Bush to join ranks with worst U.S. presidents

Vincent Stigliani/Senior Writer

Move over Buchanon, Harding and Johnson, and make room for the newest enlistee to the presidential wall of shame, George W. Bush.

To much of the country’s relief (not to mention rest of the world’s), we recently witnessed Bush’s last days in office, but how will future historians and books regard his presidency?

Many die-hard Bush fans have blown off the most recent of his low approval ratings as Americans fed up with a few of his policies, unjustly placing blame on Bush.

At the end of Clinton’s eight years in office, even after having an affair and then lying about it to the whole country, he left office with a 65 percent approval rating. It seems as though even with people fed up with his actions, they were able to pragmatically assess his presidency. Bush has left office with the most recent polls showing a 33 percent approval rating, or nearly half that of Clinton’s.

Take a trip down memory lane for a moment and reminisce back on the days at the end of Clinton’s presidency. In 1999 we saw the lowest unemployment rate since 1969. We had respect around the world, listened to the experts rather than big businesses to solve our problems and we were at peace.

Now come back to reality and compare that to what Bush has left in his wake. The unemployment rate has increased by nearly three percent. We have seen a large drop in our respectability around the world, created policy in the interest of big business and have now stretched our military extremely thinly with the fighting of two different wars.

Historians will remember how Constitutional law was broken with Orwellian, warrantless wiretapping. They will recall Bush’s completely inadequate response to Hurricane Katrina, when we saw the immediate results of Bush policy.

Another way to assess his presidency is to view his role in the most recent elections. Bush’s endorsement of McCain became a devil’s kiss. Obama’s main attacking was compairing McCain to Bush, and McCain was more than quick to distance himself from this comparison. It is not a good sign when your name is once that candidates run from.

As my dad’s friend put it, the Bush presidency will be defined by two pictures. First is the image of Bush claiming “Mission Accomplished” from an aircraft carrier. Second will be the image of Bush flying over New Orleans in the Air Force Once, dispassionately viewing the devastation. Only time will show the true effects of his presidency, but for now the name will be attached to failed policy and inept leadership.