How has your opinion of George W. Bush changed in recent years?

Eric Ringham November 9, 2010, 5:00 AM Nov 9, 2010

When George W. Bush left office, only about a third of Americans approved of how he was performing as president. Today’s Question: How has your opinion of George W. Bush changed in recent years?

About the blogger

Eric Ringham

eringham@mpr.org

My opinion of George W. Bush has not changed. I still believe he was guilty of lies to launch us into the Iraq War. I still believe the authorization of torture was illegal and ranks among the saddest chapters in American history.

My opinion of congressional Democrats hasn’t changed much either. My frustration with them started with their failure to investigate and stand up to Bush administration lies. That includes my Congresswoman, Betty McCollum, who had political capitol to spare in her astoundingly safe district. When I urged her to push Congress to investigate torture and the justification for the Iraq War she said that she didn’t have any evidence that there was wrongdoing. As a member of Congress you have an obligation to look!

Duane

My opinion of President Bush has not change much except to have grown by his manner with which he and Laura have conducted themselves since he left office. When I retired in 2000, we had a strong economy and excellent growth, even though we had a threat of a recession after the business world began the slowdown following the Y2K fear and the buildup we experienced during the last half of 1990. As an employee of the moderately sized corporation I witnessed the buildup of IT people and hardware along with the necessary software that many companies felt they needed. There were no lies about WMD in the Iraq war. Virtual everyone in Government, including most in the current administration felt there was a threat of WMD in Iraq. To say Bush lied reflects ignorance.

Aymee

Changed?! Not at all. I am thankful every day we have Obama in office. And to those who bicker about him being “ineffective:” you are the stereotype of this generation who has lost their virtue of patience. Great business men preach, “slow is fast, and fast is slow.” Undoing the damage from the 8 years of Bush will take longer than 2 years for anyone! Give the man (Obama) the space to do a good job.

-Signed, Still for Obama.

DMOX

My opinion has not changed at all. I still view him as an American embarrassment, and the root cause of so many of our current problems; fiscal, energy, & foreign policies are still on the mend from his wreckless rule. I still wince every time I hear his voice on the news, as it takes me back to a time when I lived in stunned disbelief that he was the “Leader of the Free World.”

Time has given us perspective, however, and I still chuckle to myself every time I hear a Republican talk about “taking the country back”, as it’s only been 4 years since they enjoyed control of every branch of government. What did they do with it for those six years that they “had their country” right where they wanted it?

By the way, I’m happy that he’s had some time to sit down & reflect on his time in office, and his unlikely life experiences. Now that this is done, what kind of public service is W. going to take up? I mean, I see other ex-Presidents, like Carter & Clinton, spending time & resources making the world a better place for the less fortunate. What are W.’s plans? Which special interest will be the recipient of his undying support & causality? Perhaps the answer lies in his book, which, by the way, we wouldn’t even be discussing him, or his presidency today, if he didn’t want to sell a copy…..

Paul Martin

My opinion of former President George W. Bush could not sink lower. Beyond the loss of life and treasure in Iraq, of the 92%* increase in the national debt incurred since Reagan took office in 1981, fully 42%* of that increase was incurred under the Bush II administration. Halfway through his eight years, I had concluded that he was the worst president in U.S. history. As I’ve said, you can’t get lower than that.

*National debt in 1980 = approx. 900 billion

National debt in 2000 = approx. 5 trillion

National debt in 2008 = approx. 10 trillion

Tom

I was very dissappointed with Bush as President and in particular with his increase in government spending. Now I long for the days when our increases were measured in billions instead of trillions. At least Bush respecfully stays quiet, something Carter could learn from….

Phil

My opinion of Bush hasn’t changed at all. I still remember how he was: the lies, the bullying and the terrible economic and international policies. While he seems like a calm moderate compared to much of what’s going on within the Republican Party today, he is most certainly not a moderate and he will always be a symbol of the excesses of conservative ideology in the United States and the embodiment of the Nixonian wish for an imperial presidency.

His desire to revise history is understandable, but I have no illusions of who he was or what happened at the time and I hope that his revisionist claims are dealt with rigorously in the press.

