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The Buchtelite

The Editorially Independent Voice of The University of Akron

The Buchtelite

The Editorially Independent Voice of The University of Akron

The Buchtelite

History will decide on Bush presidency

“You don’t have to be very attentive to know that President Bush isn’t very popular in the realm of public opinion; his approval ratings usually float around 30 percent. As to the reasons for this, some would point to the Iraq war while others would say it’s because of his foreign or domestic policy.”

You don’t have to be very attentive to know that President Bush isn’t very popular in the realm of public opinion; his approval ratings usually float around 30 percent.

As to the reasons for this, some would point to the Iraq war while others would say it’s because of his foreign or domestic policy. However, if you are someone who truly does not like the man, I encourage you to read further and find out that his policies mimic some of histories best leaders.

The main reason people would believe our current president is terrible is because they don’t understand where he is coming from.

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His policies are not new; they are rooted in the ideas of other successful presidents.

Let me make a reference to another president who started his own unpopular war, Abraham Lincoln.

Consider this quote by an Ohio governor, Clement L. Vallandigham, at a Democratic rally in 1863 concerning the Lincoln administration and the Civil War: it was not their intention to effect a restoration of the Union; that previous to the bloody battle of Fredericksburg an attempt was made to stay this wicked, cruel and unnecessary war.

Do those last words sound familiar?

How about these: the people have been deceived as to the objects of the war from the beginning; it was a war for the liberation of blacks and the enslavement of whites. We had been told it would be terminated in three months – then in nine months, and again in a year – but that there was still no prospect of its being ended.

The reason I use these quotes is to show that even during the Civil War there were those who hated Lincoln just as much as some people hate Bush.

They thought that meddling in the affairs of the south was not the United States job, just as people would say it’s not our job to meddle in the affairs of the Middle East.

Now lets fast forward to another president facing similar problems, Harry Truman.

For those who don’t know, President Truman was the president who saw the end of World War II and the beginning of the Cold War, a war he acknowledged with this quote: it must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressure.

This was just after World War II, mind you, and plenty of people were reluctant to fight the Soviet Union after having already lost so many lives.

Nevertheless, Truman approved the Marshal Plan, a plan to rebuild Western Europe in order to stop Communist aggression.

Also born from the Truman administration was the idea of Containment, a pledge to make sure no peaceful countries fell victim to communist oppression.

Both policies are remarkably similar to the actions of the Bush administration. By securing certain counties in the Middle East, the United States is uprooting radical Islamic fundamentalists and hampering their subversion of peaceful Middle Eastern countries.

As you can see, Abraham Lincoln was harshly criticized for his war but through grit and determination managed to hold a divided country together.

Harry Truman appeased nobody when he placed the country in front of Communism, but through grit and determination helped end it.

So if you still think Bush is a bad president, wait 40 or 50 years.

You might be surprised to see how history portrays him.

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