George W. Bush
He came into office on January 20 of 2001 and was re-elected again in 2004. The first few months of his Presidency were relatively quiet, but eight months into his first term, that all changed the morning of Tuesday, September 11, 2001, with the attack on the New York Twin Towers and Pentagon and the passenger plane in Pennsylvania which killed 2996, mostly Americans.
He came into office with a cloud hanging over his head because ultimately the election of 2000 had to be decided by the Supreme Court ruling in favor of Bush over I-invented-the-internet Al Gore. Yet, after the 911 attack, I heard even Democrats murmuring that they were relieved to have George in office rather than Al.
In short order we were at war with the Hell-hole called Afghanistan. We made short work of the conquest of the country. However, it was clear that we had not developed a workable plan for the follow up.
Then on January of 2002, we attacked Iraq which had been a thorn in our sides ever since the Iraqi forces were driven out of Kuwait by George’s dad, H. W. Bush, with the Gulf War.
To this day, I’m not sure why George W. Bush decided to attack Iraq in January of 2002. I know that Hussein had violated many of the agreements at the end of the Gulf War. The primary reason given by the Bush administration was that Hussein had weapons of mass destruction---primarily nerve gas. Perhaps it was because Hussein had openly threatened to kill his father. Perhaps it was because many Americans felt that George H. W. Bush should have pursued the Iraqi forces into Bagdad and removed Hussein from office. Perhaps it was because the United States had amassed enormous forces in the vicinity, and he felt that this was the time to strike.
Once the American forces were unable to find evidence of weapons of mass destruction, the Democrats claimed that George W. Bush had lied to them. I’ve never believed that he lied. Not only did our CIA but all Western nations’ intelligence services believed Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. I believe Hussein did have the weapons, but moved them out to be stored in Syria. This accusation that Bush lied to the American people has been repeated so often that people have just come to accept it as a fact. Even Donald Trump accused Bush of lying. Before the end of George’s second term in office, he was able to bring to bay the insurgent forces in Iraq under the guidance of General Petraeus.
For most of Bush’s term, he was under attack for one reason or another. His handling of the Katrina disaster in New Orleans and Mississippi were widely criticized. In truth the main problem was the Governor of Louisiana and Mayor Negin of New Orleans.
Finally, his second term in office came to an end just after the bottom fell out of the economy.
Of course, he was followed by President Barack Obama who used President Bush as a whipping boy for most of his eight years in office. No matter the circumstance, “It was Bush’s fault.”
All those years that George was the President, I felt safe. All those years he was criticized for butchering the English language, I understood every word he uttered. Throughout the attacks on him by the Obama administration, he has held his tongue, maintained his sense of humor, and has gone about his business which often includes activities supporting our troops.
Today, he would probably be ranked as one of our worst Presidents. Time and reflection will be witness to a more positive reassessment.
Thanks, George, for your service to the country. Enjoy your golden years in dignity as your father has.
enough