Bush's Biggest Achievements
Yes, when not steering the country into domestic and international crisis, the president did get some things right.
As the Bush administration comes to a close, the question of what the president got wrong is probably best answered with a short list of what he got right. It's a tough record to compile. On the domestic policy front, many of the president's signature initiatives, including No Child Left Behind and Social Security reform, flopped, while the results of others, including Bush's tax cuts, remain ideologically fraught. On the international scene, even the administration's less bellicose attitude toward diplomacy of late (talks with Iran, for example) has done little to neutralize the chaos wrought by the invasion of Iraq, the foreign policy effects of which extend well outside of Mesopotamia. Even so, the president has accomplished some positive things along the way, though even these come with caveats. Herewith:
Humanitarian Aid in Africa
In his 2003 State of the Union address, President Bush announced the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), a $15 billion global program to fight HIV/AIDS—the largest international effort in history created to fight a disease. In July 2008, Congress passed a $48 billion reauthorization that adds significant funding for tuberculosis and malaria. Frequent administration critic Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.) has called PEPFAR "the single most significant thing the president has done."
The effort is part of Bush's emphasis on foreign aid, particularly within Africa. In the president's first term, the US more than doubled development assistance to Africa and helped secure $34 billion in debt relief for 19 African countries. Today, foreign aid across the globe is three times what it was upon Bill Clinton's departure, though it is still lower, as a percentage of GDP, than most developed nations.
But PEPFAR, the centerpiece of Bush's Africa outreach, has come under considerable criticism. Thousands of Africans get free antiretroviral drugs that would otherwise cost thousands of dollars per month, but the White House has insisted that huge chunks of PEPFAR's budget go to abstinence-only education, and that none of it go to programs that promote needle exchanges and condom distribution.
Tsunami Relief
Before President Bush got Katrina wrong, he got the Indian Ocean tsunami right. After an initially sluggish response, he appointed presidents Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush to lead fundraising efforts, and eventually one-third of all US households donated to the relief effort. The median contribution, he said, was less than $100. In total, Americans donated $700 million, which was matched by $950 million more from the federal government. Sixteen thousand US military personnel, dozens of US ships, and more than 100 aircraft were dedicated to tsunami recovery, at a cost the State Department estimates at $5 million a day. By comparison, $114 billion was budgeted for Katrina recovery. The war in Iraq costs more than $2 billion every week.
Marine Protections
Announcing his 2006 decision to designate a group of remote Hawaiian islands as the world's largest marine reserve, President Bush said, "It's larger than 46 of our 50 states, and more than seven times larger than all our national marine sanctuaries combined. This is a big deal."
And indeed it was. Even environmentalists applauded the administration's decision. The area is home to 7,000 species of marine life, including endangered Hawaiian monk seals and threatened green sea turtles. By 2011 diving in the area will be regulated and sport and commercial fishing will be eliminated.
The problem? The Bush administration followed the designation by slashing the cleanup budget in the area from $2.1 million in 2005 to just $400,000 a year through 2008. As a result, debris removal is no longer keeping pace with the 57 tons of garbage that ocean currents are estimated to bring into the area each year. Before the designation as a protected area, 102 tons of debris were being removed annually, meaning the area was getting cleaner. Today, just 35 tons are being removed each year, meaning it is getting dirtier.
And there is, of course, one final fact. The administration took no meaningful action on global warming over the course of its eight years, which may render all of its scant environmental good deeds moot.
Executive Branch Diversity
President Bush has appointed more women and minorities to high-level posts than any other president in history. Everyone can point to his two African American secretaries of state, Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice, as well as his Hispanic attorney general, Alberto Gonzales. But a number of lesser-known Cabinet secretaries also broke the old-boy mold. His commerce secretary, Carlos Gutierrez, is a Cuban-born businessman. His past and present transportation secretaries have been an Asian American man (Norman Mineta) and a woman (Mary Peters). His education secretaries have been an African American man (Rod Paige) and a woman (Margaret Spellings). His labor secretary, Elaine Chao, was the first Asian American woman in US history to be appointed to a Cabinet post.
