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Letters to the Editor

Published Thursday, 22-Jan-2009 in issue 1100

“How does Bush rank as a president? We won’t know until he’s judged from the perspective of two or three decades.”

Dear Editor:

Editorials across the country insist that George W. Bush is one of the worst American Presidents in our nation’s history, albeit scholars know that every President since Washington has been demonized by the public and called the “worst”.

One can beg to differ regarding the Bush Legacy and how he led us through very difficult times. The most challenging fact about the Bush Legacy is how President-elect Obama will “not” abandon many of his policies.

After Sept 11, Bush’s military commitment liberated 50+ million people in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the Obama Administration is not at all likely to walk away from this involvement. Nor will Obama curtail Bush’s sucessful surveillence programs that have kept us safe all these years.

While Bush never found the weapons of mass destruction, Saddam Hussein needs to be the one to be blamed for stupidly misleading the world into thinking he had such weapons. He fooled not only our intelligence agencies but those of every major European nation. Nonetheless, the U.S., Iraq and Afghanistan grew to become allies in the democratic, capitalist movement across the globe.

Furthermore, Bush greatly strengthened U.S. relations with our strong democratic allies: South Korea, Australia, and Japan, and he did so without disturbing our standings with China.

Not to be overlooked is a major plus for this administration. Bush gave more money to the continent of Africa to fight AIDS, promote formal education and economic develpment than any former U.S. president. These policies in the international arena will certainly not be abandoned by the Obama team.

There are also domestic achievements in Bush’s legacy.

His prescription drug benefit for senior citizens is wildly popular and helps to improve health care for the uninsured and the under insured. Obama will not reverse this highly successful reform to our Medicare system

No Child Left Behind is also a successful initiative that improved the test scores of minority students and is well-funded, despite what critics say.

In Bush’s economic stewardship, he cut taxes twice. As a result, the economy expanded for nearly five years after September 11th’s devastating effect on the domestic scene, bringing in more annual revenues to the federal government and at a pace more rapid than during the Clinton years.

Additionally, Bush did not sign the Kyoto Treaty because it would have imposed repressive environmental standards on the United States while giving India and China, two enormous polluters, a pass. Had Bush signed this Treaty, the American economy would have slowed much sooner, and unemployment would have soared.

As for the Supreme Court, Bush accomplished something Presidents Nixon, Reagan and his father did not. He created a conservative majority that will probably last for a few decades at least.

Finally, Bush is the first President to appoint Blacks and Hispanics to top-tier Cabinet positions such as Secretary of State and Attorney General.

How does Bush rank as a president? We won’t know until he’s judged from the perspective of two or three decades. Hindsight forced a sharp upgrading of the presidencies of Harry Truman and Dwight Eisenhower. Given George Bush’s achievements, retrospect may have the same positive effect for him.

Matthew Tsien

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