My President George W. Bush

George Walker Bush is my 43rd president of the United States.

My George Bush Performance Scoring:

Character: Uncompromising. While many do not agree with his judgment, his actions never veered from his words.

Competency: Competent. Despite ridicule from the left, Bush is a Harvard and Yale educated person who demonstrates strong aptitude and reasoning.

Contribution. Mixed. Significant national policy achievements. Foreign policy initiatives remain in flux and inconclusive.

I apply both perspective and empathy when recognizing President Bush's accomplishments and missed opportunities during his political tenure. In my opinion, every planned and prioritized action by the President instantly evaporated when the county was attacked on home soil and thrust into the war on terror. I don't believe any elected official planned or accounted for the horrific attacks of 9/11. This attack on America completely changed the President's agenda and presumably moved him to err on the side of safety for all American's. I acknowledge missteps were taken by our President, however, in the grander scheme I believed he did what he thought was clearly in America's interest and without any self serving bias.

George W. Bush Accomplishments

• In 2001, Bush signed into law a $1.35 trillion tax cut program. Bush argued that unspent government funds should be returned to taxpayers and that such a move stimulate the economy and ward off the threats of recession from Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan. The Bush plan was clearly instrumental in terms of economic growth.
• In 2002, during his State of the Union Address, Bush implemented the global War on Terror. He successfully removed the Taliban from the Afghanistan government and freed Afghanistan as an al-Qaeda terrorism training ground.
• In 2002, Bush enacted the No Child Left Behind Act. This legislation intended to measure and close the gap between rich and poor student performance, deliver options to parents with students in low-performing schools and funnel more federal funding to low-income school districts. Bush also increased funding for the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health and programs which promote science and mathematics for high school students.
• In March 2003, Bush lead the invasion of Iraq. The U.S. military once again proved they can plan and win wars in short order, however, are not equipped to win the peace.
• Bush championed and secured the Medicare Act of 2003. This legislation added prescription drug coverage to Medicare and created the Health Savings Accounts.
• Renewal of the USA PATRIOT Act.
• In 2005, Bush appointed John Glover Roberts, Jr to the Supreme Court.
• In 2006, Bush appointed Samuel Anthony Alito, Jr. to the Supreme Court.
• An extreme foreign policy achievement, however, one noticeably discarded by the media, was the political resolution to Libya's weapons of mass destruction (WMD). In 2003, under the threat of increased economic sanctions by Bush, Muammar al-Gaddafi announced that his nation had stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction and invited international inspectors into Libya to observe and dismantle them. Gaddafi was also one of the first, and the firmest Muslim leaders to denunciate the Al-Qaeda bombers. Prior to the admission of WMD, Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi was quoted as saying the Gaddafi had phoned him and indicated that he was forthcoming more out of fear of being attacked by the U.S. and becoming the next Iraq than economic sanctions. A multiple impetus diplomatic approach proved effective.
• Similar to Libya, Bush seems to be achieving progress via political means with North Korea and crazy man Kim Jong-II. On September 2, 2007, the rogue state agreed to disclose and dismantle all of its nuclear programs in exchange for removal of economic sanctions and assurances of not being attacked. While success with North Korea is not yet achieved, it appears the carrot and stick approach of sanctions followed with military impact produces consistent results.
• Restored the reputation of the White House from a skirt chasing / have sex with interns to a legitimate office of honor and dignity.
• Bush has the unusual distinction of earning both the highest and lowest approval ratings of any president in history during their term. His approval rating has ranged from a high of 90 percent (the highest approval rating ever recorded by The Gallup Organization) to a low of 24 percent. In the last year of public office, Bush's approval rating hovered around 36 percent; not impressive, but actually higher than the approval rating for the democratically controlled Congress.
• The liberal media - particularly ABC News - was convincing in its portrayal of bush as a universally and internationally disliked leader. While there is never a shortage of anti-US leaders (Hugo Chavez, Vladimir Putin) to grant attention and coverage, I couldn't help but notice the raw excitement and endorsement by the people of Albania in June 2007. Bush was welcomed with a "rockstar reception" as the Albanian people cheered, flocked for his attention, and kissed his cheeks. A commemorative stamp was issued for the occasion. Albanian prime minister stated that Bush "was the greatest and most distinguished guest we have ever had in all times." The largely Islamic nation has soldiers in both Afghanistan and Iraq and the country's government is highly supportive of American foreign policy. The Albanian government commissioned an image of the Bush that now hangs in the middle of the capital city of Tirana surrounded by American and Albanian flags. Funny how this story never made it from the liberal media to the American people.

George W. Bush Missed Opportunities

• Failed to make substantive progress toward national energy independence.
• Failed to make real progress with regard to immigration control.
• While extraordinarily successful in wining the Iraq war (within approximately 6 days of invasion), the military was much less successful in winning the piece (something that has never been part of the military manta).
• The response to hurricane Katrina was unacceptable. Frankly, as a Floridian I have prepared and responded to over a dozen hurricanes and personally experienced the worst of hurricanes (category 5 Hurricane Andrew) and from this experience I believe the public leaders of New Orleans brought the majority of the misery upon themselves. Their lack of preparedness, their inexcusable local response, their inability to help themselves and their propensity to blame the federal government for their own misgivings are shameful. Nonetheless, it is the federal government's responsibility to assist in these times of need and hurricane Katrina must be leveraged for the lessons learned so that future catastrophic responses are improved.
• Bush' environmental record is mixed (unless you're an emotionally charged, environmental psychopath where I suspect you're incapable of balanced reasoning on this topic). In 2006, Bush declared the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands a national monument. This effort created the country's largest marine reserve of about 84 million acres and afforded protection to over 7,000 species of fish, birds and marine animals. On the other hand, Bush has been inconclusive for his stance and progress regarding global warming. While I applaud Bush for not subscribing to the alarmist individuals promoting messages of fear, and also not responding with a knee-jerk reaction before balanced research can be objectively concluded, I feel he could have accelerated his research and analysis to move America to a definitive program.

George W. Bush Positions

• Abortion. Pro-life.
• Economy. Pro-growth. Introduced several economic stimulus programs.
• Education. Insistent on the No Child Left Behind Act.
• Environment. Supports funding of alternative energy sources and carbon dioxide emissions programs. Opposes oil drilling off the Florida coast.
• Health care. Opposes government-run, socialized universal health care system.
• Immigration. Supports amnesty for illegal aliens; Opposes securing our border with Mexico.
• Religion. Opposes the godless liberals in their attempt to remove all public displays of religious significance from society.
• Second amendment. Supports the right to bear arms.

George W. Bush Public Service History

In 1994, Bush defeated Ann Richards to become the 46th Governor of Texas, an office he held from January 1995 through December 2000.

Bush received his bachelors degree from Yale University in 1968 and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Harvard Business School. Bush is the oldest child of former President George H.W. Bush and Barbara Bush. George has four siblings, including Jeb (former Governor of the great state of Florida), Neil, Marvin and Dorothy. Bush's grandfather, Prescott Bush, was a U.S. Senator from Connecticut.

Posted: March 10, 2007
Keywords: My President, George W. Bush