NewsHour Extra: Bush Legacy Lies in 9/11, Iraq, Economy, Education and AIDS Relief | January 13, 2009

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	Bush Legacy Lies in 9/11, Iraq, Economy, Education and AIDS Relief

	Posted: January 13, 2009	PRINTER FRIENDLY VERSION: PDF

As President-elect Barack Obama prepares to take the oath of office next week, out-going President George W. Bush is leaving behind a controversial legacy shaped by the war in Iraq and a broken economy.

President Bush gave his final press conference January 12 and defended his record on Iraq and the economy to reporters.

President Bush is leaving office during a deep recession, after the collapse of many banks and credit providers prompted a large government-funded bailout of financial institutions. Many Americans are losing their jobs in a struggling economy, contributing to record low approval ratings for Mr. Bush: below 30 percent.

The president will be remembered for many things, including a major legislative push at improving public education and unprecedented levels of funding for HIV/AIDS relief in developing countries.

However his biggest legacy will likely be his response to the threat of terrorism and his decision to invade Iraq.

The early years






	President Bush started his first term in January 2001, which was upended by the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York and Washington.

Mr. Bush's eight years in office began in January of 2001, but were forever changed by the events of September 11, 2001. In the days and weeks following the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, D.C., his approval ratings were at the highest of his presidency.

He declared a "global war on terror" and launched the war in Afghanistan targeting the al-Qaida terrorist network and the Taliban -- decisions that enjoyed solid support in the United States.

But President Bush's decision to invade Iraq in 2003, based on intelligence the administration said showed that then-Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, was much more controversial.

The Iraq war and occupation






	The 2003 invasion of Iraq defined much of President Bush's presidency and dragged down his approval rating.

The fact that the invading U.S.-led forces failed to find nuclear, biological or chemical weapons of mass destruction in Iraq was a large blow to the credibility of the United States on the world stage.

Despite an initial quick overthrow of the government, a long and violent insurgency developed in the country, claiming more than 4,000 U.S. military casualties as of early 2009.

Journalist Bob Woodward, who has written four books on the Bush presidency, told CBS that because the president has true control over the military in a way that he could never control the economy, Mr. Bush will be judged by his wars.

"One of the questions I asked him was about how history would look at his Iraq War. And he rightly says, 'We won't know, we'll all be dead.' May look very different in 50 years, if there's democracy, more stability. If that's the case it's quite possible historians will look back on it and say he did fine," Woodward said.

"The fact that [Iraq] has improved, does not change the fact that [President Bush] essentially invaded, started a major war by mistake, that is, based on intelligence that proved to be inaccurate," Byron York, White House correspondent for The National Review, told the NewsHour.

The economy






	The current recession is the worst since the Great Depression, with the number of jobs and loans shrinking.

As President Bush leaves office, the economy is in a deep recession, the worst since the Great Depression, and many people have lost homes because of the mortgage crisis.

Unemployment is at a 16-year high and many people are losing their savings.

Mr. Bush was a champion of deregulation, which contributed to the intensity of the economic problems, but he also went against his own free-market ideology to approve a massive government intervention to bailout the financial industry.

The economic crisis has been blamed on different factors and many economists have agreed they could not have predicted such a massive collapse.

But while President Bush will not be solely blamed for the situation, it will still mark his time in office.

Health, education and Katrina






	President Bush was widely criticized for his administration's response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Also key in shaping President Bush's legacy will be his willingness to take on issues like AIDS in Africa, public education at home and the administration's response to Hurricane Katrina.

In creating The President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, Mr. Bush pledged more money to help developing nations deal with the health crisis than any other president. In July of 2008 it was reauthorized, providing $48 billion to fight HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis through 2013.

President Bush's No Child Left Behind legislation, which intended to hold schools accountable for the achievement level of their students has some opponents and has hit many road bumps. But it brought needed attention to the problems in many schools and many educators agree with the intent of the law.

President-elect Obama has indicated he supports it with modifications.

No more attacks on U.S. soil






	President Bush's administration points to the lack of a terrorist attack on U.S. soil as one of its successes.

Another domestic achievement, after the loss and pain of the Sept. 11 attacks is that there has not been another attack on U.S. soil during his presidency.

"We haven't had another attack in seven years," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said. "And that matters."

Obama's resounding victory in November was considered by many political watchers as a final verdict on Mr. Bush's presidency. The legacy he left behind will continue to shape history going forward.

"Without Bush, the first African-American president probably wouldn't have been elected at this time," said Stephen Wayne, a political scientist at Georgetown University told Reuters.

--Compiled by Talea Miller for NewsHour Extra




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