Failed Presidency Talk Draws White House Shrugs

There's been a huge outpouring of reaction to the report in my last column about historians' rock-bottom assessment of President Bush. The piece sparked a lively conversation on usnews.com. For example, one reader wrote, "Considering the shape the country is in right now, only someone with their head buried deep in the sand would be proud of anything that President Bush has done." On the other side, another poster said, "I support Bush. No terrorist plane flying episodes since 9/11."

What caused the ruckus was a poll of 109 professional historians conducted by History News Network in which 98 percent judged Bush's presidency a failure and 2 percent classified it a success. I asked White House Press Secretary Dana Perino what Bush made of it all. "He believes it takes a very long time for a president to be judged fairly," she says. "He believes he will be dead when that happens." And future historians will have their say.