George W. Bush was the President of the United States between 2001 and 2009, succeeding Bill Clinton and being followed by Barack Obama. His presidency was accompanied by controversy from beginning to end, starting with the election results and ending with the 2008 financial crisis. Nevertheless, he was able to secure re-election, something his father, George H. W. Bush, could not achieve. As President, Bush saw 9/11 happen, started multiple wars, and dramatically expanded the federal government’s powers. He also substantially changed the nature of the Republican Party, emphasizing its Christian aspects to the exclusion of others. Ultimately, George W. Bush’s presidency was harmful to the American people due to the unjustified wars and abuses of power in which his administration engaged, and the nation is still feeling the effects.
Mr. Bush entered the 2000 election as part of the Republican party, at least partially capitalizing on his father’s reputation and recognition. He ultimately secured the nomination and went on to run on the national stage. However, as described in “Presidential Election Results,” the resolution of the election “involved multiple legal battles, recounts and calls for further recounts, and numerous debates about the methods used to record votes” due to the close result, even if Mr. Bush ultimately won despite losing the popular vote by 540,000 votes. His campaign involved capitalizing on the Christian voter base, as Mr. Bush was a devout follower of the religion. Some of the slogans used, as described by “Presidential Campaign Slogans,” were “Compassionate Conservatism” and “No Child Left Behind.” This affinity for Christian voters and their interests would also be reflected in his later actions.
Mr. Bush ran against Al Gore, the then-vice-president under Bill Clinton, who was aiming to be elected for the nation’s highest position. “Presidential Campaign Slogans” lists such Gore slogans as “Prosperity and Progress” and “Prosperity for America’s Families.” In 2004, he ran against Democratic Senator John Kerry, an election that he won without the same controversy as his first one. For both elections, his Vice President was Dick Cheney, a longtime Republican politician who had served in various positions. He spent most of the 1990s managing a business as its CEO but returned to politics to assume the role. He mostly supported Bush and promoted many of the same positions as his superior throughout the presidency.
Before Mr. Bush’s presidency, Congress was already oriented toward foreign policy, aiming to preserve the U.S.’s position as a world leader. For example, as Murray et al. state, “Congress began mandating an annual report from the Pentagon on China’s military power in 2000.” Until the 2006 midterm elections, the Congress under Mr. Bush had a Republican majority but switched to Democrats after that year. The Bush administration’s responses to the many large events that happened throughout it were likely a substantial contribution to this loss of popularity. The 9/11 attacks, Hurricane Katrina, the 2008 financial crisis, and multiple government-related scandals took place during the Bush presidency. The laws passed in response to some of these events are still being viewed negatively by many alongside the initiatives the administration passed independently.
The Patriot Act warrants particular mention due to its long-standing expansion of government power that would later lead to events such as the Snowden scandal. Mr. Bush’s statement that “we take an essential step in defeating terrorism while protecting the constitutional rights of all Americans” was ultimately a pretext for violating those rights (“Address on Signing”). Mr. Bush was also notable for supporting Christian causes, and “the Christian Right influenced the allocation of public funds,” withholding money from opposing initiatives and redirecting it to supportive ones (Haynes). Mr. Bush is also notable for leading the U.S. in a variety of unpopular wars, including those in Iraq and Afghanistan. His infamous claim, “The Iraqi regime has violated all of [Persian Gulf War ending] obligations. It possesses and produces chemical and biological weapons. It is seeking nuclear weapons,” was proven false in the aftermath of the intervention. The U.S. is still engaged in the regions where Mr. Bush originally sanctioned American invasions.
The events of 9/11, and President Bush’s handling of them, have changed American culture and made it more warlike. He reinforced the nation’s position as the police of the world, identifying Iran, Iraq, and North Korea as “an axis of evil, arming to threaten the world” (“President Delivers”). As a result, the U.S. continued pressuring these nations, pushing North Korea to dismantle its nuclear weapons program (Subasinghe 80). While President Obama would approach topics such as North Korea more diplomatically, he continued and expanded the U.S. war efforts. The human rights violations perpetrated at Guantánamo Bay by the Bush administration under the pretense of fighting terror also continued under Obama (Porčnik 75). Ultimately, as Gregg claims, “his controversial election and policies, especially the war in Iraq, deeply divided the American people.” He put some unpopular initiatives into practice, losing popularity with voters and tarnishing the Republican Party’s image even as it retained numerous loyal voters.
The party itself became a Christian stronghold and began advocating for interventionism in a movement that came to be known as neoconservatism. However, its policies lost popularity with voters, resulting in the nomination and subsequent election of former Democrat Donald Trump in 2016. The expansion of the government’s power was retained by later administrations, which proceeded to expand its surveillance programs. The Bush administration also made efforts to reform education and healthcare, among others, passing the No Child Left Behind Act, but its achievements in these regards are less notable than the Obama administration’s. Lastly, the Bush administration’s policies likely did not help resolve many of the nation’s issues. Instead, the tax cuts and deregulation supported by the government at the time may have contributed to the mortgage over-purchasing that led to the 2008 financial crisis.
Ultimately, few positive achievements can be credited to the Bush administration at the moment. It likely had some positive impacts that cannot be discerned now but will become apparent in the future, but the overall picture will likely remain pessimistic. Mr. Bush led the nation into war, enabled human rights violations, and left the Republican Party intensely unpopular with the voters, lending credence to Mr. Obama’s famous “Hope” slogan. The 2008 crisis may also be attributed to his government’s policies, though it was not the sole determinant of the catastrophe. The U.S. is still present in Iraq and Afghanistan despite the wars’ unpopularity, and the crisis likely harmed the nation’s growth substantially. The Bush presidency has revealed the problematic parts of American politics, which are still present today and need to be addressed for a healthy climate.
Works Cited
Subasinghe, Miyuki Chaya. “Theoretical Analysis of the US Foreign Policy towards North Korea: From the End of the Cold War to the Beginning of Donald Trump’s Presidency.” Journal of International Studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2017, pp. 71-84.
Porčnik, Tanja. “Detainee Rights: The Judicial Vs. Congressional Check on the President in Wartime.” Journal of Comparative Politics, vol. 12, no. 2, 2019, pp. 69-87.
“Presidential Campaign Slogans.” PresidentsUSA.net, 2020. Web.
Bush, George W. “Address on Signing the USA Patriot Act of 2001.” American Rhetoric, Web.
Gregg, Gary L. II. “George W. Bush: Impact and Legacy.” Miller Center. Web.
“President Bush’s Speech on the Use of Force.” The New York Times, 2002, Web.
Murray, Donette, et al. George W. Bush’s Foreign Policies: Principles and Pragmatism. Taylor & Francis, 2017. Google Books E-book.
Haynes, Jeffrey, editor. The Routledge Handbook to Religion and Political Parties. Taylor & Francis, 2020. Google Books E-Book.
“Presidential Election Results Between Al Gore and George Bush Too Close to Call.” History, 2000, Web.
“President Delivers State of the Union Address.” The White House, 2002, Web.