OP-ED: History Unkind to Bush Era (New Zealand Herald, NZ)

The great American presidents have earned their reputations in times of crisis. Think of George Washington, at the nation's founding, Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War, and Franklin D. Roosevelt during the Great Depression and World War II. All three united the populace, governed astutely and delivered heightened security. George W. Bush also faced a time of crisis early in his eight-year tenure when terrorists plunged airliners into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

As his term ends, his great boast is that he spared the United States a repeat of the September 11 attacks. Such a claim will never see him mentioned in the same breath as Lincoln or Roosevelt. But, arguably, it is one that entitles him to more plaudits than are now being directed his way.

The problem for President Bush, however, and the reason some historians have already labelled him the worst president in US history, is the cost of safeguarding American soil. After rallying the nation superbly, so much so that at one stage he enjoyed 90 per cent approval, he perpetrated one blunder after another. The most calamitous was the invasion of Iraq, an unprovoked act that appalled many of America's traditional allies. Even the President, a man averse to admitting error, conceded this week that not finding weapons of mass destruction in Iraq was a "significant disappointment".

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