Unfortunately, Bush's diverse picks did not always do the country proud. Gonzales presided over the politicization of the Department of Justice and provided the administration with a legal rationale for detainee torture. Former Housing and Urban Development chief Alphonso Jackson, another Bush hand from Texas, allegedly used his post to hand out contracts to friends and political allies. He left office under investigation by an inspector general, the FBI, and the Justice Department.
Correction: Due to an editing error, the original version of this story was titled "Five Good Things Bush Has Done." The author was only able to find four. We regret the fuzzy math.
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I would add not demonizing Muslims and making a show of appearing with Muslims after 9/11, when there were hate crmies being committed.
OK, let's see...
Humanitarian Aid in Africa
Tsunami Relief
Marine Protections
Executive Branch Diversity
That's 4. The title says 5. Did I miss one?
4 is the new 5
bush would be proud
No. 5-
NOT invoking the NSPD-51 to cancel our 2008 election and remain in power
(i don't see these guys leaving quietly out the back door... do you?)
#5 Bush achievement: Stressing fitness and exercise. woohoo.
where's the fifth one?
Posted by:KimmyAugust 26, 2008 1:26:14 PMRespond ^
I would add not demonizing Muslims and making a show of appearing with Muslims after 9/11, when there were hate crmies being committed.
Posted by:vimtoAugust 26, 2008 6:29:33 PMRespond ^
OK, let's see...
Humanitarian Aid in Africa
Tsunami Relief
Marine Protections
Executive Branch Diversity
That's 4. The title says 5. Did I miss one?
Posted by:Martin RehderAugust 26, 2008 10:43:53 PMRespond ^
4 is the new 5
bush would be proud
Posted by:attention-payerAugust 27, 2008 5:57:09 AMRespond ^
No. 5-
NOT invoking the NSPD-51 to cancel our 2008 election and remain in power
(i don't see these guys leaving quietly out the back door... do you?)
Posted by:attention-payerAugust 27, 2008 5:58:31 AMRespond ^
#5 Bush achievement: Stressing fitness and exercise. woohoo.
Posted by:thornsoftristanAugust 29, 2008 11:59:37 PMRespond ^
#5 Arbusto clears the brush.
No Child Left Behind is #5, it says it in the beggining
To all those who said "where's the 5th one":
Hey idiots, when does it say there are five? I hit Ctrl+F and searched for "5", I still can't find where it says, "5 things Bush did right"
arlo, lighten up and dont be such an a-hole.
numbers are sometimes spelled out, 5=five.
However, in our defense, it would help if you had just read the entire article and the editors note: "Correction: Due to an editing error, the original version of this story was titled "Five Good Things Bush Has Done." The author was only able to find four. We regret the fuzzy math."
You know, i wish i said this earlier. Stop playing the blame game. If we are so smart... why don't we do something to fix our problems instead of bashing Bush. You people are like high school kids, trying to fit in with the crowd. Im not saying you have to like him, but at least show him respect. He is/was president, and that's more than any of us will ever attain. Also, i would like to see how Bush kept the market afloat post 9/11; remember the market was closed for a few days? How WE voted for Bush in 2004, how we supported the war till it affected peoples budget. This country, US, is a joke, and is filled with greedy, immoral people who are only out for their own interest and benefits.
I want to thank you for this article, though there are a few backhanded compliments at times. I am nonpartisan but I am an American who feels we need to be supportive and challenging to our leaders. We have not been supportive or challenging to Bush we've been down right disrespectful. I give a great deal of the credit to the media. My only hope is that they will do a better job with Elect-President Obama.
As for this article, I truly believe that President Bush had a hard road ahead of him from day one. He made a number of mistakes, true, but we cannot forget we have not been attacked on our soil since 9/11/01. Give the man a break. Instead of finding ways to criticize our leaders why don't we find ways to help them. If I recall correctly this is OUR country- why don't we act like it. God Bless America, and God bless all of you (the universal God for various religions) for caring enough to talk about making it better!
