What is George Bush's Legacy?

[dusqi]

Now that George Bush's presidential reign is almost over, I wonder what history will remember George Bush for. Where do you think he ranks in the history of good/bad presidents of the USA?

 

 

 

Here are some of the larger events that I recall from the last 8 years:

 

 

 

- 2001 Indicates that he will not ratify the Kyoto Protocol. Now 8 years on the existence of climate change is conclusively demonstrated to most, and oil is far more expensive and is dragging down developed nations' economies

 

- 2001 Leads America through 9/11. Has the highest approval rating of a President in modern history (92%). Signs the Patriot Act

 

- 2001 Sends troops into Afghanistan with UN approval, beginning the "War on Terror"

 

- 2002 Sends troops into Iraq without UN approval

 

- 2002 Establishes Guantanamo Bay to house "Enemy Combatants". Waterboarding and other torture of prisoners occurs. Torture also occurs by US soliders in Iraq detention centres

 

- Dates Unknown? Presides over "extraordinary renditions" where prisoners were transferred to other countries by the CIA where they were subsequently tortured

 

- 2004 is Reelected with a larger electoral college majority.

 

- 2005 Presides over Hurricane Katrina's assault on New Orleans

 

- 2008 Promotes US bank bailout, totaling $700Bn. Averts banking collapse. Has the lowest approval rating of a President in modern history (19%)

 

- 2001-2008 Doubles aid to Africa from $10Bn in 2001 to $23Bn in 2006

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As you can tell, I'm not a fan of President Bush. What do you think his legacy will be though? What do you remember about his term in office? What has he done or not done that will have a significant impact in the future? Many of my recollections are international in nature, as I live in the UK, so I am genuinely interested in what Americans remember.

[Nenga]

People will remember him for the economic bailout, obviously. Bad news for him, he will go down as a president that led our economy down into the dumps.

[Ginger_Warrior]

I don't think the bailout will be what he's remembered for. Dubya's two terms were dominated by one thing and one thing only - the War on Terror. Whether or not you agree with his stance is another matter. That, and all its various global consequences, is what he'll be remembered in the History books for.

 

 

 

Foreign policy.

[warri0r45]

I think you're right, Ginger. His response to 9/11 with the patriot act and war on terror will be his lasting legacy as president.

 

 

 

Second is probably his response to the economic crisis, followed by Katrina.

[dsavi]

Indeed, without question it will be the war on terror. And bushisms.

[Lenticular_J]

I'm sure people will remember him for different things in a hundred years than we will in twenty. But I don't remember much anyways. I've been too young most of his term(s).

[Mylez]

He will probably be remembered for 9/11, the Iraq war, and for his gorilla-like mannerisms ;)

 

 

 

[warren211]

Mark my words, one day a creative history book will have a footnote about bush saying how he sparked an internet fad known as Bushisms. That will make my day.

 

 

 

As Ginger said, foreign policy will be the biggest because that pretty much was the definition of his entire term. The books will definitely note how much his ratings change, the fact that he went from an all-time high of 92% to an all time low of 19% is incredible. And rather than political cartoons to teach a lesson about the president, the history books of the future will have motifakes and fail pics like the one above. :|

[llcoolguy972]

Mark my words, one day a creative history book will have a footnote about bush saying how he sparked an internet fad known as Bushisms. That will make my day.

 

 

 

As Ginger said, foreign policy will be the biggest because that pretty much was the definition of his entire term. The books will definitely note how much his ratings change, the fact that he went from an all-time high of 92% to an all time low of 19% is incredible. And rather than political cartoons to teach a lesson about the president, the history books of the future will have motifakes and fail pics like the one above. :|

 

 

 

The history of memes: The rise and fall of motifakes.

[nickeley102]

 

Foreign policy.

 

or lack thereof

[unknownmasterofnothing]

War on iraq and one of the dumbest presidents.

[stevepole]

I'm sure people will remember him for different things in a hundred years than we will in twenty. But I don't remember much anyways. I've been too young most of his term(s).

 

 

 

So what for like the first term and a half you were to young?

 

 

 

I'll remember him for 9/11, war in iraq, Katrina, and all the other chaotic messes he's had to go through.

[sarg1010]

As the best president ever :thumbsup: He is stupid... but being elected twice shows that all of us are stupider :twss:

 

 

 

But yea, 9/11, then the war, then his iconic laugh... "heh heh...."

[Range_This11]

 

So what for like the first term and a half you were to young?

