ONE OF THE MAIN REASONS THAT HIS REPUTATION WILL RISE...:

History May See Lincoln-Like Greatness in George W. Bush (Richard L. Connor, 1/15/09, CQ)

Yes, there are any number of better decisions he could have made. Foremost among them would have been to bring a quick and decisive end to the war in Iraq shortly after it began.

And yes, he appears to have been soft on big business, especially the oil and energy sector.

There are areas, though, where Bush has excelled.

He has faced a number of crises that either no president or at least few have had. First, he was commander in chief when the United States was attacked at home on September 11, 2001. He was decisive in his response and showed admirable leadership both at home and abroad.

The nation now appears headed for disastrous financial calamity, the worst since The Great Depression. His administration has been forceful in trying to bring calm and to allocate money to industries fighting to survive.

And the economic woes of this country — just like other monumental, sea-change problems — did not simply appear one day or go away the next. Sure, this happened under his watch but the seeds for our mortgage, home loan crisis and those of the domestic automobile industry collapse were sown long before Bush first took office.

His administration rid the world and a nation of Sadaam Hussein, a despot whose sordid, tortuous crimes against humanity are well documented.

He paved the way for democracy in Iraq and other countries. It is still too early to tell if democracy will stick in any of those places, but people who have never voted are voting and, among others, women have new found rights to education and liberation.

...is that his greatest "failures"-- immigration amnesty and SS privatization--will be enacted by his successors, which along with liberalization in the Middle East will make him seem all the more visionary.

Posted by Orrin Judd at January 15, 2009 7:24 AM