The fifth one is No child Left behind
What about partial birth abortion? Do liberals really want that while simultaneously demanding animals free from cages? Bush signed into law no partial birth abortion, it is disgusting how ti is done wake up people! Obama wants it allowed. Now a republican because ofthis issue.
Credit where credit is due; "Medicare Part D" could make the list. It HAS financially helped a lot of senior folks with Rx costs. BUT- dammit all!-
like everything else run by privitazation, it is such a convoluted and complicated program (under the guise of "choice") that it is nearly impossible for any recipient to be sure they've gotten the best Plan for themselves. And the cost to the taxpayers is outrageous because Big Pharma has controlled it from the outset. So - like the other things 43 "got right"- one must look at the net result.
When I saw this item I was impressed -- "MoJo giving Bush some credit for some things. That's cool. Good to be even-handed, and to give credit where it is due to someone with whom one usually disagrees." Then I read it and was disappointed that as to each and every item, the last word was not a kudos but a criticism. If you're going to be anti-Bush (and I am not a fan of Bush's presidency), then just go ahead and level criticisms. Don't pretend to give credit and then damn with faint praise and, well, damnations.
Bush did almost everything right. Just because he talks like a moron people think he is one. Not every president has to deal with all the [deleted] he did. Terrorists attacked America. The Iraq war was actually very successful. He didn't cause the bad economy, that was caused by things far before his term. Bush was was an excellent president. I hope to God Barak Obama doesn't [deleted] everything up.
Please Donate to the GWB Presidential Library
(A virtual freind's boss just sent her this to me via e-mail)
Please Donate to the GWB Presidential Library
Dear Fellow Constituent:
"The George W. Bush Presidential Library" is now in the planning stages and accepting donations.
The Library will include:
1. The Hurricane Katrina Room, which is still under construction.
2. The Alberto Gonzales Room, where you won't be able to remember anything.
3. The Texas Air National Guard Room, where you don't even have to show up.
4. The Walter Reed Hospital Room, where they don't let you in.
5. The Guantanamo Bay Room, where they don't let you out.
6. The Weapons of Mass Destruction Room, which no one has been able to find.
7. The National Debt Room, which is huge and has no ceiling.
8. The Tax Cut Room, with entry only to the wealthy.
9. The Economy Room, which is in the toilet.
10. The Iraq War Room. (After you complete your first visit, they make you go back for a second, third, fourth, and sometimes fifth visit.)
11. The Dick Cheney Room, in the famous undisclosed location, complete with shooting gallery.
12. The Environmental Conservation Room, still empty.
13. The Supreme Court Gift Shop, where you can buy an election.
14. The Airport Men's Room, where you can meet some of your favorite
Republican Senators.
15. The Decider Room, complete with dart board, magic 8-ball, Ouija board, dice, coins, and straws.
Note: The library will feature an electron microscope to help you locate and view the President's accomplishments.
The library will also include a section enshrining the many famous quotes by George W. Bush:
1. 'The vast majority of our imports come from outside the country."
2. "If we don't succeed, we run the risk of failure."
3. "Republicans understand the importance of bondage between a mother and child."
4. "No senior citizen should ever have to choose between prescription drugs and medicine."
5. "I believe we are on an irreversible trend toward more freedom and
democracy - but that could change."
6. "One word sums up probably the responsibility of any Governor, and that one word is 'to be prepared.'"
7. "Verbosity leads to unclear, inarticulate things."
8. "I have made good judgments in the past. I have made good judgments in the future."
9. 'The future will be better tomorrow."
10. "We're going to have the best educated American people in the world."
11. "One of the great things about books is sometimes there are some
fantastic pictures." (during an education photo-op)
12. "Illegitimacy is something we should talk about in terms of not having
it."
13. "We are ready for any unforeseen event that may or may not occur."
14. "It isn't pollution that's harming the environment. It's the impurities
in our air and water that are doing it."
15. "I stand by all the misstatements that I've made."...(George W.Bush to Sam Donaldson)
PLEASE GIVE GENEROUSLY!
Sincerely,
Jack Abramoff, Co-Chair
G.W. Bush Library Board of Directors
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