Steve the Cynic

My opinion of GWB has indeed changed. By the end of his first term, having heard his arrogant bluster, after observing his ham-handed foreign policy that was making more enemies than friends, after the stupid decision to invade Iraq, after no WMDs were found, after seeing the stupid war being conducted stupidly, and after seeing the government being stupidly sold off to the plutocrats on Wall Street, I was convinced that Bush was as stupid as he seemed to be. I mean, if he wasn’t stupid, the only alternative was that he was evil, and I wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt. I have learned since then that he’s a lot smarter than he seems to be, and the appearance of stupidity is something he’s cultivated to deflect suspicion from the alternative. Future historians will regard the GWB administration as the beginning of the end of American predominance in the world. Obama’s reforms are too little, too late.

Linda

My opinion of George Bush has not changed at all. I think he is overreaching and worse inept. he has caused so much damage to this country and he’s proud of it.

Johnny Sly

My opinion of GWB has not changed at all. He killed thousands of my generation in Iraq and Afghanistan. He and his failed economic policy have doomed that same generation to our own lost decade. The sooner no one buys his book, the sooner we will be rid of this narrow minded frat boy.

WE HAVE NOT CHANGED OUR OPINION AT ALL. He remains criminal and in the same league with Saddam Hussein. He is responsible for tens of thousands of deaths of innocent women and children. What a sad state of affairs our country/world is in after those 8 years. We just cannot understand why he is given a pass for all the crimes during those 8 years. Enough said.

Sarah

My opinion of George W Bush has not changed at all in 11 years. He is an arrogant, selfish, and greedy fool who is responsible for the deaths of hundred of thousands of people, trillions of dollars in national debt, an economic crisis, the apparently doomed climate crisis, and the fall of the U.S. as a respected power. Always has been and always will be.

Josh

I thought he was an idiot and manipulative when he was first elected, lost complete respect for the US when he was actually elected for his second term and have continued to feel that Bush was the worst thing for the US and most likely the worst president in US history. So if my opinion of him could get worse from the start of his presidency, it did. I’ll never respect him.

azna a amira

I did not approve of him as president, and his book proves that he cannot even learn from past mistakes. When asked on Today Show what he would do if he had known there were no WMD’s, he says he would still have railroaded the country into war. When asked about torture as a tool of truth (now that everyone knows it isn’t–never mind “24”), he says he did the right thing because it “saved lives.” Never mind that it continues to radicalize thousands, who focus on the hypocrisy of the world’s designated super police/protector violating its own rules for the sake of expediency. If GDB thinks his book will make history treat him more kindly than his unrepentant actions did, he’s got another think coming. But then, obviously, another think wouldn’t help, would it?

Robert Bullock

I was going to comment on todays question regarding my opinion of George W. Bush since his term in office has ended. My opinion of him has not changed since the “election” in the year 2ooo, where his brother and the supreme court fixed the election.

I can only add my name to the opinions above of which I totally agree.

bsimon

My opinion of President Bush hasn’t changed. He failed to make a good first impression when running for the nomination in 2000, and never convinced me to correct that assessment. I’ll grant that he did the best job he could under the circumstances, but he was unqualified for the job & the results prove it.

Amy

Haha, well, my opinion certainly has not changed because I always thought he was a dumb a**. In fact, the more I learn about his twisted, manipulative management of this country, the more and more I think of him as a stupid, arrogant, self serving war criminal! I hope that in 100 years textbooks will peg him as the worst president in American history. I don’t think we will fully understand as a country the full negative impact of his presidency for several years to come.

David Rogde

He’s less committed to core conservative principals than I thought: so when the greatest economic crisis since the 1930’s came in the fall of ’08, he transfered massive amounts of public money to private entities to avoid a “great depression,” that he would have been entirely blamed for.
Ed

My opinion is that he was nailed to the cross by the Democrats for the 5% unemployment…..now here we sit at close to 10% with a 20% devaluation of the dollar coming soon. The Community Organizer is doing REAL good, Real good.
rf

When in office he refused to acknowledge water boarding citing national security. But when he is hawking a book he brags about it. Never mind that this is a war crime for which the US has hung and executed war criminals as a penalty. So now this war criminal is celebrating his crime on a National media outlet and the press gives him a pass.

His economic policies led to the collapse of the economy we are still suffering from this. Yet these inconvenient facts are ignored by the willfully ignorant even in this comments thread.

