Given the circumstances of his time, who else thought Bush tried hard?

[The Good]

Given the circumstances of his time, who else thought that Bush tried hard? I for one do, though he is certainly not the greatest president. At most, he was decent for the era of his two terms, some, perhaps many, would put their approval much lower than "decent."

President Bush had it relatively easy to begin with, before the notorious attacks of 9/11/01, soon afterward he took action against the Al-Qaeda and Taliban based in Afghanistan (Operation Enduring Freedom). Now, the war in Afghanistan seemed like a logical choice, given the circumstances of the time, and I believe President Bush was right to carry out the plans. The Iraq war, however, has been, and still is a subject of much more controversy, and one can argue that the invasion of Iraq (the basic agenda was to oust Saddam Hussein from office), was the primary source of his unpopularity (which is probably what he will be most remembered for). I too disagree with Bush on some levels, but I've got to give him his due credit, namely, he has increased the defense and security of the United States. It would have been a natural thing for any president to do, to foster the defense of the land he (supposedly) loves.

There is one good thing (and arguably, those may have been few to the average citizen) that President Bush has done for us recently. He lowered the taxes, though this tax-cut will only last for two years. President Obama (which he will be by that time) recently stated that he most likely will not make any plans to renew the tax-cut. This isn't a thread specifically about Obama, but I wanted to briefly mention his position on it.

President Bush's time is almost up, whether that pleases you, or not, but surely there must be some respect for the good things he has done to help the United States of America in such a chaotic era. I know that I could not have done much better than Bush, perhaps even worse, if I were pitted in the same situations. Even before he was first elected, he had political experience worth a number of years.

[C-Rob]

I think he should have waited a little while before flipping on the military to invade. I think he'll be remembered as a Warhawk pretty much, following in his father's footsteps like a fool. I still think there's something fishy about both Bush's invading Iraq. OF course I think there's something fishy about the terrorist attacks as well. Not full blown conspiracy theory, but there's soething odd about it. OH and I'll always remember him for the utter FAIL known as No Child Left Behind.

[Kiljan Arslan]

no tell that to me and my fifth cousin we both had it alot harder.

[touchmaster]

I do, I now one thing for sure, he made the US a lot safer than it was, I'll give him that.

I love how bush gives speeches, <3.

[The Good]

OH and I'll always remember him for the utter FAIL known as No Child Left Behind.

It was a nice idea on paper, but poorly executed.

I do, I now one thing for sure, he made the US a lot safer than it was, I'll give him that.

The modern airport security system is a good example of that. Before, it was a lot more. . . . for lack of a better word, "relaxed."

[Martin N]

Thats a load of bull, are you american ? have you actually lived in the us in the past 8 years ?, he capitulated on our fears, he banged on about nukes and osama bin laden to make us go to war, he banged on about terrorism so he could wire tap us and arrest us without us knowing with the patriot act, hes the worst president ever, its gotten to the point where no one believes what he says, whenever he talks its just a load of he has done nothing to help us, i mean how dare you ? he said it himself he was above the law and the constitution was just a piece of paper to him, he said this when congress refused to pass the patriot act, im sorry but hes just a dictator in all but name.

Basically, all Dubya has done is pave the way for a police state, look up every controversial law hes passed, everyone of them is involving "terrorism", patriot act, defense authorization act, homeland security, all this is to use against us, not terrorists, just a load of , and obama will defend him when he gets out 0f office, corrupt bastards, Terrorism my ass.

[Heinz Guderian]

President Bush has not been good for America or her allies.

[bushbush]

no, his policy mattered. his choices mattered. The problems today aren't inevitable. His decisions caused those problems. And his legacy will reflect that.

[C-Rob]

True, the Patriot Act is another disgrace and a thick black mark that will be probably actually the CENTER PIECE of not just a few peoples' biography on him.

[VALIS]

George Bush mucked up a lot of chances and potential but he did damn well directly after 9/11 and Al Queda has mostly been obliterated due to his aggressiveness, this economic crisis is imo beyond his control and he did the things to rectify but he should or his advisors should have noticed the problems earlier and nipped the problem in the bud before it started in earnest. Iraq was a disaster that in retrospect we should never have gone into, but he didn't quit, he toughed it out and gave the commanders the tools they needed to win and supported Petreaus. Without Bushs support of the surge and of Petreaus Iraq would not have recovered and be on the mend like it is now.

