Despite my quibblings with President Bush's policies and rhetoric, I am proud to call this fine man our president. Read the text of the State of the Union. Well done.
Additionally, Bill McGurn, a very fine Catholic writer who has worked for National Review and the Wall Street Journal, has replaced Mike Gerson as the President's head speechwriter. An excellent choice.
The mark of fine leadership is the ability to amass the right "whos" and plug them into the organizational scheme. That Harvard M.B.A. the President possesses has taken him far. He seems to continuously demonstrate sound judgment.
When all is said and done, I think President Bush will go down as one of the great presidents of the 20th and 21st centuries.
Comments (1)
I wonder how history will remember Dubya. In a sense, he will have accomplished very little, in the sense that Afghanistan, Iraq, Welfare reform, tort reform, tax reform, etc. will be unfinished in a very real way when he rides off into the sunset. What I find most admirable about him is his willingness to inaugurate great projects to follow up on his great words. Most of the truly great initiatives take longer than a term or two to come to fruition. That is the great distinction between Dubya and his father. Bush the Elder did the right thing by sending troops to Kuwait, and the practical thing by stopping short of toppling Saddam. Prudence will get you a legacy, some political capital and often reelection, but it is seldom the first step toward grand things. Dubya was willing to risk reelection and his legacy by being forceful and optimistic in Iraq, even while admitting that “victory” there was an eventuality, not an immanent accomplishment. Reagan had the same vision and he is only now being recognized for it.
I cannot imagine a one page federal income tax return, meaningful federal tort reform and the privatization of some parts of Social Security all being firmly accomplished by 2008. Honestly, I don’t want it all done so soon because there has not been nearly enough debate. Credit Dubya for identifying fundamental issues in the domestic economy like the tax code and Social Security’s looming insolvency and for starting the process of improvement. History will link his name to these uncertain ideas, and he will have no influence on them after 2008. Its possible history will remember him as having grand ideas but little success, especially if Iraq degenerates into an Iran-style theocracy and Afghanistan is unable to modernize. Of course, it is also possible, given his wisdom and his strong vision, that when President Norm Coleman is finishing his second term in 2016, preparing to hand the nomination to Senator Bobby Jindal, Dubya will be the patriarch of a party awash in unprecedented popularity based upon their collective accomplishments at home and abroad.
Of course, liberals will still be writing the textbooks then, so he will always be BushHitler to some folks.
Posted by niemann | February 3, 2005 4:50 PM
Posted on February 3, 2005 16:50