BryceGoodfellow

06/30/2015
Profile
WilliamJ.Greer

GeorgeW.Bush

GeorgeW.Bushwasthe43rdpresidentofAmericaandheservedassuchfrom
2001to2009.HebeatoutAlGoreinthe2000electionbyamarginof271266electoral
votes.Thiswasonlythe4thtimethatthewinneroftheelectoralvotesdidntwinthe
popularvote.(GeorgeW.Bush).Hisfirstermwasquicklydefinedbytheterrorist
attacksonSeptember11,2001.Afterrunningforpresidencyasacompassionate
conservativeitwastimetoturnslightlyfromthatandmakesomeseriouspowermoves.
Onlyonemonthlater,theUnitedStatesinvadedAfghanistanandwhilethiscausedthe
falloftheTalibanRegime,BinLadenwasstillnotcaptured.BinLadenwastheleaderof
AlQaedawhowasresponsibleforthoseattacksonAmericansoil.
Theattackscamewithmanydecisionsonforeignanddomesticpolicy,security
andmorethatwouldleadtobigdecisions,publicopinions,andmuchcontroversy.
LeadinguptotheunknownattacksthePresidenthadwantedtoworkontheirMissile
policyandtheyadspokentoVladimirPutinaboutthetreatytheyhadinplace.However,
Ricewrotethatthehomelandthreat,wassimplynotsufficientlyonanyonesradar
screenatthenationallevelpriorto9/11.ShedidnotexpectanattackintheUnited
Sates.NordidBush.ThepresidentdidasktheCIAtoreassessalQaedascapacityto
strikeAmerica,buttheagencycouldnotconfirmanyconcreteplans.Deflecting
blame,Bushcrisplyconcludes,theintelligencecommunityhadmissedsomethingbig.I
wasalarmedbythelapseandIexpectedanexplanation.(Leffler,193).George

Tenet, the CIA director had stated, It will be designed to inflict mass
casualties against U.S. facilities or interests. Warned Tenet. UBLs
[Osama bin Laden] goal is the destruction of the United States.
(Leffler, 193).
In recounting the days after the attack Bush stated, My blood
was boiling, writes Bush. We were going to find out who did this, and
kick their ass. Traveling from Florida to Louisiana to Offatt Air Force
base in Nebraska, he caught glimpses of the tragedy on television.
Seeing people jumping from the towers in New York, he felt their
agony and despair. Returning to Washington, visiting the Pentagon,
and flying to New York a few days later, he sensed the all-pervasive
grief and the equally pulsating desire for revenge. Find the bastards,
a New York firefighter told him, and kill them. (Leffler, 194).
It was clear that this was one of the most difficult things America
had ever gone through. With over 3,000 people killed on their own soil,
war and terrorism had never hit so close to home. Americans, just like
past historical days, can remember when and where they first found
out, the footage they saw, the somber feeling of the day, every station
replaying the attack, and the fire and anger inside of them for those
that did this. Bush had to make difficult choices to send our troops over
seas but as he and others on his administration have reiterated, if it
had happened again and we hadnt done anything it would have been
so much worse. Rice says his priorities were clear: secure the country,

reassure the American people, destroy terrorist networks and their

sponsors, and prepare to attack Afghanistan.(Leffler, 197).
Inthespringof2003,theadministrationsenttroopsintoIraq.OnMarch19thof
thatyear,Bushaddressedthenation,"Myfellowcitizens,atthishourAmericanand
coalitionforcesareintheearlystagesofmilitaryoperationstodisarmIraq,tofreeits
peopleandtodefendtheworldfromgravedanger.(BushDeclaresWar).Inthisspeech
youcanhearthepainandsympathyinhisvoiceforthosethatareonthefrontlinesofthe
effort.Heexpresseshisreluctancebutalsohisambitionwhenhestates,Ournation
entersthisconflictreluctantly,yetourpurposeissure.ThepeopleoftheUnitedStates
andourfriendsandallieswillnotliveatthemercyofanoutlawregimethatthreatensthe
peacewithweaponsofmassmurder.WewillmeetthatthreatnowwithourArmy,Air
Force,Navy,CoastGuardandMarines,sothatwedonothavetomeetitlaterwith
armiesoffirefightersandpoliceanddoctorsonthestreetsofourcities.Nowthatconflict
hascome,theonlywaytolimititsdurationistoapplydecisiveforce.AndIassureyou,
thiswillnotbeacampaignofhalfmeasuresandwewillacceptnooutcomebutvictory.
(BushDeclaresWar).
Warcarriedon,SaddamHusseinwascapturedDecember13,2003.Bush
addressedthenationandstated,IhaveamessagefortheIraqipeople:Youwillnothave
tofeartheruleofSaddamHusseineveragain.AllIraqiswhotakethesideoffreedom
havetakenthewinningside.Thegoalsofourcoalitionarethesameasyourgoals
sovereigntyforyourcountry,dignityforyourgreatculture,andforeveryIraqicitizen,
theopportunityforabetterlife.InthehistoryofIraq,adarkandpainfuleraisover.A

