'Is George W. Bush the Worst President in American History' Essay

'Is George W. Bush the Worst President in American History' - Essay Example This paper will accomplish this by contrasting a pro-Bush article by Conrad Black, George W. Bush, FDR, and History, and The Worst President in History?, an anti-Bush article by Sean Wilentz. The paper will then assess the Bush Presidency’s foreign and domestic record in an effort to resolve to this debate. Conrad Black asserts that Bush has the opportunity to rise to the historical prominence of Franklin D. Roosevelt whose domestic programs helped to bring the country out of The Depression and foreign policy was instrumental in the winning of World War II. Sean Wilentz rates Bush alongside Herbert Hoover, the presidency that is blamed for the Depression, the impeached Andrew Johnson and the ineffectual James Buchanan. Black claims that it is ‘nonsense’ that the military and foreign policy debacle of Iraq can be compared to Vietnam. He suggests this because, unlike Vietnam, Congress authorized the invasion of Iraq and observes that the casualty rate of the Iraq war, as compared to Vietnam, is markedly lower, although he doesn’t mention that the rate of severely injured is much higher. Wilentz disagrees saying that the two conflicts are very similar in that they are both foreign conflicts, have each been seemingly unending and un-winnable. The only major difference is that the prestige and credibility of the U.S. has suffered greater damage and terrorist actions against Western nations have been exacerbated as a result of the Iraq invasion and occupation. Black states that the Bush administration has experienced successes in the ‘war on terrorism’ although he admits the critical intelligence failures prior to the attacks of September 11, 2001; again prior to the military incursion and yet again in the early phases of occupation in Iraq. He suggests that these mistakes will be forgotten when Iraq becomes a stable, democratic nation. Wilentz decries not only the numerous