 

 

 

I'll remember him for 9/11, war in iraq, Katrina, and all the other chaotic messes he's had to go through.

 

He didn't have go through the War in Iraq, he PUT himself and the American public through that.

 

 

 

I think he'll mostly be remembered for being a complete imbecile and the worst public speaker on record.

[deloriagod]

the worst public speaker on record.

 

 

 

Honestly, I'd be willing to give him a third term on the condition that he had to write all of his own speeches. I would seriously enjoy the next 4 years haha.

[Range_This11]

 

Honestly, I'd be willing to give him a third term on the condition that he had to write all of his own speeches. I would seriously enjoy the next 4 years haha.

 

Gobble gobble!

[megakiller32]

People give the people in charge a rough ride.

 

Most people complain about them, and when their leader of choice is elected, like sheep, they'll follow the next big guy and complain about thier previous choice.

 

Most people don't seem to like Bush much, but I love his speeches. He has given us endless laughs with his "Bushisms." \

[krisc6]

I dont think hes an idiot, the media miscontrue what he says after his first few infamous speaches "My fellow pelicans!"

 

His legacy will be the war on terror, thats what consumes the mindshare whenever he is mentioned.

[Range_This11]

I dont think hes an idiot, the media miscontrue what he says after his first few infamous speaches "My fellow pelicans!"

 

 

#-o

 

That's funny, because 81% of Americans think he is.

[ThurinEthir]

He'll most likely be remembered as the president who had power during 9/11, and for his reactions to it.

 

And for nuke-you-lar.

[dangeresque]

He might not have been the best president, but he has dealt with more stuff in his years as president than most can say, and he survived through it.

[Saru Inc]

1) Obama voted for the bailiout, also.

 

2) NO TERRORISTS ATTACKS IN A VERY, VERY LONG TIME. (besides minor ones)

 

3) Finally ended Hussein's power.

 

 

 

 

 

Also, side note: Many scientists agree, that the kyoto protocol (For those who do not know, it was a Japanese thing to lower Co2 emissions, to help stop global warming) is infact, quite useless.

 

 

 

 

 

[hide=]Well, the first thing to figure out is whether what we humans do causes global warming, Well, the earth and its plant life, including trees, plants and others, all release around 200 billion tons of CO2, but it absorbs it all back. However, humans only release 7 billion tons of CO2, a small fraction of what the earth naturally releases, (Global Warming). So as we see, if the earth releases that much CO2, then is the amount we release from cars, aerosol cans etc. isnt really all that much for the earth to absorb certainly if it can absorb 200 billion. What is 7 billion more compared to that? Even if it is a lot, some scientists say that too much CO2 isnt bad because the plants consume it

 

 

 

However, when the nations came together to announce the reduction of CO2 emissions in the Kyoto Protocol, what some scientists realized is that following the Kyoto Protocol, will cost the U.S. hundreds of billions and may not even be effective. Seeing as it may not matter what we do if it doesnt to affect the heat change. In fact, some researchers believe that the consequences of attempting to slow global warming may be worse than the impact of the warming itself. Attempts to control greenhouse gas emissions could end up hurting the worlds economy (Introduction to Global Warming). So is it better to destroy the economy for something that may not even happen, or just sit and see what will happen?[/hide]

 

 

 

So, that's from my research paper last year, you can skip most of it, the only important parts are the quotes.

[user1991]

1) Obama voted for the bailiout, also.

 

2) NO TERRORISTS ATTACKS IN A VERY, VERY LONG TIME. (besides minor ones)

 

3) Finally ended Hussein's power.

 

 

 

 

 

Also, side note: Many scientists agree, that the kyoto protocol (For those who do not know, it was a Japanese thing to lower Co2 emissions, to help stop global warming) is infact, quite useless.

