Bush “Inherited” a Difficult Situation, Too

          When George W. Bush was inaugurated the 43^rd President of the United States, he faced a number of difficulties that we Americans would be well to recall at this time when President Barack Obama and his liberal Democratic supporters frequently complain about the challenges that he faced at the time he took office.

            Beginning before Bush took office in 2001, there was an economic downturn, brought on by the bursting of the technology bubble.  The downturn was exacerbated by a series of accounting scandals that necessitated legislation to deter such abuse, which he signed into law.  Despite budget surpluses that were projected to be temporary, federal debt, which was the accumulation of the annual deficits since the 1830s, exceeded $5 trillion at Bush’s inauguration.  The economic downturn threatened to increase the debt by decreasing revenue as people earned less and paid less in taxes.  After entitlements, the interest on the debt alone is one of the largest single federal expenditures.  Deficits were expected to return, despite massive cuts to defense and intelligence under the Clinton Administration.  Meanwhile, there was no Medicare prescription drug program, the lack of which incentivized surgery, which is costlier than medicine, and there was no accountability for federal money sent to the States for education.  There was still a marriage tax penalty and a more burdensome inheritance tax than after Bush cut income taxes across the board and decreased the death tax.

            Defense and intelligence had been weakened by the time Bush took office, in the face of repeated terrorist and other militant attacks, until he began to improve defense and intelligence, while there was no missile defense system until he successfully implemented one.  There were thousands more Russian nuclear warheads than after Bush negotiated a mutual reduction of them.  Since before Bush took office, Americans had been under attack not only from Islamist terrorists like al-Qaeda, but from the Baathist regime of Iraq’s Saddam Hussein: Iraq had been firing missiles at Coalition aircraft on a near-daily basis since the last year of the Clinton Administration, in violation of the 1991 cease-fire, while Iraq, along with Afghanistan and Libya were still listed by the State Department as state sponsors of terrorism until those regimes were either removed from power or renounced terrorism.  As a result, there were oil embargoes against Iraq and Libya.  Relations were poor with the largest free state in the world, India, as U.S. sanctions were still in place against it until the 43^rd President lifted them and Americans benefited from increased trade and cooperation from India against Islamist terrorism.

            Every president faces challenges when he takes office, some more than others.  The difficulties facing Bush, although by far not the greatest that have ever faced an American Chief Executive, were nonetheless daunting. 

            It is how presidents face these challenges that we historians judge them, as well as how they seize opportunities to implement beneficial policies.  It is worth remembering that Bush’s tax cuts were successful in stimulating prosperity, while his War on Terrorism prevented another attack like those of September 11, 2001.  The challenges he faced necessitated increased federal spending in certain areas, but the prosperity from 2002-2007/8 was reducing the deficit as a percentage of the gross domestic product.  It is also important to consider that Bush also had to overcome a series of misfortunes that occurred during his two terms, in addition to those already mentioned: the most damaging hurricane in American history, a sharp rise in oil prices sparked by increased demand because of global prosperity, and the financial crisis sparked by the bursting of the housing bubble, among others.

The last of these misfortunes threatened a depression which the Bush Administration’s policies helped avert.  The recession was predicted to be brief and mild, like the last two before it.  Indeed, the recession technically ended by the end of the second quarter of 2009, before Obama’s policies were fully in effect.  A number of political observers have noted recently, except for the recession, the overall positive situation as Bush left office. 

Finally, it is necessary and fair to acknowledge that every president, especially one who serves two terms, does some things that everyone recognizes as beneficial, and some things that everyone recognizes as harmful, some things well and some things poorly.  Neither Bush nor Obama are exceptions.  During this election season, when expressions of opinions tend to be exaggerated, it is worth noting the considerable difficulties George W. Bush faced at the time he took office, as well as those that occurred beyond his control during his presidency and his successes in dealing with them, in order better to judge his successor.