the Undoing of a President

A look at the last eight years in America reveals a time of great difficulty inaugurated with the September 11th attacks. Since that time New Orleans was nearly destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, whole cities in Iowa submerged in flood waters, the explosive war in Iraq and Afghanistan and, oh yeah, the recession.

What’s a President to do?

I watched only a few minutes of President Bush’s farewell speech Thursday night. Not because I chose to, rather, by the time I sat down with a cup of tea it was already over. So I don’t know exactly what the out-going President said but if I were to sum of his presidency I would say it was a time of great distress. This was certainly not of his making, but under his watch.

Bush’s popularity was at its pinnacle after the September 11th attacks. His simple statement at Ground Zero “pretty soon they’re (the terrorists) going to hear from all of us” was one of the most powerful, unscripted things a President has ever said. The American public who largely supported the war, regardless of Bush’s warning that it would be protracted, wearied of the fighting, felt misled, and began to speculate that there was no well constructed plan of withdrawal going in…..which has been my biggest hang-up. Then came Katrina, Rita and the floods in Iowa. Compound the cost of federal relief for natural disasters with the $720 million per day price tag for the War in Iraq, coupled with a failing economy, bailouts and it’s a no brainer, massive federal debt and recession.

But what was Bush’s real undoing? It probably could be linked to many things including some of the slimy folks he surrounded himself with (I wonder if he wished he had Colin Powell back?). I think his real undoing was the government’s response to Hurricane Katrina. It’s one thing to watch young men die in an arguably justifiable war. It’s quite another to watch elderly women drown in our own country, on our television sets, in front of our own eyes and not see the response we would expect from the richest most powerful nation in the world. I believe it gave all of us great pause to think “that could be my family”.

I don’t doubt that George W. Bush is a great guy. I’ve read most of the book The Faith of George W. Bush and conclude he might well have been one of the most decent men we have had as President. He came idealized, talking about a “compassionate conservatism” and wanting to implement “faith-based initiatives”. But as countless insiders, now on the outside, have reported……..Bush came to Washington and it swallowed him. He changed rather than making change.

Leaving office with the lowest approval rating since Richard Nixon is not something to brag about. I doubt Jeb has a snowball’s chance either. But from a two-time supporter, I wish him and his family all of the best back in Texas. I believe he reacted as he thought he should to our distress regardless of the results. And with this be certain, George W. Bush carried our nation through one of the darkest hours of our history.