President Bush has said before that he believes his presidency, which has been mired in low approval ratings for much of his second term, will be vindicated by history.
But Mr. Bush made some forthcoming remarks on this topic today in an interview with Israeli journalists Nahum Barnea and Shimon Shiffer, of Yedioth Ahronoth, the main Hebrew-language newspaper in Israel.
"I'll be dead before the true history of the Bush administration is written," Mr. Bush said.
"Here in the Oval Office, there are portraits of two Presidents, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. In the past couple of years, I have read extensive analyses of both of those men's presidencies," the president said. "My attitude is that it's going to take a while for objective historians to realize the contributions that this administration has made to peace."
One of the two journalists (it's not clear which in the transcript), told Mr. Bush, "In our country you won't have to wait so long."
Mr. Bush responded: "Well, I don't worry about it, sir. I just really don't. It's such an honor to be the President. You betray the office if you get so caught up in your own personal -- your personal standing."
One other interesting moment came when the two Israeli journalists pressed Mr. Bush on whether he would support an Israeli strike against Iranian nuclear facilities.
Mr. Bush talked at length about how the U.S. wants to solve the Iranian problem diplomatically, and that "pressure must work."
But the journalists were not satisfied.
"Mr. President, I'll try to put the question another way," one of the journalists said. "If the Israeli Prime Minister will present you with a smoking gun, and will tell you, look, we can't live with such a threat and we'll destroy the Iranian nuclear sites, you will support Israel, you will give Israel, you will let Israel to do so?"
"The policy of the United States is to solve this diplomatically," Mr. Bush said.
The president added nothing more, and the interview moved on to other topics.
-- Jon Ward, White House correspondent, The Washington Times
Comments (3)
I think President Bush is grasping at straws to save himself from one of the most dismal legacies of any president in history. It is not that he hasn't been a strong president or a strong leader. But the judgement of history is far more subtle than simply looking at wheter leaders acted in a strong way. There is no doubt in anyone's mind that Stalin, Hitler and Sadaam Hussein were strong leaders.
I am not comparing Bush to them in any way other than that they were strong, aggressive alpha male-types. Obviously, Bush's tendencies in that direction were tempered by a committment to the most basic liberal ideals in the West. But, these tendencies did drive him into foolish actions that indicate a lack of introspection--something that strong leaders must have to temper their more aggressive instincts. This is especially true when such a leader has almost limitless military power at his disposal.
And, I seriously doubt the underpinnings of Bush's notion that history will vindicate him. The only way in which that could conceivably happen is if the ragtag, loosely connected terror orgainizations around the world who do not eve like or trust one another, were to suddenly unite in some common cause, develop a technology that allowed them to rival in power say, a Soviet Union-type government, that could develop, maintain and deliver the sort of lethal nuclear threat that they represented. I just don't see that happening.
Posted by Gary Jackson | January 5, 2008 11:16 AM
President Bush is truly one of the greatest Presidents in the history of the United States. He overthrew the evil dictator Saddam. The evil dictator was then brought to justice and executed by his own people. Not even FDR or Truman can make a claim like that. We are winning the war against the terrorists that Bill Clinton chose to ignore when they first bombed the World Trade Center. My brother-in-law, a New York City Firefighter was killed in the destruction of the World Trade Center. I fully support President Bush's efforts to fight terrorism and bring peace to the Middle East. Its time we do away wit that crazy amendment and reelect President Bush to another 4 years !
Posted by Daniel P. | January 5, 2008 5:37 PM
If it wasn't for Partisan Politics, this President would be among the best since Teddy.
If you do not want to see the problems facing us, bury your head and blame Pres Bush (as a good Democrat seeking to regain power would). If on the other hand you see and hear the rantings coming out of Iran and from Al Queda, you must identify it as a MAJOR problem facing the FREE world.
For those currently running for president who callfor leaving Iraq unfinished (another Vietnam chorus), take DIRECT responsibility for the CONSEQUENCES of your actions, whatever they be. Personally, I think that everything this country has done in this world over the last 50 plus years was taken into accunt by Al Queda when they attacked on on 9/11.
We ran out of Vietnam, Beirut, Somalia and shied away from any type of conflict of major size for years. People perceive this type of conduct as weakness, right or wrong. To have power and never find the reason to use it for good is telling on a nation, any nation. To talk and always give ground is also telling (The PLO peace talks with Isreal - always broken by Afafat for his benefit and gain).
Let us try to get a grip, and place blame where it belongs not where it currently CONVIENIENT before we face insurmountable problems, like a failing economy!!
The distinquished left stated that our position in this world was severely erroded by this President. However, it was the FRENCH and GERMANS who voted the old guard OUT and Conservatism IN. Someone had a drastic conversion, somewhere.
When the rest of the world wants nothing more than to see the U.S. shoulder their problems so they can ignore them, they need to, AT LEAST, be speaking from the same corner of their mouths. (They've not, and WILL not, unless pressured, field enough troops to fulfill their commitments to Afganistan). Remember, they would not even help the Bosnians until the U.S. involved itself.
The greatest problem confronting this President is/was the inability to let the American people know what was happening, primarily due to security concerns. This is a problem mainly created by the Clintons PUSH-POLL politics.
Running a government by asking for the results of a poll is great when only problems of health, finances, or job protection are being asked. When it becomes a protection of life situation, THAT is why we elect a PRESIDENT.
When laws are outdated due to technical inovations, those laws need to be addressed in a timely manner and brought into this century. That was done by this president, over the screams of this LIBERAL congress.
NO LAWS WERE BROKEN because there were no laws governing this situation at the time. The shortfall was addressed and corrected, and now there are laws in place. To categorically state that the American people need to know how these laws will be enforced in detail is, in point of fact, giving aid and comfort to an enemy who is up-to-date on the uses of current technology AND is stateless.
Posted by Donald G. | January 6, 2008 5:45 PM