I would love to eventually know what the motives for going into Iraq where. Depending on the outcome will greatly alter my view of Bush. If he innocently with all his conviction believed the intelligence reports from Iraq and was misled into going in there then my view on him will not be so harsh.
But if he and his administration purposely lied and invaded Iraq for malicious hidden motives then he deserves all the wrath of bad luck and karma brought upon him and investigation by the international criminal court.

But since I believe in innocent until proven guilty, I will give him the benefit of the doubt.
He has had a tremendous amount of troubles to deal with, and done great in tackling some (Iraq) and worse in others (Economy) but again, the economic situation is, I think, out of his hands.

On a general level, he was very brash and black-or-white person, he had no inbetween, no moderation when dealing with international issues, he definitley damaged relations abroad by being so abrasive with his allies.

Overall, I'd say he was a pretty average President who did try his damn best for his country and failed on occasion but he had to deal with such extreme situations.

[Martin N]

Duke, Bush himself admitted we didnt go in into iraq for 9/11 or al queda, we went in there to give them freedom supposedly, lol what a joke -Video

He is a failure because A, After 9/11 he said saddam was linked with 9/11 all the time, and iraq was the place of terrorists etc,

But in the video i posted up there, it clearly shows him saying iraq has nothing whatsoever to do with 9/11, Man i love this guy so much o.0 He was taking advantage of our fear, and love for revenge, he spoke so much about saddam and terrorists and nuclear bombs and chemical weapons, but it now turns out, it had nothing to do with 9/11 LOL

"To justify the war, Bush informed Congress on March 19, 2003 that acting against Iraq was consistent with “continuing to take the necessary actions against international terrorists and terrorist organizations, including those nations, organizations, or persons who planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001.�"

[VALIS]

Duke, Bush himself admitted we didnt go in into iraq for 9/11 or al queda, we went in there to give them freedom supposedly, lol what a joke -Video

"To justify the war, Bush informed Congress on March 19, 2003 that acting against Iraq was consistent with “continuing to take the necessary actions against international terrorists and terrorist organizations, including those nations, organizations, or persons who planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001.�"

I believe the main reason Bush went into Iraq was to find WMD's that threatened America. Obviously when none were found the goal posts were moved abit as to why the invasion initially took place.

[Martin N]

Nah, Loads of other nations, like korea iran russia etc, who are hostile to us has nukes, It must of been a more sinister reason than that, Or a more obvious one such as oil, Oil is much more than money, its a monopoly, and iraq would of been a nice forward base to take over that said monopoly our troops = cannon fodder What we can positiveley say is, that iraq had nothing to do with 9/11, weve been strung along and used, and even when we found out about it, we did nothing, We are a bunch of pussys

[Gauvin]

Nah, Loads of other nations, like korea iran russia etc, who are hostile to us has nukes, It must of been a more sinister reason than that

Does there really? You really believe invading North Korea, or Russia is more militarily feasible than invading Iraq? Is that your expert opinion?

[Twfan55]

Bush failed the American people, this administration brought us an 11 Trillion Dollar Debt, Failing Economy, Demoralized Army, Destroyed International Reputation, a Dying Middle Class, and the loss of more of our constitutional rights. Bush is not a Conservative and I am ashamed to be affiliated in any way with this president.

[Marie Louise von Preussen]

The Bush Admnistration was an utter disgrace. No wonder why the GOP almost got bakrupt during these elections; it will take a long time for the Bush stigma to pass.

[Big War Bird]

I think it is fair to say that 9/11 consumed his presidency. He came into office with respectable reform platform of lowering taxes, improving trade relations, fixing Social Security and did sincerely beleive he could raise the politics out of the gutter.

[Mithiras]

I will miss his antics.

[Kanaric]

The problem with Bush is that he DID try hard, he tried hard to squeeze as much money out of the US as possible.

I bet that after hes out of office common goods in the various PXes in Iraq will probably go down by like $10.

[The Good]

You know, my favourite "Bushism" is this quote from the man himself:

"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we." -President George W. Bush

I wonder if he knew what he was actually saying that moment?