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Originally Posted by forseti-6
I think, however, defining President Bush's successes and failures now is overly premature. 20, 30, 50 years from now, his successes and failures might be seen extremely differently.
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I disagree.
Has the book on Johnson changed that much? No. Even the parameters of the debates about FDR are pretty much the same as they were in the 1930s. Nixon is reviled today for the same reasons he was in the 1960s & 1970s.
History is something we make now. As something of our own making, as a conscious process, it is visible to us -- though of course not completely. I doubt that what is not visible will ever make much of a difference with Bush.
Our debates on Bush have already set the terms for future evaluations of Bush. He's going to be remembered for the illegitimacy of his election in 2000, exploiting 2001.9.11 for Iraq, torture & a Nixonian expansion of the state's repressive powers, & helping rich people. There's a reason he's the most unpopular president since Nixon.