"It turns out," he said, "this isn't one of the presidencies where you ride off into the sunset."
What matters to me is that I did not compromise my soul to be a popular guy. - George W. Bush
NVDL: Seems he compromised his country's soul (4200 of them) because he didn't compromise and listen to better advice than he was listening to most of the time.
One thing that can be said in the man's favour is that America hasn't been attacked since September 11. But few would agree that America is 'safer' now than it was before 2001.
That's fine for history, but people lead their lives and make their judgments in real time. And it was one of Bush's heroes, Ronald Reagan, who crystallized the way modern presidents are judged: Are people better off than they were when the president took office?
Based on that standard, the Bush report card is mixed at best. It is abysmal at worst.
This is his tenure: eight years bracketed by the worst terrorist attack in U.S. history and the worst economic collapse in three generations. In between came two wars, two Supreme Court appointments, a tough re-election, sinking popularity, big legislative wins and defeats, an ambitious effort to combat AIDS, a meltdown of the housing market, a diminishing U.S. reputation abroad, and more power invested in Dick Cheney than any vice president in history.
Many of his original campaign promises are dust. Sept. 11, 2001, changed everything.
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