Political Communication blog

Even though no one would accuse me of being a fan of Bush's, I actually felt kind of sad watching this last night. I don't think it was because Bush is leaving, but more because I feel kind of sorry for him. Like maybe we have been too hard on the guy after all or something? Of course he has made it kind of easy. But I think everyone tends to get a little nostalgic about the President when they start to leave. The power of the personal presidency.
 

Yes, but considering his very low approval rating (would that be DISapproval rating?), feeling sorry for him is probably exactly the kind of emotion he wanted.

If you consider that he is literally THE most divisive leader in American history (and this, after coming to office on the promise of being a Unite-r), and the damage done to the U.S.'s reputation around the world by his administration, I don't think it's possible to be too hard on him.

The job invites criticism to begin with, but when you do such a questionable, if not outright bad, job, then no amount of harsh criticism is enough.
 

I agree with Katie in a way. I think we as Americans, in the shadow of fear, blamed bush for all our problems. I don’t think he did a very good job as our president, but many of the problems we are facing and things Bush was blamed for were not actually his fault. None the less we lost trust in him very early on and because of that a snow ball effect happened, once we stopped trusting Bush we started criticizing everything related to him. This is clear in the speech. Every thing Bush says we see as him seeking sympathy and as him making “political” comments! I found my self wondering who wrote that speech for him, which was strange because instead of just hearing what he was saying and putting any weight into it.. I was wondering who that that junk he was saying! I did vote for bush and I don’t think he corrupt or evil, but I lost trust in him and can’t listen to his words. I think many Americans will feel the same way about the speech.. that is was simply his last “political” out reach to save face!
 

I also agree that watching the address made me feel somewhat sad. Although many of Bush's decisions were not popular with America, and rightfully so I do believe he had good intentions for our country. I think that he is definitely a "good ole boy" as he is always portrayed, but not the leader that our country needs when dealing with issues such as Iraq and the economic crisis. I wish him the best of luck and am very excited to see what Obama can do for the American people.
 

I think the best judgment by history that W. Bush can hope for is to be seen as someone who really was not qualified for the job, and ultimately surrounded himself by too many people (e.g., Dick Cheney) who had long had specific agendas that they were just waiting for the right opportunity to come along.