George W Bush: America's Worst President?

At the end of his presidency, George W Bush's legacy was scarred by negative public opinion and numerous ratings as the worst presidency in history by well respected historians. While I firmly stood by this conclusion, now I can't help but confess that the timing of the "worst President" claim was a bit immature. About four years after his departure from office I believe now is a more appropriate time to judge President Bush's leadership in the context of the history of the American presidency. 

When assessing a president, it is essential to answer a series of questions. How effective was the president's leadership style? What were his foreign policy victories or mistakes? What were his domestic policy victories or mistakes? How did he handle the challenges presented to him during the time of his tenure? Did he inspire a narrative with the public? Most importantly, did he leave the presidency with the nation better off than when he started?  

Bush's leadership style was top dow oriented and he lacked tolerance for details. Bush liked to make decisions based on his ideals as opposed to facts. The Iraq War provided the best showcase of Bush's leadership style. During cabinet meetings Bush clearly sided with the Defense Department and the CIA's vague certainty that Saddam Hussein possessed WMDs. The actors in the theatre of this decision for war were far from coherent. Secretary of State Colin  Powell contributed a strong dissenting voice. In the end Bush made the decision for war despite the lack of hard facts and lack of accordance amongst the national security council. In making this decision, I believe that President Bush primarily relied on his relationship with God to assure that what he was doing was right. 

In assessing leadership style we must also identify the president's world view. President Bush grew up in a privileged family and for most of his life had very little sense of purpose. He was an average student in college, quit numerous jobs in the oil business, lost his bid for congressional office, and poorly managed the Texas Rangers  baseball team. Family rivalry complicated Bush's early life. His father had a very successful political career which led him to the presidency in 1988-1992. His brother Jeb was considered the most likely to serve as his father's political portage. Furthermore, George W Bush's life was marred by alcohol abuse until he became a born again Christian and gave up alcohol in 1986. After being elected governor of Texas and later President of the USA, I believe George W Bush had a deeply religious world view combined with a personal objective to prove himself to his family and the world. This is what influenced his "I am the Decider" leadership style. 

Ultimately President Bush's leadership style says little about his rating amongst other presidents. Bush's leadership style was shared by good presidents such as Ronald Reagan and Abe Lincoln and bad presidents such as Richard Nixon alike. Sometimes a bold sense of confidence the president holds for his convictions and values is exactly what the country needs in a time of crisis. In the end, leadership style is assessed by the results.

So what of the results? In the domestic realm, President Bush yielded little. There were only four major domestic policy victories, the Bush tax cuts, Medicare D, No Child Left Behind, and the Patriot Act. There were numerous failed legislative attempts such as the privatization of Social Security and comprehensive Immigration Reform. The Bush tax cuts were enacted to encourage economic growth, but mostly they contributed to higher income inequality, greatly benefiting the wealthy. They did little in terms increasing middle class income or creating jobs. Instead, by 2009, these tax cuts left the nation almost $2 trillion in debt. Medicare D, a provision in Medicare to provide prescription coverage for seniors, contributed $180 billion dollars in debt by 2009. Combined with the Iraq War, Afghanistan, Homeland  Security and an unprecedented increase in Defense Spending, $5.1 trillion was added to the national debt during Bush's presidency. 

The Patriot Act represented a tyrannical government response to crisis. Following 9/11, the nation had become overwhelmed by hatred, fear, and anger. Instead of inspiring a narrative upholding the freedom from fear, President Bush actively sought to enslave the American public with fear. The Patriot Act essentially erased any sense of right to privacy. All Americans are now under the suspicion of the Department of Homeland Security. In my assessment, the Bush Administration failed to respond to the challenges that were presented to it during the period of the president's tenure. Members of the Administration, especially Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, and Karl Rove acted with a sense of opportunism to advance their own power and interests during a time of national uncertainty. In the end it was about ideology as opposed to national security and the protection of liberty. Dissenting voices were labeled as traitors and America was sharply divided into Blue and Red, liberal and conservative, Democrat and Republican. "Either you're with us or you are with the terrorists," as the president said.

