by Jack Serapiglia

Created on: April 05, 2007   Last Updated: April 19, 2007

Presidential legacies are rarely clear and evident during the President's term, or even at their end. The problem is perspective. It is hard to judge how the future will see someone when it is not clear what their term of office actually meant in the context of history. Ronald Reagan's last years in office were marked by the Iran-contra affair, which painted him as an old man who did not know what was going on, yet he is fondly remembered as a beloved President who helped America win the Cold War. Dwight Eisenhower, a war hero while in office, nevertheless has had his Presidency viewed as time when nothing got done. Harry Truman's approval rating was 25% during his last term of office, but today we think of him as a strong President, the coy Southerner where the buck "stopped."

It is with Truman that our current President, George W. Bush, associates himself most with. Like Truman, he partook in an unpopular war based more on a belief of a threat then an actual, concrete danger to America (Truman feared the spread of communism; Bush the spread of weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East). Both men had very public spats with the generals who ran their wars, and both Presidents were regarded as quick decision makers (and very hard-headed with those decisions).

In time, though, history validated Truman's actions. Standing up to Douglas McCarthur prevented the spread of the Korean conflict into a more global war. Protecting South Korea helped stem the spread of communism on the Asian continent. His conviction to decisions, indeed his hard headedness, is now seen as an attribute.

George W. Bush hopes for much of the same. Despite his work at home (such as the No Child Left Behind legislation and his attempt to reform Social Security) or his stewardship during one of America's darkest hours (the terrorist attacks of 9/11), Bush ultimately is going to be judged on what happens in Iraq. If things in Iraq continue on their current course, with Iraq disintegrating into civil war and chaos, then Bush will be regarded as unpopular President who dragged this country into an unneeded war that America was ill prepared for. If the war creates more hatred toward America, if the next terrorist attacks come from a group of disgruntled Iraqis, then the blood spilled will be on Bush's hand.

Yet if Bush's vision is actually realized, if Iraq is able to pull itself above the turmoil and into a working democracy, and if that concept of democracy spreads to the other countries in

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