by Chandra Janean

Created on: November 06, 2008   Last Updated: November 18, 2008

Time has really run out for a positive legacy by the man who will be known for invading Iraq. Prior to 9-11, The Bush Administration was seeing a decline in it's approval ratings, and there was a stagnation in the policies that were being put forth. The tides turned post 9-11 when the United States became unified and rallied behind the cause of finding Osama Bin Laden and protecting our citizens from further persecution by global terrorist groups. The terrorist attack on the Twin Towers that brought the fight to our soil gave The Administration an upsurge in approval fostering the highest ratings of the Bush Presidency. Dick Cheney's influence meant swift use of force in the Middle East in retaliation to this attack. The flood gates had opened and this empowered the Bush Administration, funneling the governmental budget to extreme war economy spending. Not until years later, after toppling Sadam Hussein's regime under the false pretense of "Weapons of Mass Destruction" did the Bush approval ratings plummet. By the time Bush was re-elected in 2004 he was only seeing about 50% approval for his actions in Iraq and Afghanistan and his ineffectiveness in addressing domestic policy issues.

I think that one of Bush's biggest downfall's was the blatant abuse of power and elimination of checks and balances that would have protected him from ridicule. Multilple conflicts of interest between "Big Business" and Administration Officials including Rove, Cheney and Bush himself helped undo faith the Nation once had in this rag tag group of politicians. The collapse of Enron was one of the red flags during the Bush legacy, and the current 2008 economic crisis is largely based on the systematic de-regulation and self-regulation policies that The Administration had oversight of. George Bush's allegiance to Karl Rove as his Senior Advisor, and the subsequent scandals that eventually led to Rove's resignation, were prominently linked to the Nations disapproval of the Administration. The stepping down of the US Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld is an indicator of the way that our citizenry disapproved the handling of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The torture and abuse of prisoners in Abu Ghraib further tested the judgement of our country's leaders.

It's safe to say that it will take many years to undo the damaging Bush Policies, both domestically and internationally, that have weakend the United States of America. If Bush intended to leave the White House with a positive legacy, he would have had to start during the beginning of his second term. He would have acknowledged global warming sooner, rather than allowing "Pseudoscience" and oil industry profits to dictate his views on carbon emissions. He would have made serious investments to fund technological advances in alternative, clean, & renewable energy sources. He would have had a better exit strategy formed for the invasion of Iraq so that our brave young men and women in the military would not be putting their lives on the line over a half-truth. He would have found Osama Bin Laden and held him accountable for his destruction of the American Way of Life. The Bush Administration weakened our Nation during it's tenure, and the 2 1/2 months left before Barack Obama transitions into the White House will not give Bush the opportunity to undo what has taken close to 8 years of mismanagement and corruption to do to our country.

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