 

 

 

 

 

[hide=]Well, the first thing to figure out is whether what we humans do causes global warming, Well, the earth and its plant life, including trees, plants and others, all release around 200 billion tons of CO2, but it absorbs it all back. However, humans only release 7 billion tons of CO2, a small fraction of what the earth naturally releases, (Global Warming). So as we see, if the earth releases that much CO2, then is the amount we release from cars, aerosol cans etc. isnt really all that much for the earth to absorb certainly if it can absorb 200 billion. What is 7 billion more compared to that? Even if it is a lot, some scientists say that too much CO2 isnt bad because the plants consume it

 

 

 

However, when the nations came together to announce the reduction of CO2 emissions in the Kyoto Protocol, what some scientists realized is that following the Kyoto Protocol, will cost the U.S. hundreds of billions and may not even be effective. Seeing as it may not matter what we do if it doesnt to affect the heat change. In fact, some researchers believe that the consequences of attempting to slow global warming may be worse than the impact of the warming itself. Attempts to control greenhouse gas emissions could end up hurting the worlds economy (Introduction to Global Warming). So is it better to destroy the economy for something that may not even happen, or just sit and see what will happen?[/hide]

 

 

 

So, that's from my research paper last year, you can skip most of it, the only important parts are the quotes.

 

 

 

1. He won't be remembered for that.

 

2. .........

 

3. (Under false pretences, by manipulating public opinion with scare tactics and propaganda in order to erode civil liberties, create a climate of fear, and kill hundreds of thousands of people in the process)

 

 

 

Oh and on the scientist note. LOOOOOOOOOOOOOL. In that God thread you seem to dismiss Scientists when they talk about evolution, but as soon as it comes to something that you agree with, they happen to be right then. : =D>

 

 

 

Bush was a terrible president, and you only have yourselves to blame. I don't think we're THAT much better in the UK, sure we're slightly more left, but the labour of today is nothing like the old, worker's labour. Too bad noone is willing to give more left-wing policy a try *sigh*. We have America to thank for that.

 

 

 

Anyway, I'm tired of these American Christian conservatives. The rest of the world hates them and they just don't get why, and they still go on with all this "land of the free, home of the brave" bull when they don't even know the meaning of the concept of freedom.

[Lenticular_J]

Gobble gobble!

 

What nationiality are these "Gobble gobblesians"? Are they [pause, hand coming up] a threat to our great nation?

 

 

 

True, don't be petty.

[Range_This11]

 

2) NO TERRORISTS ATTACKS IN A VERY, VERY LONG TIME. (besides minor ones)

 

 

 

 

According to the FBI, however, between the years of 1980 and 2000, 250 of the 335 incidents confirmed as or suspected to be terrorist acts in the United States were carried out by American citizens.

 

 

 

If you want to get technical, there really have not been any major terrorist attacks in the United States aside from 1993's WTC bombings. Do we credit all the past presidents with keeping terrorism on a low? Besides, most of those presidents did it without sending their country trillions of dollars into debt and killing thousands of American soldiers.

 

 

 

Now for the minor terrorist acts:

 

 

 

[hide=1990s terrorism]# 1993 January 25: CIA Shooting: Mir Aimal Kasi opened fire to cars waiting at the stop light in front of CIA Headquarters in Langley, VA killing two and injuring three others.

 

# 1993 February 26: First World Trade Center bombing killed six and injured 1,000. The attack was carried out by radical Islamist Ramzi Yousef, a member of Al Qaeda.

 

# 1994 December 10: Advertising executive, Thomas J. Mosser, is killed after opening a mail package from the Unabomber, being the second fatality of the mailbomb campaign.

 

# 1995 April 19: Oklahoma City bombing: A truck bomb shattered the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City, killing 168 people-including children playing in the building's day care center. Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols launched the attack as part of the scheme of an anti-government militia.

 

# 1995 April 24: Timber industry lobbyist, Gilbert P. Murray, is the third and final fatal victim of the Unabomber's mailbomb campaign.

 

# 1996 July 27: Centennial Olympic Park bombing by Eric Robert Rudolph occurred in Atlanta, Georgia, during the Atlanta Olympics. One person was killed and 111 injured. In a statement released in 2005 Rudolph said the motive was to protest abortion and the "global socialist" Olympic Movement.

 

# 1997 February 24: 69-year-old Palestinian Ali Abu Kamal opens fire on tourists at an observation deck atop the Empire State Building killing a Danish national and wounding visitors from the United States, Argentina, Switzerland and France before turning the gun on himself. A handwritten note carried by the gunman claims this was a punishment attack against the "enemies of Palestine". His widow claimed he became suicidal after losing $300,000 in a business venture. In a 2007 interview with the New York Daily News his daughter said her mother's story was a cover crafted by the Palestinian Authority and that her father wanted to punish the United States for its support of Israel.

