by Wayne Douma

Created on: December 16, 2009   Last Updated: December 17, 2009

It is hard for one to say with absolute certainty (although everyone within the United States seems to) how George W Bush will be perceived by history.  Bush had his moments of greatness when President, and he had some blunders. People seem to say President Bush was the only one who had these moments though, and clearly they do not the history of the Presidency. 

Ronald Reagan is currently listed as the ninth greatest President in history according to a CSPAN poll gathered by prominent historians.  Reagan is generally viewed as the "Great Communicator" and the man who made "Americans proud to wave the flag again." 

At the same time there were down moments in the 8 years Reagan served, most notably the Iran-Contra scandal.  Not to say this was Reagan's only mistake when in office, but it is the one we still hear about repeatedly when a liberal needs something bad to say about Reagan. 

Abraham Lincoln is generally seen by all sects of political ideology as the greatest President of all time.  It is hard to argue with that fact, seeing that he led the Union during the Civil War, and did a remarkable job as President during that time. 

However, in that day it is almost certain that the question of villain or visionary would have surrounded Lincoln after his decision making.  He did want all men to be free, but some people saw this as something to vilify Lincoln. 

I am not taking sides on the Lincoln villain or visionary, because we can all agree today that Lincoln was a visionary, but during that time frame of him in office, he was questioned. 

That brings us to George W Bush.  Whether you say he is a villain or a visionary, no one can argue his "moment of greatness"  when six months into his first term this country was attacked by radical jihadists.  The speech Bush gave when standing on top of World Trade Center rubble with a megaphone saying, "The people who knocked down these buildings will hear all of us soon" is regarded as one of Bush's finest moments. 

During that period, Bush had some of the highest Presidential approval ratings of all time, with numbers sitting above 90 percent for some weeks.  The way he led this country and banded the people of all ideologies together after that horrific day, makes him a visionary any day.

Now many argue that it is because of Bush's Middle East policy that he will be regarded as a villain, failure, and one of the worst President's in history.  This is an unfair judgement to make currently though, as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are still going on, and no one knows the final outcome of the Middle East. 

It is true that Bush had the backbone to do what Clinton would not, go into the Middle East.  With the wars still going on though, one cannot judge Bush's legacy until the outcome is reached.  If a stable democracy is put into place in Iraq and works in Afghanistan, and freedom spreads throughout the Middle East, Bush will be seen as a clear visionary with his policies on the region. 

Should that occur, George W Bush will do what no other US President has ever done, bring stability to the Middle East.  Now it could go the other way and things end badly in the Middle East, at which point Bush's legacy will be hurt, but the real fact is that we cannot make these guesses on Bush being a villain or visionary because his policies are still being worked and there is no absolute outcome yet. 

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