Two wars based on fabricated Intelligence data. Yet he whines about Kanye West dissing him. Ignoring all the blood on his hands. This is the narcissistic frat boy the right wing admires
Sue de Nim

Until his book came out, there was some doubt as to whether he was actually a war criminal, or if the war crimes were all committed by his underlings. Now that he’s been publicly defending his decision to allow the use of torture by the CIA, he has removed that doubt.
David

Worse President ever!
Simon

Hasn’t.
Carrie

My opinion has not changed at all. He seems like a nice guy but clearly he should never have been POTUS. I’m glad he’s decided not to criticize President Obama. Deep down I think he must realize what a mess he left for his successor.
steve

bush was not a great president in the sense of policy-making but his compassion for others and great sense of humor make him a great american!
rf

Opintion was Bush was a disaster and that has not changed

To the individual claiming falsely that 5.0% unemployment during Bush here are the real numbers

4.7 Jan 2001 Bush inauguration

6.3 Jan 2002 Bush’s first year in office

8.5 Jan 2009 Bush leaves office with nearly double unemployement rate.

other incovenient facts when Bush takes office Budget surplus is 236 Billion when Bush leaves 1.3 trillion deficit

before TARP

On the day President Bush took office, the national debt stood at $5.727 trillion. The latest number from the Treasury Department shows the national debt now stands at more than $9.849 trillion. That’s a 71.9 percent increase on Mr. Bush’s watch.

after TARP

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2010/jan/29/barack-obama/obama-inherited-deficits-bush-administration/

Obama came into office “with a $1.3 trillion deficit before I had passed any law. … We came in with $8 trillion worth of debt over the next decade.”
Khatti

When he was first elected I really wasn’t sure that he would be that different from Al Gore. Both were Southerners of about the same age and experience and, while I didn’t vote for him, I didn’t neceesarily think the antichrist was now in the office (like so many partisan liberals did). To be fair, I seriously doubt that Al Gore would not have authorized the invasion of Afghanistan. What I doubt Al Gore would have done was invade Iraq, this is where Bush got in trouble. Fighting a war on two fronts is every military commander’s worst nightmare, the US volunteered to do this. Invading Iraq was, by any standard you care to use, a massive blunder.

Beyond that, all I can think of is a quote I heard once. I’ve forgotten which actor it was attributed too–and it doesn’t matter other than to say this actor was famous.

“When you’re up,” this actor said, “You’re never as good as they say you are, and when you’re down you’re never as bad as they say you are.”

I’m willing to acknowledge that George Bush the junior might not be as bad as they say he is.
Matt Ader

Every time I hear or see the man or any members of his administration, I have a deeply negative visceral reaction.

There is only one moment in his entire long 8 years in office when I didn’t feel the urge to throttle him. When he declared the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Marine National Monument, a rare environmental positive from him and his administration.

Other than that, I have never respected the man or his policies.
Lee H

My negative opinion of him hasn’t changed. Obama is forced to clean up the damage to the economy and America’s reputation that Bush created. A sizable chunk of the deficit is the result of W’s two “wars” paid for with borrowed money.
David

In regards Matt Ader to comment to bush jr. making Northwestern Hawaiian Islands a Marine National Monument, think that would have ever happen if there was oil there? Junior, vice president haliburton, and the other corporate shills couldn’t find any other way to exploit the area for their own personal gain, so why not toss the environmentalist a bone. Then they have something to point to and say “see we care about the environment.
Steve the Cynic

Popular opinion really doesn’t matter when it comes to the judgment of future historians. Still today there are lots of people in Russia who remember the Stallin administration fondly. That doesn’t mean Stallin was a good guy.
Dave

One thing I always wondered about..

An ex-Texas oil man and the ex-ceo of Halliburton get elected into office.

A group of Egyptians and Saudi Arabians operating out of Afghanistan attack the US.

We invade Iraq because of it. Later to be made clear was for false reasons.

The price of gas and oil doubles.

Exxon and the other oil companies proclaim not only record profits for themselves, but records or any corporation EVER.

Why America didn’t rise up with pitchforks and torches is beyond me. Or at least hound our other elected officials to perform a valid investigation to some obvious shenanigans.

