The Legacy of George W Bush

Decades from now, and perhaps even centuries, historians will look back on the legacy of President George W Bush. And, with an impartial perspective, rather than a partisan and political one, I believe their findings will be quiet reasonable and accurate.

A simple reflection on the facts leaves us with a number of benefits gained from the work of Bush and the members of his administration.

Under Bush, we have seen the establishment of the highly effective Office of Homeland Security. He was responsible for the appointment of two promising new Supreme Court justices. American's have enjoyed modest but widespread tax cuts and since September 11, 2001, we haven't had a single terrorist attack on American soil.

Some of what those who have been opponents of the administration will argue is that Bush's team had been too hasty in invading Iraq, had mishandled the situation that was Hurricane Katrina and has allowed the national economy to fall into a very deep recession.

Yes, Bush and his team dropped the ball on the original decision to go into Iraq. However, Congress did as well, including President-Elect Barack Obama.

On the positive side, the initial invasion resulted in the ousting of one of the world's worst dictators. And, as I have learned, when one makes a mistake, they should be responsible for correcting it, thus our continued presence in Iraq. Although far from perfect, this very presence has yielded massive, measurable results in stabilizing an ever violent region.

Similarly, the response time to aide the victims of Hurricane Katrina was sub-par. But, this democratic governor of Louisiana and mayor of New Orleans did not adequately allocate federal funds in a timely manner, leaving FEMA and Bush to take all the blame. Looting and rioting in the streets of New Orleans also caused difficulties for any rescue efforts.

As for the economy, yes, we are experiencing a recession. However, for the majority of his time as president, the economy under Bush was very strong. In October of 2007, the Dow Jones Industrial hit an all-time high of more that 14,000. And when things did start to go bad, it was more the accumulated effects of the Community Reinvestment Act, started under Jimmy Carter's administration and considerably revised under Bill Clinton in 1995.

And now that this man's tenure is coming to an end, Obama will be our nation's Commander in Chief.

It is hard to project what to expect under the administration of a sort of celebrity-like leader. It seems that the concept of "change" is among his chief priorities. However, there is good change and there is bad change. And as of this time, we have no idea which direction his vision of might take us. That is, if any real change does actually occur at all.

All in all, Bush has clearly not been one of the elite among those to hold the position. Very few will compare him to the likes of Abraham Lincoln or Franklin D. Roosevelt for example. However, when examined with reason and removing bias, he will surely not rank among the worst national leaders either. Like him or not, he did a pretty average job.

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Lincoln on Politicians

Politicians [are] a set of men who have interests aside from the interests of the people, and who, to say the most of them; are, taken as a mass, at least one long step removed from honest men. I say this with the greatest freedom because, being a politician myself, non can regard it as personal.

Speech in the Illinois Legislature [ January 11, 1837] from Bartlett's Familiar Quotations

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Worried About Hyper Inflation? Maybe You Should Think on It

The United States has been busy printing money and we've been selling Treasury Notes, luckily we are borrowing at a low interest rate, but we are also putting ourselves in debt and printing money and forcing it into the economy at a rate never before seen. The Stimulus of 787 Billion Dollars and some $2 Trillion for financial bailouts; all this money flow will cause an inflation challenge in the future. So, let me recommend a very good book to you:

The Great Inflation and Its Aftermath - How Reagan and Volcker Tamed Economic Policy - and Why Obama Should Listen" by Robert J. Samuelson; Random House, New York, NY (2008).

It is also available to be loaded onto your Kindle "The Great Inflation and Its Aftermath: The Past and Future of American Affluence" for the low cost of $14.00

This book reminds us of the problems with high-inflation during 1960 to 1982. Most younger folks have no clue why this is. Things were pretty bad in the 1970s and stagflation was even worse, in fact things were so bad that President Jimmy Carter lost the election.

Samuelson, a columnist for Newsweek and the Washington Post reminds us also that inflation is not so much only an economic problem, as it destroys confidence making it more social and political that one might think. One interesting quote was one by Lenin, who stated that the best way to destroy a democracy is to debase its currency. Indeed, think on that for a minute.

I'd recommend this book to anyone who is wondering if the current direction of our nation's leadership and economy is a wise choice. Consider all this.

Lance Winslow enjoys community philanthropy - Lance Winslow likes small business. Lance Winslow has also been involved in the Oil Industry; http://www.oilchangeguys.com/aboutus.shtml/. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lance_Winslow http://www.pippoproducts.com/products4.html

The American Civil War and Abraham Lincoln

Millions of people contributed and sacrificed tremendously to the outcome of the American Civil War. Hundreds of thousands of Americans sacrificed everything. Yet one man stands out in history and is credited above all others in influencing the outcome of the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln.

Abraham Lincoln, a former Illinois lawyer, won the Republican Party nomination and became the President of the United States in 1860. The southern states, of which Lincoln only won 2 of 996 counties that he was on the ballot on, began quickly seceding from the Union and forming their own nation, the Confederate States of America. Abraham Lincoln and the majority in the north would not allow the Union to be dissolved, and an American Civil War was imminent.

The war, known to the southerners as the "War of Northern Aggression" or "War Between the States", was immensely feared, but also fiercely anticipated by both sides. Both northerners and southerners gave violent demonstrations and Abraham Lincoln had already evaded assassination attempts even before his inauguration.

In April of 1861 the Confederates fired on South Carolina's Fort Sumter and the fort was forced to surrender under heavy fire. Abraham Lincoln called for 75,000 volunteers to recapture Union forts and quell the uprising. Four more Southern states, including Virginia, seceded from the Union and the American Civil War was officially underway.

Militarily, the north was decidedly losing the war until the battle of Antietam occurred, the single bloodiest day in American history. While still not technically a strategic victory for the North, Abraham Lincoln now at least had enough political leverage to put into law the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed liberated slaves in southern states. While the Emancipation Proclamation had political motivations, it also helped to weaken the southern economy as freed black slaves were now also allowed to join the ranks of the Union army. By the end of the war about 179,000 black men served in the army and about 19,000 served in the navy.

Lincoln had always encountered northern opposition to the American Civil War (mostly anti-war Democrat "copperheads"), but none so drastically until after the battle of Gettysburg. While Gettysburg was a great northern victory, Lincoln had to initiate the war's second draft to replace the staggering 23,000 Union casualties. The northern citizens were far from happy, and even violent. The most notable example is the New York City Draft Riots. The riots were put down and Lincoln continued on and delivered the famous Gettysburg address.

Gettysburg proved to be the turning point in the American Civil War. Union victories at Gettysburg, Vicksburg, and Chattanooga gave the North more confidence and Abraham Lincoln appointed General Ulysses S. Grant army commander. What Grant lacked as a military tactician he made up for in raw aggressiveness, beating the South through attrition with high casualties on both sides. Despite initial fears by the Republican Party (though Lincoln ran under the National Union Party) and war Democrats, Lincoln easily defeated George B. McClellan (former Union general appointed twice by Lincoln) in the 1864 presidential election.

The devastating American Civil War came to a conclusion on April 9, 1865 when General Robert E. Lee surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House in Virginia. Lincoln could finally focus most of his efforts on reconstruction and beginning to mend the deep scars between the North and South. When asked how defeated Confederates should be treated, Lincoln responded "Let 'em up easy". History had other plans however as on April 14, 1865 at Ford's Theatre in Washington D.C., a single shot by stage actor John Wilkes Booth ended the life of Abraham Lincoln.

J. F. Borno enjoys learning and writing about the American Civil War and early photographic history. He is especially interested in learning more about original Civil War photos and tintypes. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=J._F._Borno http://www.pippoproducts.com/products