George W. Bush was supposed to cut taxes and spending as president, appoint able constitutionalist judges, open America more to Latin America and avoid "nation building" exercises overseas.
He did cut taxes, which helped spur huge economic gains for over five years. He appointed many excellent judges, though Democrats held up numerous other worthy appointments. For several wasted years Republicans in control of Congress actually joined Democrats in promoting higher spending, including a new entitlement (the prescription drug program for seniors). They thought they would get great political benefit from such spending, it seems. They got none.
We still have done far too little to engage Latin America--our home region--and, thanks to 9/11, and wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, we certainly are engaged in "nation building" on a grand scale elsewhere. History handed G.W.B. and all of us a number of unwelcome surprises.
In the course of time, the tax cuts, the wise judicial appointments and the war on terrorism, despite many missteps, will be regarded as a serious and sound legacy for Bush. If the new president doesn't mess up, Iraq in particular will result in a hugely important foreign policy success with excellent long term consequences. Too bad the president's critics won't give him now the credit that he deserves.
There probably were other policy successes. (One thinks of the historically high commitment to fighting AIDS in Africa, for example.) It would be nice to say that there were many such examples. But the truth is that the Administration has been so concentrated on the huge issues of the war on terror, taxes and judges that it has neglected other areas where it could have accomplished without too much strain. Obviously, Bush should have pushed harder for reform of Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac. He tried, but weakly. The crash we have endured and which is undoing conservative government, however, is not the fault of this Administration. On the contrary, as a host of yet-unwritten books will show, under-regulation in some areas and over-regulation in others were the products chiefly of 15 years of liberal interest politics.
Still, as the nation votes tomorrow for his successor some of us should pause and reflect that President George W. Bush has received a bum rap from adversaries and the media,(as some of his staffers say). I trust that history will treat him much better.