Even in the face of the worse economic down turn in 70 years, Americans complacency is staggering. As long as we’re fat, we’re happy. What provoked Russia to rise up against the last czar? Or the French to rise up against the monarchy? Was it any worse? Instead we get the tea party, taken over by much of the same people, spouting much of the same ideas that caused the problems in the first place.

Worse president ever! But I guess we get what we deserve.
Garitaar

Wouldn’t it have been better for everyone to allow a Team Bush Republican win for 2008? I mean, isn’t cleaning up one’s own mess the rule at your house?
David

No, former President Bush has not changed at all.

Bush recently made the statement that his biggest regret while he was in office was not pushing through privatization of Social Security. After the collapse of the markets over the last few years, had Bush succeeded, where would Social Security recipients be today?

Most likely in the same place a lot of working aged people are today, desperate to find work.
Jim Shapiro

I always considered W a moron, but now I consider him a harmless moron. That’s much better.
Mike McDonald

I just finished reading ‘The Good Fight’ by Walter Mondale. He was proud to say that he and President Carter did three basic things while in office. They told the truth, obeyed the law, and kept the peace. Bush did not do any of those. He was surrounded by classic war mongering, corporate loving individuals. His eight years were a complete embarrassment to this great country.
catherine

My opinion couldn’t get worse. Regarding his biggest mistakes – tax cuts, 2 wars, and medicare drug coverage – all without an effort to pay for them, his attitude continues to be that what others think doesn’t really matter to him. “History will tell.” We are fools if history decides to re-write this worst president ever.
Peggy Weber

Since Bush has left office my opinion of him has diminished even more. We are continuing to live with the horrible results of the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, with the ill-focused tax cuts for the wealthy, with the devastating results of No Child Left Behind. Moreover, his appointments of radical conservatives to the Supreme Court will impact our democracy for years and years to come.
Joe Schaedler

When Bush left office I considered him the worst president we ever had. I still think of him as such.

Unlike the other bad presidents dotting US history, he was in charge in a critical era when the country strongly needed decent leadership, and he provided none. His failure therefore outpaces by far that of William Henry Harrison’s mere 32 idle days in more placid times of 1841.
Steve

My opinion of President Bush has not changed, he was a dismal President for eight years. He started not one, but two wars, signed off on “enhanced interrogation” (a.k.a.Torture) and his policies, or lack there of brought this country to the brink of another great depression. He has not changed, in his book he reaffirms his discision on “enhanced interrogation” (water-boarding) and says he would do it again. For those of you who have forgotten the “Bush Years”, just wait, with this last election I fear we are damned to repeat the past!
Darren

It hasn’t. I think he and the rest of the administration should be brought up on war crimes charges in the Hague. Unfortunately, no one in our government will ever be held accountable for anything.
Frank Hawthorne

In the last several years, my opinion of George H.W. “Daddy” Bush has improved (somewhat); but it’s clear (from his defense of illegal wars, torture, etc.) that “W” may yet need a couple more decades of maturation till he’s ready to become a responsible Commander-in-Chief.
Brian

I still consider Bush to be the most deceitful, corrupt, and incompetent president in over a hundred years. I am deeply disappointed the Democrats did not appoint committees to investigate the very strong possibility that Bush and others in his administration lied this country into war. I would love to see those people held accountable for all the damage they have done, the pain have inflicted on millions of people, and the lives they have ruined.
David W

Richard Nixon’s crimes in office were trivial compared to George W. Bush’s, who led us into a disastrous war under false pretenses. LBJ essentially did the same thing with Vietnam, but he also major advances in civil rights. GWB has no such domestic record to balance his horrible foreign policy. He left America less safe in the world and with a collapsing economy at home.

To answer the question: My opinion of George W Bush started out low and went downhill from there.
Charlotte Carey

No, I still think he was the worst President ever. This new book is an expected attempt to re-write history and just confirms my contempt for this unqualified man who made decisions based on his “gut reactions”, consistently bypassing both brain and conscience in the process. He says he did his best but it was far from good enough. The country will be paying for his mistakes for generations.
Rebecca Donicht

My opinion of GW Bush will never change: He was our worst president ever. He was installed as president by a corrupt Supreme Court, and our country may well never recover from all the damage that his maladministration inflicted on us.

