by Alexander Kennedy

Created on: August 16, 2010   Last Updated: August 17, 2010

Only time will tell about the positive or negative nature of George W. Bush's Presidential legacy. The argument stated that having lived through history creates a bias is valid here. With the memories fresh in our minds of what was news, and what news was told to us during the administration of the forty-third President, we are ill-equipped to pass such judgement.

When Nixon resigned it was a popular notion that he would go down in history as "Worst President Ever", but at least in part, Nixon's legacy has recovered in recent years. Many of the positive strides he made while in office have brought him to a more neutral, if not net positive position. While the reputation of a President who left office with a far better reputation is watching his name drop precipitously down the list of Presidents and many think, may soon attain the unenviable title of "Worst Ever". Jimmy Carter, viewed not entirely a poor President upon exiting office to make room for Ronald Wilson Reagan, is viewed today through the prism of the current economic crisis and seen as having been much at fault for the economic issues during his administration. Coupled with his atrocious foreign policy and bungling of the situation in Iran, he ends up with a grade of "F" across the board and very well may deserve being listed as the worst. 

It stands to reason that perhaps twenty years from now, people may remember that the Bush tax cuts were working to stimulate the economy. The recovery of the American economy after the initial catastrophic drop in the wake of 9/11 was strong. As far as 'immediate results' can be discussed regarding federal economic policies, it was working.

However, as most reasonable people would agree, federal economic policy takes months, if not years, to show if it is truly sound. And the Bush tax cuts were conclusions drawn from examining faulty data. The financial industry in the United States showed outwardly that it was built brick by brick and solid, yet it was actually a house of cards. Much like "Dubya's" reasons for serving a search warrant in Iraq were based on faulty data from the intelligence community. Those including the President, who made the decisions should have better examined the data but, as we all know, what seems to be a good decision based on current knowledge can later prove to be a very bad decision as time goes by.

The question we must ask ourselves in such situations is "Is this the best information that I can get?" The question we must

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