W.- A Retrospect

It has been nearly 60 hours since President George W Bush left Washington DC to resume life as an American citizen. The funny thing is; I miss him already. He is the only President I ever voted for and while people felt the need to boo him at the inauguration, I want to thank him.

The 43rd President in our nation's short history dealt with issues that no other President ever had to deal with before. We were attacked and a city that I personally hold close to my heart for various reasons was hurt. The nation bled together and they mended together. The months that followed September 11, 2001 were a wake up call to the American people. It was a time of reflection and of thanks. I know for one that I was thankful to live in a country where our freedoms (we sometimes take for granted) are so great that there were actually people who hated them so much they wanted nothing but harm done to us.

For the past few years, late night television has taken the easy road and poked fun at the President's inability to speak in public. The part that I wish they would talk about is his ability to lead in times of crisis. The election of 2008 was about everything that Bush did wrong and not about how the Congress that was also elected to serve the people had done absolutely nothing over the past two years. Everything has been Bush's fault and the mainstream media seems to forget their lesson in American Government.

The last time I checked, our government is comprised of a legislative, executive, and judicial branch. It was set up that way in order for one branch to not assume all the power and push the other two around. However, if you ask the media how it works, they would tell you that the President makes all the decisions and if he and congress do not get along, then it is the President's fault. I have to apologize because I am not that naive. Our elected officials are funded by those with an agenda. That is just the way of the world and has been a part of our political system for years. The folks in Washington are more worried about taking care of those who took care of them (makes sense) and not offending too many people in the process.

If the 43rd Presidency did anything, it exposed the hypocrisy that permeates the inner sanctum of our governing body. People were appalled when government contracts were distributed to Haliburton and when oil companies received tax breaks. Again, I am not that naive. It makes sense people. These are the groups that helped fund the campaigns that put the administration in power. The funny thing about history that I never comprehend how people do not understand is the assassinations of the Kennedy's. JFK was elected with the help of the unions, who were more than likely under organized crime control. Once elected, the attorney general, Robert Kennedy, cracked down on organized crime and a country is shocked when both he and his brother are assassinated. Who would have honestly thought that Ted Kennedy was the smart brother in the fact he never bit the hand that fed him?

The past eight years have been an interesting time to be an American. I for one have gone from full time student to full time working class and back to full time student. I can honestly say that if President Bush were allowed to run for a third term and decided he wanted to (something tells me he would not have), then I would have voted for him. I am better off as a human being after the past eight years in our country and can say I admire President Bush for what he dealt with and for keeping us safe since September 11, 2001. I have been drawn to his quote from his farewell address a week ago when he said his life had changed since that day and he never could have imagined waking up every morning and the first thing he saw was a briefing about who was trying to hurt us today. I do not know what that pressure feels like and I hope someday he can correlate the feeling in some form of a memoir of his time in office.

So how will history look upon the presidency of George Walker Bush? I honestly believe that it will find a way to smile upon his decisions regarding foreign policy and give him credit for the capture and death of Saddam Hussein. His attitude towards the rest of the world may have been seen as arrogant but the last thing our country needed after being attacked was a soft stance on anything having to do with the rest of our world. I believe that such a stance would have welcomed more attacks and cost more innocent lives. Now before the six of you who probably are going to read this crucify me for not lumping the American death toll in the Middle East into "innocent lives" please remember that those individuals volunteered to serve and in many cases re-enlisted to serve our country. I am in awe of the men and women in uniform and thank them and their families for the sacrifices and they truly are heroes for doing what they do so we can sleep in peace every night.

The President's of my lifetime all share one common quality. While the time has passed for this opportunity with Ronald Reagan, I still would love to sit down over dinner with Bush 41, Bill Clinton, and Bush 43. It would be great if all three were in the room at the same time. At the end of the day, these are the men who have held the most criticized job in the world. The media always likes to show the pictures of the President's when they enter the office and when they leave. Somehow they are still surprised that the job ages people. I cannot begin to imagine the stresses they face and the burden of protecting and looking out for billions of people. They are never going to get it right by everyone, but I think it has to be said that they tried their best to anyway. Nobody takes that job with the intent of failing the people. It is the intent that sometimes gets lost in the circus and inadvertently, the people feel as though they have been let down. With a heavy heart, I can say I am not one of those people. Thank you Mr. President for trying your best to continue to make this country the best country in the world.

(The picture is courtesy of Tanya Gleeson, January 20, 2009)