The legacy of President George W. Bush is debated by scholars in a new book co-edited by a Purdue University presidential expert.
"It is natural for scholars, journalists and historians to begin debating what a president has left behind before that president has even left," said Bert A. Rockman, professor and head of the Department of Political Science. "A president's legacy is best determined 100 years after the term, but there is a lot of time between now and then for one's legacy to be defined. Right now, many would say going to war in Iraq has been the defining action of George Bush's presidency, but in 50 or 100 years we may think differently.
"This book is a first word - not a last one - about Bush's likely impact on the future. No reader will agree with everything here, nor do we."
"The George W. Bush Legacy" ($34.95) was published by CQ Press in July. The other editors are University of British Columbia's Colin Campbell and Dickinson College's Andrew Rudalevige. The editors and writers analyze Bush's political strategy and policies and evaluate the short- and long-term affects of Bush's accomplishments and failures. Specific topics include Bush's leadership style, the influence of interest groups, effects of public opinion, role of the courts, national security, the response to 9/11 and foreign policy.
Bush, who has about 17 months left in office, was elected in 2000 in a disputed election that was ultimately decided by the Supreme Court. He was the first Republican president to have a congressional majority since Dwight Eisenhower after the 1952 election, and his initial legislative landmark was the education reform program called the No Child Left Behind Act.
At the beginning of Bush's first term, his public approval ratings hovered at 50 percent, then soared to 90 percent after the 9/11 attacks. His approval ratings currently have dropped to about 30 percent, said Rockman, who has co-edited a series of books about Bush and former presidents Bill Clinton and George H. W. Bush.
Rockman said time also may bring more attention to efforts the current administration has undertaken in addressing the AIDs crisis in Africa, an issue on which little attention has been focused.
"The thing about legacies and inheritances is that nothing lasts forever," Rockman said. "Presidents inherit what their predecessors have left and seek in turn to leave their own mark behind. One president's good, more than likely, will be his successor's bad."
Rockman said that examining the current Bush administration also leads to a re-examination and comparison to the presidency of George H.W. Bush.
"In this case, we have a father and son who are two different people," Rockman said. "His father was very experienced in diplomacy and public life, but considered very cautious and lacking a vision. Plus, the senior Bush lost his re-election effort in 1992. The younger Bush wanted to make sure he came equipped with a vision and showed that he was unafraid to take bold steps."
George W. Bush's steps included influencing the direction of the judiciary, expanding executive power, institutionalizing the 2001 tax cuts and going beyond them, delivering policies and appointments for favored base constituencies, and increasing the size and reach of the national security state, Rockman said. However, he did not succeed in revising the social security system, which is something that could have significantly affected his legacy, Rockman said.
Rockman is editor or author of 14 books, including "The George W. Bush Presidency: Appraisals and Prospects," "The Clinton Presidency: First Appraisals," "The Clinton Legacy" and "The Bush Presidency: First Appraisals," as well as "The Oxford Handbook of Political Institutions" and "Presidential Leadership: The Vortex of Power." His book "The Leadership Question" won the Richard E. Neustadt Prize.
Campbell is the Canada Research Chair in U.S. Government and Politics at the University of British Columbia. Rudalevige is chair of the political science department at Dickinson College and serves on the governing board of the American Political Science Association's Presidency Research Section.
Related Web sites:
Purdue Department of Political Science: http://www.polsci.purdue.edu/
The George W. Bush Legacy: http://www.cqpress.com/product/George-W-Bush-Legacy.html
PHOTOS:
Bert Rockman:http://news.uns.purdue.edu/images/+mugshots/rockman-b07.jpg
Book: http://news.uns.purdue.edu/images/+2007/rockman-bushposter.jpg
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