Bush: Too early to worry about legacy
When it comes to presidential legacy, the current George W. claims to have learned the lessons of the original George W.
Earlier this year, gazing at an Oval Office portrait of George Washington, President Bush, unprompted, offered this thought:
"The important thing about him is that I read three or four books about him last year. Isn't that interesting? People say 'So what?' Well, here's the 'so what.' You never know what your history is going to be until long after you're gone."
"So presidents shouldn't worry about history," Bush said in the chat with a German reporter. "You just can't. You do what you think is right, and if you're thinking big enough, that history will eventually prove you right or wrong."
"But you won't know in the short term," he concluded.
For now, the short term is the two years remaining in Bush's two-term presidency. With Iraq hanging in the balance, the facts historians will use to judge Bush are to be determined.
Despite Bush's admonitions about how future historians might judge him, some contemporary experts already have declared him among the nation's worst presidents. The more positive reviews say it's too early to tell. Bush is unimpressed and unconcerned with the instant analyses, noting this week that most "short-term historians" labor under a "political preference and so their view isn't exactly objective."
Read entire article at Cox News Services (in Midland, Tex., Reporter-Telegram),
Earlier this year, gazing at an Oval Office portrait of George Washington, President Bush, unprompted, offered this thought:
"The important thing about him is that I read three or four books about him last year. Isn't that interesting? People say 'So what?' Well, here's the 'so what.' You never know what your history is going to be until long after you're gone."
"So presidents shouldn't worry about history," Bush said in the chat with a German reporter. "You just can't. You do what you think is right, and if you're thinking big enough, that history will eventually prove you right or wrong."
"But you won't know in the short term," he concluded.
For now, the short term is the two years remaining in Bush's two-term presidency. With Iraq hanging in the balance, the facts historians will use to judge Bush are to be determined.
Despite Bush's admonitions about how future historians might judge him, some contemporary experts already have declared him among the nation's worst presidents. The more positive reviews say it's too early to tell. Bush is unimpressed and unconcerned with the instant analyses, noting this week that most "short-term historians" labor under a "political preference and so their view isn't exactly objective."