He belongs on trial in the Hague for war crimes — for lying our country into invading and occupying a sovereign nation that was no threat to us and had absolutely nothing to do with the attacks of 9/11, and for promoting torture, black prisons, and setting up Guantamano Bay.

For destroying our Bill of Rights through the malicious Patriot Act, warrantless spying on American citizens, enabling the sorts of abuses against freedom more characteristic of a police state — for such acts and more he deserves to be vilified forever.

It makes me sick that he dares show his face in public after all the ills he brought down upon us and the rest of the world.

No, my opinion of Bush will never change. He was an absolutely unmitigated disaster for our country.

rmd
becks

i have thought in the past that he is mentally ill, or mentally challenged, but now i also believe that he has even improved upon his great ability to lie! he lies to himself, everyone around him, and all of us. and he’s still really creepy.
Larry

My opinion couldn’t get any lower. Thoughts of his adminstration are reminders of all of the worst shortcomings in today’s political leadership. His role as nursemaid to big business, his poor judgement regarding Irag, his lack of connection to world allies, his slipshod proposal to privatize Social Security, his bullying approach to dealing with potential enemies are a handful of actions that frame his character. I’m still struggling to understand the voters that put him in office – twice and am truly embarrassed by the way he represented the U.S. We owe all of his domestic and international victims an apology.
Steve the Cynic

Hmmm. Did anyone notice the strange silence of the usual far-right voices on this question? Do you suppose some of them might have been paid political shills whose jobs ended with the election? Nah, couldn’t be.
Ann

I watched the who Matt Lauer interview with Bush. I feel even stronger then when he left office that he should be charged with War Crimes. As he spoke on the different topics in his book, I could remember the facts and it was sickening to have to hear his repeated lies. It was a shame that the hosts of the shows he goes on don’t confront his lies like they did to Richard Nixon.

It is sad our great country refuses to try him for war crimes but I don’t doubt another country will.

When he said his mother miscarried and brought the fetus in jar home to show him that said a lot of the sick enviroment he was raised in.
Todd

President Bush was a fine president. I’d rather have President Bush leading the country rather than the hapless joker that currently besmirches the office.

He had excellent ideas to lead the country forward – e.g., the Social Security reform. He conducted himself with dignity and respect. I wish his detractors had one-tenth of the courtesy and demeanor that President Bush has.

President Obama is an utter joke that is spending our country into ruin.

Thankfully, his regime will be thrown out shortly.
Linda

Worst ever. He should still be prosecuted for war crimes. No – nothing could redeem this man unless he came clean with the American people and voluntarily opened the prison doors, walked in and closed the doors behind him. Then I would say he’s a changed man – but my opinion of him as the worst, most destructive president ever will never change.
I Michael

My opinion is neither better nor worse than before.

He deserved to be prosecuted for war crimes but Obama declined to push that.

Bush cut taxes and lied us into a war that has drained our pocketbooks and our resources. His payouts to AIG without any controls embarassed the government, now led by Democrats. Guess who got the blame.

The Bush administration’s failure to oversee and check violations of the laws regarding mortgages, got us into the recession we are now creeping out of. American memories are short.
Steve the Cynic

I’d rather have President Bush leading the country rather than the hapless joker that currently besmirches the office.”

In order to hold such a reality-free opinion, one would have to believe that the office is not besmirched by . . .

. . . using unethical election tactics (with plausible deniability) to get into office,

. . . economic policies that tend to widen the gap between the rich and the poor,

. . . proclaiming the ex-KGB thug who was then leading Russia to be some kind of kindred spirit,

. . . the unilateral abrogation of international treaties (ABM),

. . . scorning the opinions of allies,

. . . lying (or at least being willingly deceived) in order to lead the country into an illegal war of aggression,

. . . grossly mishandling the execution of the war, turning it into a quagmire,

. . . authorizing the commission of war crimes (torture),

. . . believing that history will look kindly on such inept leadership, and

. . . having the temerity to publish a book defending those things.
Jeremy

Knowledge has never hurt anyone… Just ask George Bush.
neville lord

Yes, my opinion has changed.

I used to think he was simply a bungling moron that GOP puppeteers abused for 8 years.

I now think he was genuinely corrupt and aware of his malfeasance.