Bush Hopes History Will Put Him in the Company of Truman

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Harry Truman was president more than sixty years ago,my view is that most people do not remember him at all and he had very little about him that reminds me of George Bush....Comparing Bush to Truman is way out of line....for one thing Truman terminated the war with Japan .....Bush started two wars which he could not finish.....which did too much damage to our country and we still have not recovered from his needless behavior.... cordially.....

Steve Roisman of CA 1:11PM February 01, 2009

President Bush, in my view, is an outstanding and responsible political leader in the us history. though facing so many problems when he left, he accomplished so many tasks which promoted america a new stage in worldwild. in bush's era,us is the most poewerful in the world.

jinkun huang of 12:07AM January 21, 2009

Aw, poor wittle Obots, they still can't accept they won.
Do some research, you'll see the similarities, in addition to the obvious low approval ratings:
*Both made tough wartime decisions (Truman-Fat Man and Little Boy; Bush-The beginning of the war on terror--at least from our standpoint)
*Both tried to privatize Social Security among numerous other failed reforms.
*Both presided over wars that were derided as "wars of choice" (Truman-Korea; Bush-Iraq)
*Both had to hold together split coalitions (Truman-traditional party Dems vs. segregationist Southern Dems; Bush-conservatives vs. leftist moderates)
Those are by the no means the only ones, but a sample. In fact where I'd say Bush fell short of Truman is not calling people out and instead taking the high road. That's all well and good, but often times he who takes the high road is the first one run off the road, especially in politics. HST is one of my all-time favs because, not the least of which, he famously referred to my local paper as the second worst newspaper in America--right behind the Obama Tribune, which nearly 60 years later couldn't be truer.
Why don't O-bots wanna follow their leader's example and drop back-and-forth bickering and instead dance around like Chad Johnson or Terrell Owens? Because they can't.

Mike of WA 10:17PM January 16, 2009

I agree with the comments of "Fair and Balanced" above. I'm no fan of George Bush's presidency, but I am a fan of history. We'll have to wait for events to unfold before we can properly place Bush in the pantheon of presidents. After all, consider recent history. When Reagan left office, pundits and historians alike were quick to place him near the bottom. He has risen dramatically in just twenty years, sooner actually. I'm not saying that will happen to Bush, just that he might land higher than where so many are quick to place him now. Kudos to Dr. Felzenberg for recognizing that history takes time and presenting a fair and balanced piece.

Carol of NJ 3:59PM January 16, 2009

Kudos to Dr. Felzenberg for the first reasonable, fair and balanced attempt to provide a historical view of the Bush presidency. Hateful sycophants, whose typical mindless comments are on full display here, only add to the credibility of the analysis.
So-called historians like Beschloss and others are using history to advance their own personal agendas. However, history as we still know it will judge Bush fairly, warts and all. I look forward to future pieces like this by Dr. Felzenberg.

kelly johnston of NJ 7:09AM January 16, 2009

Bush and his family still don't get the meaning of a Black's victory for the W.H. The history should not give any credit to Bush that can remind the future presidents to do a job right.

Paul of CA 2:50PM January 15, 2009

The only grade bush deserves is an F he made a HUGE MESS of everything,he leaves Obama with a huge mess to clean up, a nation in 2 wars and a sunken economy Bush says he rates with Harry Truman, that is bravo sierra, Bush could not carry Trumans jock! Bush's rating is below JIMMY CARTER,which means he is now in LAST PLACE!

richard of AZ 10:29AM January 15, 2009