Regardless of the outcome, many will be happy when the upcoming US elections are over. America says goodbye to the least popular president in its history. We look back on 8 years of George W. Bush.
On a rainy day in January
It was a rainy day in Washington DC, where a limosine slowly approached the White House. There were shouts from all sides, not in joy, but in protest. Here and there a well-aimed egg landed against the windows of the black limo. Behind those windows sat the 43rd President of the United States, George W. Bush. As the limosine speeds up to get behind the safe gates of the White House as quickly as possible, the term of the least popular US president ever begins.
Bush’s low popularity started on day one, when it became apparent that the elections had not gone entirely smoothly. The Fox News channel , known for its support of Republicans, declared Bush the winner of the election before all the votes had been counted. The news was broadcast to the other channels and while people were still counting, Al Gore congratulated his opponent George Bush on his victory. The people of the United States were furious, especially when it turned out that if there had been a recount, Gore would have won.
Declining popularity
In the years that followed, George Bush’s popularity continued to decline. The biggest reasons for this? Here is a list of the biggest reasons why Bush became less and less popular:
- The war in Iraq. Undoubtedly the top reason for Bush’s declining popularity. Although a large group initially supported this decision, the mood quickly declined. Many died (and are still dying), no weapons of mass destruction were found and the Iraqi people did not seem at all happy with their newly acquired democracy.
- Holidays. In George Bush’s first term, he was on vacation about 40% of the time. While the average American can be happy with a few vacation days a year.
- Katrina. The hurricane that devastated St. Louis had completed its destructive work days before the first relief forces arrived. To this day, not all the damage has been repaired and the poorer neighborhoods in particular are still in disarray.
- With a budget deficit of about $410 billion, Bush has done quite well in the past few years , compared to the record $413 billion in 2004.
Didn’t everything go wrong?
It seems that nothing went right during Bush’s term of office and no good projects were started. An example of such a good project would be the ,No Child Left Behind Act,.
,If our country fails in its responsibility to educate every child, were likely to fail in many other areas. But if we succeed in educating our youth, many other successes will follow throughout our country and in the lives of our citizens.,
These wise words come from none other than George Bush and refer to a program that was supposed to improve the quality of education in the United States. So why hasn’t this program improved Bush’s popularity? Unfortunately, the quality of US schools is still suboptimal because the No Child Left Behind Act has never received proper funding.
Conclusion
All in all, the US can look back on eight turbulent years. Years in which the country suffered major setbacks and went to war with Iraq and Afghanistan. Years in which the economy fell to a low point. Perhaps the American people are not the only ones relieved when Bush closes the door of the White House behind him. Perhaps he will also breathe a sigh of relief when he passes the scepter to McCain or Obama.