Whether or not Rove told Bush not to answer his critics, it was ultimately Bush’s decision to respond or not. He is accountable, not the adviser ( Rove) he picked.
Bush is also accountable for the doubling of the national debt under his watch. Yes, during the last 2 years the Democrat Congress shares the blame. However Bush did not use his veto power to reign in spending during his 8 years. He also added significantly to federal education spending.
Federal Reserve Chairman and destroyer of the dollar Ben Bernanke is part of the G.W. Bush legacy. The decision to bail out the banks in 2008 was his as was the decision to appoint Goldman Sachs Chairman Henry Paulson Secretary of the Treasury. Timothy Geithner was appointed head of the NY Federal Reserve during the Bush administration. Bernanke, Paulson, and Geithner were Bush’s managers of the financial crisis. Every decision they made protected their Wall Street banking buddies at the expense of the taxpayer. TARP was their creation and part of the legacy. Crony capitalism ruled during the Bush administration.
Homeland Security and the Patriot Act are legacies of Mr. Bush. “Islam is the religion of peace” is a legacy. John Roberts on the Supreme Court is a legacy. Harriet Myers on the Court was almost a legacy.
Bush failed to secure the border and promoted amnesty for illegals. The first gun running with the cartels occurred during the Bush administration. He failed to take a tough line with China on trade contributing to the wholesale theft of US intellectual property and military secrets as well as the continued deindustrialization of the US economy that began during his father’s administration. China paid no price for the downing of a US plane early in his administration. These are all part of the legacy.
Two wars wasting thousands of American lives and over a trillion dollars of additional debt are part of the legacy. The end is the same as Vietnam
A shattered economy, a decade of decline in household income for the average American family for the first time in US history, doubling of the national debt, millions of illegal immigrants, the depreciation of the dollar, a nuclear North Korea, and two lost wars are the Bush legacy. Yes, his successor much worse, but Bush was a poor leader and a bad president. He was a progressive globalist statist and crony capitalist, not a conservative. A lover of liberty and the Constitution would never have created a homeland security department nor would he have requested the Patriot Act. He left the nation in much worse shape than it was at the beginning of his 8 years and he set the stage for the disaster we have today. If he is truly proud of his legacy then he is a fool.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing, ain't it!
Just to add on the economy and banks, Bush pushed (and bragged about) many home-ownership policies for poor minorities with bad credit, like no more down payment required, that got him votes in 2004 but greatly contributed to the problems in 2007 and 2008 and many of those who voted for him lost those same houses and blamed the GOP for it and still do.
Excellent post.
Myers, looking back that was pretty egregious huh? But I defended it! LOL
Everyone (or almost) loved Roberts. But it proved to be an inauspicious choice and that really hurts what litle positive legacy Bush left. Now it’s just Alito and little else.
4 years with both Houses of Congress, a wasted oppurtunity.