 

# 1999 December 31 An arson fire causes one million dollars in damage and destroys the fourth floor of Michigan State University's Agriculture Hall. In 2008 four people that the government claimed were Earth Liberation Front members were indicted for that incident[/hide]

 

[hide=2000s terrorism]2000-present

 

 

 

* 2001 September 11: September 11, 2001 attacks carried out by Al-Qaeda. Islamic fundamentalists use airplanes to destroy the twin towers of the World Trade Center and heavily damage The Pentagon. A fourth plane crashed prematurely in Pennsylvania.

 

* 2001 September 18: November - 2001 anthrax attacks. Letters tainted with anthrax kill five across the United States, with politicians and media officials as the apparent targets. . On July 31, 2008 Bruce E. Ivins a top biodefense researcher committed suicide. On August 6, 2008 the FBI concluded that Ivins was solely responsible for the attacks and suggested that Ivins wanted to bolster support for a vaccine he helped create and that he targeted two lawmakers because they were Catholics who held pro choice views.

 

* 2001 May 21 The Center for Urban Horticulture at the University of Washington burned. Replacement building cost $7,000,000. Earth Liberation Front members pleads guilty

 

* May 2002 Mailbox Pipe Bomber: Lucas John Helder rigged pipe bombs in private mailboxes to explode when the boxes were opened. He injured 6 people in Nebraska, Colorado, Texas, Illinois, and Iowa. His motivation was to garner media attention so that he could spread a message denouncing government control over daily lives and the illegality of marijuana as well as promoting astral projection.

 

* 2002 July 4: Hesham Mohamed Hadayet, a 41-year-old Egyptian national, kills two Israelis and wounds four others at the El Al ticket counter at Los Angeles International Airport. The FBI concluded this was terrorism, although they found no evidence linking Hadayet to any terrorist group.

 

* October 2002 Beltway Sniper Attacks: During three weeks in October 2002 John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo killed 10 people and critically injured three others in Washington D.C, Baltimore, and Virginia. An earlier spree by the pair had resulted in 3 deaths in Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia, California, Arizona, and Texas to bring the total to 16 deaths. No motivation was given at the trial but evidence presented showed an affinity to the cause of the Islamic Jihad.

 

* 2006 March 05: Mohammed Reza Taheri-azar injured 6 when he drove an SUV into a group of pedestrians at UNC-Chapel Hill to "avenge the deaths or murders of Muslims around the world".

 

* 2006 July 08: Naveed Afzal Haq walked into the Jewish Federation in downtown Seattle, Washington and began shooting after shouting, "I'm a Muslim American; I'm angry at Israel". Haq killed one and wounded five others (three critically).

 

* 2007 October 26: A pair of improvised explosive devices were thrown at the Mexican Consulate in New York City. The fake grenades were filled with black powder and detonated by fuses causing very minor damage. Police were investigating the connection between this and a similar attack against the British Consulate in New York in 2005.

 

* 2008 February: In the first reported incident of animal-rights extremists physically assaulting the family members of animal researchers, six masked activists attempted to force their way into the home of a University of California, Santa Cruz, researcher and injured the researcher's husband.

 

* 2008 March 3: Four multimillion-dollar show homes place in Woodinville, Washington are torched. The Earth Liberation Front is suspected in the fires.

 

* 2008 March 6: A military recruiting station in Times Square was bombed in the early hours resulting in minor damage to the facility. It is believed a simply constructed device was used. Surveillance video that recorded the explosion also captured a bicycle riding man who prior to the blast stopped and walked up to the facility. Police are investigating a possible link between this attack and recent attacks on the Mexican and British consulates in New York. Police are offering a $15000 reward for information that leads to an arrest

 

* 2008 May 4 Multiple nail laden pipe bombs exploded at a Federal Courthouse in San Diego at 1:40 AM causing "considerable damage" to the entrance and lobby and sending shrapnel two blocks away. The F.B.I. is investigating links between this attack and an April 25 explosion at the FedEx building also in San Diego.

 

* 2008 July 27 Jim D. Adkisson opened fire in the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church in Knoxville,Tennessee killing two and injuring seven before being tackled to the ground by congregation members. A note found in his SUV indicated this was intended as a suicide attack and said the church was apparently targeted because of its support of liberal social policies.

 

* 2008 August 2, August 3 University of California-Santa Cruz molecular biologist David Feldheim's home was firebombed. A car belonging to another researcher from that University was destroyed by a firebomb in what is presumed to be related. FBI is investigating incidents as domestic terrorism related to animal rights groups.[/hide]

 

 

 

Whoops! looks like terrorist has DOUBLED since the 1990s.