Barack Obama will be sworn in as our 44th president tomorrow. Much is hoped for his presidency. Obama has done a great job of getting his team together, doing what he said he would, reaching across party lines to get the job done.
In practice, that is easier said than done. It is simple to pick someone who is seen as your enemy and put them in high office; it is another to have to work with them on a day to day basis. I hope, as many Americans do, that he can live up to the hype, both created by him and created by his followers. I voted for Obama, because I believed he was the better among the choices and I have always liked Joe Biden. Do I believe he is the second coming? No. Do I believe he will do a good job? Yes. But he is no more human than George W. Bush, and thus no less susceptible to his failings.
There has been much speculation in the media these past months about Bush’s legacy. It seems that most are trying to say, ‘hey, it’s Cheney’s fault.’ And while I think that Cheney had too much influence, it was Bush’s white house. Bush is an example of why you must want to be, and do, president to run for the office; because if you do not, you will never give your whole self to the Office. I believe Bush wanted to be president in his second term but not his first. That is why he did a lot better in that term than his first; although the bar was pretty low. What you saw in his second term was a more thoughtful president who utilized the right people. Secretary Rice become more influential, Rumsfeld left, and Cheney took a back seat. Foreign policy became more nuanced and less myopic. As Daniel Drezner of Newsweek writes “In his second term, Bush made a concerted effort to repair the transatlantic relationship, in part by endorsing negotiations with Iran.” Drezner goes on to note that President Obama owes a great deal of gratitude to President Bush for his policy shifts.
The mistake many presidents make, as Bush did, is to think they can come into office and on day one flip everything on its head. Bush did this with much of Clinton’s foreign policy which did America no good, but at the start of Bush’s second term he reverted back to many of the policy’s of Clinton’s white house. While voters say that they want change that does not mean a president accomplishes the same by doing the opposite of what the other guy did. A president will never understand the choices of the previous president until s/he is in the job. That is why I believe Obama will make a good president, not because of his experience, but because, seemingly, he gets that the presidency is all about shades of gray and nuance.
Bush leaves office with very low approval rating, much of it is deserved and some not. While I have never liked Bush I can see that he has changed; like the teenager who approached his parents with contempt and petulance, to the reflective adult who understands in part that stubbornness is not akin to ‘staying true to oneself.’ Maybe I give him too much credit, but the forgiving person in me wants to think he realizes his mistakes, even if he won’t admit them. I believe this is best evidenced by the transition of power that has taken place since November.
The Office of the President has not been treated with much respect for these past 16 years, from Clinton’s inability to understand the difference between a hotel room and the oval office to Bush’s outsourcing of his duties to his principles.
All I can hope for, and believe to be true, is that Obama will treat the Office with more respect than those who came before him. It might be too much, or too little, to ask but it will make me a prouder American.
Listening to:
Hasta Pronto, Cuidate,
Michael
In practice, that is easier said than done. It is simple to pick someone who is seen as your enemy and put them in high office; it is another to have to work with them on a day to day basis. I hope, as many Americans do, that he can live up to the hype, both created by him and created by his followers. I voted for Obama, because I believed he was the better among the choices and I have always liked Joe Biden. Do I believe he is the second coming? No. Do I believe he will do a good job? Yes. But he is no more human than George W. Bush, and thus no less susceptible to his failings.
There has been much speculation in the media these past months about Bush’s legacy. It seems that most are trying to say, ‘hey, it’s Cheney’s fault.’ And while I think that Cheney had too much influence, it was Bush’s white house. Bush is an example of why you must want to be, and do, president to run for the office; because if you do not, you will never give your whole self to the Office. I believe Bush wanted to be president in his second term but not his first. That is why he did a lot better in that term than his first; although the bar was pretty low. What you saw in his second term was a more thoughtful president who utilized the right people. Secretary Rice become more influential, Rumsfeld left, and Cheney took a back seat. Foreign policy became more nuanced and less myopic. As Daniel Drezner of Newsweek writes “In his second term, Bush made a concerted effort to repair the transatlantic relationship, in part by endorsing negotiations with Iran.” Drezner goes on to note that President Obama owes a great deal of gratitude to President Bush for his policy shifts.
The mistake many presidents make, as Bush did, is to think they can come into office and on day one flip everything on its head. Bush did this with much of Clinton’s foreign policy which did America no good, but at the start of Bush’s second term he reverted back to many of the policy’s of Clinton’s white house. While voters say that they want change that does not mean a president accomplishes the same by doing the opposite of what the other guy did. A president will never understand the choices of the previous president until s/he is in the job. That is why I believe Obama will make a good president, not because of his experience, but because, seemingly, he gets that the presidency is all about shades of gray and nuance.
Bush leaves office with very low approval rating, much of it is deserved and some not. While I have never liked Bush I can see that he has changed; like the teenager who approached his parents with contempt and petulance, to the reflective adult who understands in part that stubbornness is not akin to ‘staying true to oneself.’ Maybe I give him too much credit, but the forgiving person in me wants to think he realizes his mistakes, even if he won’t admit them. I believe this is best evidenced by the transition of power that has taken place since November.
The Office of the President has not been treated with much respect for these past 16 years, from Clinton’s inability to understand the difference between a hotel room and the oval office to Bush’s outsourcing of his duties to his principles.
All I can hope for, and believe to be true, is that Obama will treat the Office with more respect than those who came before him. It might be too much, or too little, to ask but it will make me a prouder American.
Listening to:
Hasta Pronto, Cuidate,
Michael
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