As for foreign policy, President Bush entered office with promising goals, none of which were accomplished. Bush wanted to focus on Latin America in his foreign policy and engage China and Russia as rivals as opposed to partners. Following 9/11, the focus became an undefined War on Terrorism with no boundaries, no limits, and no conclusion. Such an abuse of power advanced an image of belligerent hegemony to the world regarding American power. During the 1990s, America was popular and respected everywhere and our cultural soft power equaled the superiority of our hard military power. That moment of unipolarity was squandered by the War on Terror and later the Iraq War. Unlike Vietnam, there was no geopolitical reason for invading Iraq. Yes the US had a strained history with the Hussein regime, Iraq was a threat to regional stability, and Iraq contained large oil reserves that could be cut off from the global market as an economic threat.  But none of these factors related to the War on Terror or 9/11. The reason for war itself was poorly crafted to the American people. First we went to war to prevent Saddam from making and using WMDs. Then we went to war for the freedom of the Iraqi people to live in a Democracy that we would help set up. Two incredibly different goals, two incredibly different missions that entailed incredibly different obligations from the US. The world responded with destain for America's action. Time and time again, Bush soiled the image of American integrity to the people of the world. Instead of forging new policies  with Latin America and Asia, foreign policy during the Bush Administration focused exclusively on the Middle East, an area of the world the US has no business bothering with. 

After reviewing Bush's presidency, we must ask: did he leave the presidency with the nation better off than when he started? Not at all. Bush entered the presidency with a balanced budget, a relatively peaceful world, a strong economy, and a confident public. When he finished his tenure, he left the nation the great recession, two wars, the largest amount of debt in terms of unneeded government spending in our history, draconian executive precedents such as the Patriot Act (which his predecessor has unfortunately refused to repeal), a loss of American appeal worldwide, and worst of all an angry and divided American public. George W Bush is certainly one of the worst presidents in American history. But is it fair to call him the worst? 

In the modern era there are only two presidents that are viewed with as much negativity as George W Bush, Richard Nixon and Jimmy Carter. Are either of them worse than Bush? Nixon is viewed as a bad president due to the audacity of his abuse of executive power and privilege during such instances as the Watergate Scandal and the invasion of Cambodia. However, it is important to note that there were plenty of positive aspects in the Nixon Presidency. Nixon's tenacious leadership style passed the Environmental Protection Act and ended the Vietnam War. His diplomatic ability and partnership with Henry Kissinger opened China to the world and started nuclear disarmament agreements with Russia. Nixon has a split image of bad and good but I don't think he was worse than George W Bush. 

Jimmy Carter's story can be characterized as a political tragedy. Carter was president during a period of national anxiety due to Vietnam, Watergate, and the OPEC Energy Crisis. His foreign policy was marred by the Iranian Hostage Crisis but positively enhanced by the Camp David Accords. Ultimately Carter, while seen as a failed president, is a lot like President Hoover. Both were good men who just couldn't personally face the monumental challenges presented to them during their tenure. Ultimately they needed a Reagan or an FDR to clean up the mess after them. Furthermore, Jimmy Carter's legacy as an ex president far exceeds any ex president except for perhaps Bill Clinton. President Bush on the other hand has resorted to walling himself off from the world at his Texas ranch to escape the embarrassment of his presidency. Bush didn't even speak at the 2012 Republic National Convention. Therefore I don't think Jimmy Carter is a worse president than George W Bush. 

Are their any other presidents that qualify for a rating lower than George W Bush? I believe so yes. Franklin Pierce and James Buchanan both let the country fester with civil unrest over the slave issue thereby allowing the ideological rift between the North and South to widen. The lack of action or inspiration for unity in both of these presidencies would later lead to the Civil War. Andrew Jackson, albeit a great general, was a terrible president. Besides being the nation's first populist president, he destroyed the nation's finances by resolving the national bank, violated states rights by calling the national army to attack South Carolina for nullifying a tariff, and forced thousands of Native Americans off their lands in the trail of tears. Ulysses S Grant, another great general but bad president, was an irresponsible alcoholic unfit for leadership. He let his administration be run by opportunists and flatterers. Warren G Harding and Calvin Coolidge lived by the governing motto that the government that governs least governs best. The results were scandals such as Tea Pot Dome and irresponsible business transactions and investments that led to the Great Depression. Other than those examples, I can't think of any other president worse than George W Bush. With that, I will say, may history have mercy on his soul.