The economy is debatable because most moderates believe both sides are to blame for this mess. If Bush is the worst president ever as some claim he is than what three major things did Bush screw up in his 8 years of presidency?
Ewww, what a disturbing picture... 3 huge failures: * civil liberties (torture, detainment, secrecy, surveillance), * foreign relations (especially allies, commercial war interests), * rampant corruption/corporatism (special interests and deregulation without any structure - just flawed human subjectivity/greed) extra: *** spending off the charts (the budget deficits, multi wars, socialism/enormous subsidies) I'm not a liberal - in the US sense of the word.
I thought Bush's responce to Katrina was adequate. Aid did come. And obviously he had no way of knowing at the begining of the Hurricane how bad it would eventually become.
Civil Liberties- Was the torture THAT widespread throughout the military or was it only from screwed up individual people? Is waterboarding torture? Was the surveillance a natural and acceptable reaction from 9/11? Foreign Relations- Was the Iraq war the biggest mistake ever or not? Is the justification for taking saddam out enough besides the fact of no WMD's. Rampant corrution- Is the Bush presidency the main factor for why the economy is in a mess? The bottom line is that the Bush presidency has been volatile, tough and controversial. Far left liberals will magnify these issues with no degree of accuracy and far right conservatives will deny it all but naming him one of the worst presidents ever is still very debatable depending on the events that occurred for the moderate thinker.
Bush also has extremely poor leadership skills. He readily admits being rather dim-witted, happy-go-along person. The Bush administration has totally destroyed the US reputation internationally, and the US has lost most of it's former clout. There is a tradition of sorts that former US presidents get invited to give speeches, have some monumental structure or landmark named after them. I think this will not be any demand of this from Bush. He veritably destroyed the Bush family legacy - one of the US most powerful political families of all time. The Bush legacy will overall undoubtedly be much worse than any other US president - bar none. NeoRio1, I understand your inclination to try and pick off any of the points - as in "divide and rule" tactic - but there is no escaping that Bush overall is the worst US president ever. Let a friend put a bag over your head and run water into your nose and mouth - then answer yourself if that is torture. What a silly argument... hehe. The CIA even required the orders to be written, as a safeguard against future fallout. They may be unscrupulous, but they are not stupid. Corruption was eased many places - wrt Iraq, oil industry, lobbying. Finally, what matters is not YOUR personal opinion - but the world consensus, as long as it is rational - and that also says Bush has been the worst ever US president.
-handling of Katrina -outing a CIA officer -veto of stem cell research Besides Katrina which was a natural disaster and mostly the states responsbility those issues in no way qualify a president for being listed among the worst.