What Was George Bush's Presidency A Failure

Political Science 111
Thursday 7pm
Research Question 2 Overall George Bush’s presidency was a failure. Although many people may not agree with this statement since he served 2 terms and was only the 4th republican ever to do so. George Bush left office with the largest surplus deficit in American history. His record of job creation, personal income and stock market performance was one of the worst in American history as well. Bush was also famous for declaring “Bring ‘em on”, directed towards al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden, but failed to catch him. Bush failed to secure Afghanistan as well, making it the longest war in U.S. history; costing the country billions of dollars. George Bush also introduced the unconstitutional practice of adding
When President Bush first came into office his approval rating was up to 90% in 2001 and it dropped all the way to 25% in 2008. The reason Bush’s approval rating dropped so much is mostly because of the way he handled the war in Iraq and they way he handled the hurricane Katrina efforts. The decision to invade Iraq may be the most controversial moment in Bush’s presidency. The war drastically made the United States weaker and much poorer. The war was predicted to cost around 50-60 billion dollars, but that number is up to 2.2 trillion dollars and still rising because of interest payments. The two main goals for the war in Iraq was to eliminate two things: Al Qaeda and any weapons of mass destruction. Neither of those things could be found in that country. Perhaps the only good thing to come out of that war was the killing of Saddam Hussein. The war also took a toll on the troops. Over 31,000 U.S. soldiers have been wounded in Iraq and the cost of providing medical care to veterans has been doubled because of this, making it difficult to provide for the ones who served. The way bush handled the travesty of hurricane Katrina was highly criticized. The failure of the government to respond effectively to the hurricane was perhaps Bush’s biggest setback as president. Howard Dean, outgoing chairman of the Democratic National Committee says, “Before Katrina, everyone, including America’s friends and enemies, believed if something awful happened in the world, you could call in the Americans and they’d fix it”. The way the government responded in delayed fashion to the hurricane killed that assumption. Kenneth Walsh of U.S. news stated, “Bush seemed slow off the mark as millions of people suffered, and he created a lasting image of isolation when the White House released photos of him, a solitary figure in his cushy seat, looking out a window on Marine One at the hurricane devastation far below”.