Good bye, President Bush

Today is the last full day of President George W. Bush's presidency.

There have been some highlights:

The aftermath of the 9/11 attacks.

The early days of the Iraq War.

No terrorist attacks on American soil since 9/11.

"The Surge."

Ensuring the recession he inherited was a mild one.

And there have been some low lights:

Hurricane Katrina. He can't blame all of the problems on Louisiana officials and then-FEMA director Michael Brown.)

The Iraq War from late 2003 until early 2007.

Too much government spending.

The current recession.

Presidential legacies take decades to develop, and right now, most historians, a left-of-center lot to be sure, place Bush in the bottom quartile in the rankings of American presidents. But Harry Truman and Dwight Eisenhower left the White House with equally bad assessments. Both men are now typically are viewed among our greatest leaders.

Right now I give President Bush a "thumbs up." Before you leave hostile comments, think of this: How bad would things be in Gaza if Saddam Hussein, or one of his crazy sons, was the dictator of Iraq. Remember the first Gulf War? Saddam fired missiles at Israel--and the Jewish State wasn't involved in the coalition to remove Iraqi forces from Kuwait.

Such attacks from Iraq are now unimaginable.

About the picture: Taken at Texahoma, Texas, July, 2007.

Related posts:

The Texas panhandle

The Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum

Technorati tags: Republican politics history Texas Eisenhower Harry Truman Iraq العراق bush