Bush and Buchanan, Racing to the Bottom in a Photo Finish
Gail Collins’s column made a bit of joke out of it, but the present situation does seem to make a pretty good argument for a parliamentary system where the rejected chief executive would be immediately out after an election and the new one could start governing immediately. Luckily for us, Obama already has started acting more like a president than Bush ever did, and on YouTube no less. Collins still has Bush in the second-worst slot, and there I think I might have to disagree:
In happier days, Bush may have nurtured hopes of making it into the list of America’s mediocre presidents, but somewhere between Iraq and Katrina, that goal became a mountain too high. However, he might still have a chance to avoid the absolute bottom of the barrel, a spot currently occupied by James Buchanan, at least in my opinion. Buchanan nailed down The Worst President title in the days between Abraham Lincoln’s election and inauguration, when the Southern states began seceding and Buchanan, after a little flailing about, did absolutely nothing. “Doing nothing is almost the worst thing a president can do,” said the historian Michael Beschloss.
I doubt this is an original thought with me, but there are actually far worse things that a president could do than nothing. For instance, attacking and occuying another nation for years, with essentially no provocation and on the most flimsy of evidence — Bush did that largely on his own, sui generis. Buchanan came into office with the sectional crisis in full swing, a situation to which he made his contributions, certainly, but one that predated his administration and probably outstripped the ability of any Democratic president of that period (when the Democrats depended heavily on southern votes) to adequately address. Buchanan and Bush were about equal in their feckless responses to other disasters on their watch, but I suspect that Hurricane Katrina and Great Depression II will be much better remembered than the North Carolina hurricane and economic Panic of 1857.
[...] Bush and Buchanan, Racing to the Bottom in a Photo Finish Gail Collins’s column made a bit of joke out of it, but the present situation does seem to make a pretty good argument for a parliamentary system where the rejected chief executive would be immediately out after an election and let the new one start governing. Luckily for us, Obama already has started acting like a president than Bush ever did, and on YouTube no less. Collins still has Bush in the second-worst slot, and there I think I might have to disagree there: In happier days, Bush may ha [...]
Pingback by George Bush On Best Political Blogs » Bush and Buchanan, Racing to the Bottom in a Photo Finish — November 24, 2008 @ 2:27 am
While I would classify myself among some of Bush’s biggest “non-fans,” I think the question of his long term legacy is still very much up for grabs.
Truman was extraordinarily unpopular at the time he left office; however, his legacy has been remembered favorably in retrospect- and now is remembered as one of the top presidents. I think the declaration of Bush as the worst presidents in our nation’s long history is a bit reactionary, especially seeing as how we’re still living it. No one in the 1940′s probably foresaw Truman’s resurgence either.
Comment by Aaron — November 24, 2008 @ 2:01 pm
It’s a bit early to evaluate Bush’s presidency- and declare him among the nation’s worst. For example, Truman was almost universally disliked when he left office- and in retrospect Historians and Biographers have been taken a rather sympathetic interpretation of his presidency- so much so now he’s widely considered one of the nation’s better presidents.
As much as I’ve been angry about how Bush has handled the last 8 years, I think it’s far too early to begin speculating on how these years will be recalled by historians a century from now.
Comment by Aaron — November 24, 2008 @ 2:05 pm
Aaron is quite right about the rush to judgment on Bush, though some presidents invite that, don’t they? Sacreligious as it is for a Missouri resident to say this, I actually wonder whether a re-revaluation of Truman might not be in order at some point. HST has been riding the wave of Cold War era nostalgia for so long, and I have some hopes that our first non-WWII, non-Boomer president may push the country beyond some of those old mental habits.
Comment by Jeff Pasley — November 26, 2008 @ 11:18 am
Думаю стоит добавить в избранное и подписаться на RSS. Спасибо автору
Comment by mirpornoo — October 26, 2009 @ 1:35 am