule of a dictator who threatened his
> neighbors and caused a destabilization of one of the most volatile
> regions in the world, this is what will make Bush a hero in time, even
> if not in our time. Anything less, or anything far worse, will tarnish
> Bush's legacy forever. Only time, and Iraq's future, will tell how
> George W. Bush will be judged in history.
>
>
http://www.helium.com/tm/255707/presidential-legacies-rarely-clear
>
