© NCSU Student Media 2009
Benton Sawrey
Legacies of presidents are fickle things. It’s nearly impossible to put an accurate label on what history will remember President George W. Bush for 50 years from now with all the pundit clutter and harping on the economy and foreign policy blunders that were left by the previous administration for President Barack Obama. With too much bias and downright toxic partisan sniping, it wouldn’t be fair to peg a legacy on eight years of leadership of a nation, but I’m going take a stab at where the discussion may go.
Domestically, some would like him remembered for Hurricane Katrina, No Child Left Behind or maybe privatizing social security. They are all items the media and the Democratic party are framing as failures of Federal Government response to a disaster, an unfunded mandate placing an unwarranted burden on teachers and an unwise attempt to rework a system that’s doing its job.
A half century down the road, people may look at it as a hurricane that exposed the dangers of having a city built below sea level with incompetent state and local leadership.
No Child Left Behind may be the first step to addressing a failing American public education system.
And when Social Security goes bankrupt 20 years down the road, Bush could seem like a visionary to the millions who aren’t getting anything out of the retirement fund they paid into. Right now, it’s fodder for attacks by pundits, which isn’t a legacy. It’s just a mechanism to further a political agenda.
Abroad, Bush started two fronts in his war on terrorism, took a hard stance toward Iran and North Korea’s attempt to develop nuclear weapons and developed an unprecedented American presence in Africa.
On one hand, the wars have dragged on longer and longer, costing more in American lives and resources, Iran has the capability to produce weapons and North Korea just launched a long range rocket.
The flip side is the millions of lives that may be saved by American help in treating disease and helping to develop African societies and a successful state in Iraq. Afghanistan could put pressure on dictators in the region, and eventually Iran and North Korea may give in to the international isolation.
Regardless of the light it’s portrayed in, Bush’s response to September 11 will be a cornerstone of his administration’s legacy. He did enact sweeping changes at home and take a hard line on extremism abroad. Arguments on civil liberties aside and whether or not this has been a positive thing — we were safe at home for the remainder of his term.
Bush wasn’t perfect by any measure and his legacy of his decisions will be years in the making. He can take comfort in knowing that Harry Truman left office with a 22 percent approval rating and is now remembered as one of the greatest presidents the United States ever had.
Fifty years can seem like an eternity, but time is the only way to accurately measure a presidency.