The First Draft is being Written
The Right Wing Liberal, one my favorites, has put in his two cents on the early history already being written about the Bush Administration. First, he points out Bush’s resoluteness on tax policy:
As a reminder, this makes George W. Bush the first President since Jack Kennedy never to propose or enact a tax increase (Ford proposed a tax increase, but it was never enacted; even Ronald Reagan proposed tax increases in 1982, and agreed to them in later years).
George W. Bush will be criticized heavily for excess spending - and rightly so - but as bad as things are, they would have been much worse with a tax increase. Bush refused to do that, and we all owe him a debt of gratitude.
Meanwhile, he gives his thoughts on Presidential evaluations throughout history.
We tend to forget how much perceptions of presidents can change with time. Andrew Jackson was largely beloved when he left office in 1837; today the verdict on his two terms is mixed at best. In 1849, James Knox Polk would leave office having accomplished each of his major objectives in one term, yet he is largely remembered more for helping destroy the country (by forcing a discussion of slavery in the Mexican conquest) than by enlarging it (just about everything west of the Rockies was acquired during his presidency). Calvin Coolidge went from formidable to forgotten. Even FDR, for years untouchable among historians, is coming under harsher review from those with some economic training for New Deal policies that are increasingly looking useless and even counterproductive.
Other presidents have seen their stature rise over time. John Adams has been on a two-century long rehabilitation; his son regained is hallowed reputation while he was still alive (albeit for actions after his Administration). Harry Truman’s reputation grew with every year after he left office. His successor (Eisenhower) saw his reputation rise until his death in 1969, after which it began a glide downward.
Check out the rest of the post for D.J’s early thoughts on how history will judge Former President Bush.
