Abstract
One of the standards for a plausible classification is the capacity to add new entries. Presidential rankings of George W. Bush by historians and political scientists have moved steadily downward, from nineteenth in a 2005 poll to thirty-sixth in 2009. In another poll in 2008, 61 percent of respondents placed him last; in a 2010 poll he was ranked at thirty-ninth.1 Since volatility among lower ranked presidents is relatively low, it is likely that these assessments will place Bush among the “irredeemables” identified by Jean H. Baker that we discussed earlier. Even taking into consideration the closeness to the present, these presidential rankings can provide an initial basis for the comparative evaluation of Bush. Does Bush share common features with some or all of these very bad presidents (as many respondents have suggested) or is his badness different? Or are other interpretations possible that link Bush more closely with other presidents, even “good” or “great” ones?
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Notes
Robert S. McElvaine, “Historians vs. George W. Bush,” HNN, April 1, 2008, pp. 1–14.
See, Irving Ribner, “Bolingbroke, a True Machiavellian,” Modern Language Quarterly 9 (June 1948): 177–84, who compares Bolingbroke’s actions to those recommended by Machiavelli in The Prince and also Bruce Stirling, “Bolingbroke’s Decision,” Shakespeare Quarterly 2 (January 1951): 27–24.
For early generally positive assessments by political scientists, see, Gary L. Gregg and Mark J. Rozell, eds., Considering the Bush Presidency (Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2004);
Colin Campbell and Bert Rockman, eds., The George W. Bush Presidency: Appraisals and Prospects (Washington, DC: Congressional Studies Quarterly, 2004).
James Moore and Wayne Slater, Bush’s Brain: How Karl Rove Made George W. Bush Presidential (Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2003);
Robert Draper, Dead Certain: The Presidency of George W. Bush (New York: Free Press, 2007);
Shirley Ann Warshaw, The Co-Presidency of Bush and Cheney (Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas, 2009).
James P. Pfiffner, “The First MBA President: George W. Bush as Public Administrator,” Public Administration Review 67 (2007): 6–20.
Richard T. Syles, “President Bush and Hurricane Katrina: A Presidential Leadership Study,” Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 604 (March 2006): 27.
Douglas Brinkley, The Great Deluge (New York: Harpercollins, 2006), pp. 542–44.
Alan Wolfe, Does Democracy Still Work? (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2006), p. 74.
Gary C. Jacobson, A Divider, Not a Uniter (New York: Pearson Longman, 2007), p. 1.
Both supporters and critics of the unitary executive acknowledge historical precedent while highlighting Bush’s contribution. See, for example, John Yoo, Crisis and Command (New York: Kaplan, 2010); Ryan J. Bailleaux and Christopher S. Kelly, The Unitary Executive and the Modern Presidency (College Station, TX: Texas A&M University Press, 2010);
Michael Genovese and Lori Cox, eds., The Presidency and the Challenge of American Democracy (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006).
George Edwards III, Governing by Campaigning: The Politics of the Bush Presidency (New York: Pearson Longman, 2007).
Stephen Skowronek, Presidential Leadership in Political Time (Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas, 2008), p. 162.
Gary Wills, Bomb Power: The Modern Presidency and the National Security State (New York: Penguin, 2010).
Sheldon Wolin, Democracy Incorporated (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2008), pp. 116, 44.
Ellen B. Smith, The Presidency of James Buchanan (Lawrence, KS: University of Kansas Press, 1975), pp. 192–98.
Bruce Miroff, “The Presidency and the Public: Leadership as Spectacle,” in Michael Nelson, ed., The Presidency and the Political System (Washington, DC: CQ Press, 2006), p. 282.
Copyright information
© 2013 Philip Abbott
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Abbott, P. (2013). The Latest Bad President?: George W. Bush. In: Bad Presidents. The Evolving American Presidency Series. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137306593_12
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137306593_12
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, New York
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-45513-3
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-30659-3
eBook Packages: Palgrave Political & Intern. Studies CollectionPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)