hopefuldayhasarrived.AllIraqiscannowcometogetherandrejectviolenceandbuilda
newIraq.(GeorgeWBushSpeechCaptureOfSaddamHussein).Thiswasabigdayfor
Americaandforthiswarbuttherewasalongwaytogo.Alsoinhisfirstterm,hesigned
theNoChildLeftBehindactintolaw,wonCongressionalapprovaloftaxcutbillsand
Medicarecoverage,andhelpedfundthefightagainstHIV/AIDS.(GeorgeW.Bush).
In2004,BushranforreelectionanddefeatedJohnKerryby286251electoral
votes.Hisfirsttermendedwithhighpublicapprovalbutthatwouldsoonchange.Many
ofhismotivesfortheIraqwarwerequestionedastheAmericanPeoplefeltthatthe
causesandreasonswereportrayedinsuchawaytogainapproval.Therewerealso
seriousbudgetdeficitsandledtoaneconomiccrisis.HurricaneKatrinaalsohitduring
hissecondtermandhisadministrationwashighlycriticizedfortheirlateresponsetothe
disaster.
TheideaofWeaponsofMassDestructionbeingpresentinIraqwasamajorreasonlisted
aswhyweweregoingtowar.However,therewaslittleevidenceofthatovertimeand
thepeoplefeltconnedintotrustinginthewaranditsnecessity.Pressreportsconfirmed
thattheadministrationscaseforwardidnotaccuratelyrepresenttheavailable
intelligence.MorethanayearaftertheUnitedStatesintervenedmilitarilytotopplethe
regimeofSaddamHusseininIraq,theNewYorkTimesproducedamultipagespecial
reporttitledSkewedIntelligenceonIraqColoredtheMarchtoWar.Amongother
thingsthereportrevealedthatwhilethevicepresidentsaidheknewforsureandin
factandwithabsolutecertaintythatMr.Husseinwasbuyingequipmenttobuilda
nuclearweapon,theCIAreportsweresayingevidencesuggestedorcouldmeanor

indicates.Inshort,[t]heintelligencecommunityhadnotyetconcludedthatIraqhad

indeedreconstituteditsnuclearprogram. Intherunuptothewar,ofcourse,thepublic
andthepresscouldnottesttheadministrationswordsagainsttheseintelligence
documents.(Jamieson,250).Examplessuchasthiscanbefoundoverandoveragainand
itishardtomakeanargumentthatsupportsBushonthisone.Iunderstandhisreasoning
ofwantingtogotowaranddefendusbutthefactthattheygaveafalseimpressionofthe
gravityofIraqsresourceswasunprecedentedandunethical.Hissecondtermwasfrom
2005to2009andPresidentBarrackObamafollowedhim.
Hissecondtermendedwithmuchofthecountryfeelingdispleasedwithwhathe
haddone.However,forthefirsttimeintenyearsmoreAmericanslikehimthandislike
him.CNNPollingDirector,JenniferAgiesta,stated,OnceGeorgeW.Bushleftoffice,
hecontinuedtoshoulderthebulkoftheblameforthenation'sstrugglingeconomy
throughoutmuchofPresidentBarackObama'stimeinoffice.ACNN/ORCpollin
January2014foundeventhen,fiveyearsafterBushleftoffice,moreAmericanssaid
BushandtheRepublicanswereresponsibleforcurrenteconomicproblemsthansaid
ObamaandtheDemocratswere.ThisnewCNN/ORCpollsuggeststhatononeissue,at
least,theblamemaybeshifting.Askedwhosepoliciesweremoreatfaultforthecurrent
problemstheU.S.facesinIraq,44%blamedObama,43%Bush.(Agiesta).GeorgeW.
Bushserved2fulltermsofPresidencytothiscountryandtheyweredifficultones.While
everyonemaynotagreeoneverythinghedid,wecanagreehedidwhathecouldand
whathethoughtwasbest.

References
Agiesta,Jennifer."Poll:MoreAmericanslikeGeorgeW.BushthanDislike
CNNPolitics.com."CNN.CableNewsNetwork,3June2015.Web.28June2015.
"BushDeclaresWar."CNN.CableNewsNetwork,1Mar.2003.Web.28June2015.
"GeorgeW.Bush."History.com.A&ETelevisionNetworks.Web.28June2015.
<http://www.history.com/topics/uspresidents/georgewbush>.
"GeorgeWBushSpeechCaptureOfSaddamHussein."GeorgeWBushSpeech.Web.28
June2015.
Jamieson,KathleenHall."JustifyingTheWarInIraq:WhatTheBushAdministration's
UsesOfEvidenceReveal."Rhetoric&PublicAffairs10.2(2007):249273.
AcademicSearchPremier.Web.28June2015.
Leffler,MelvynP."TheForeignPoliciesOfTheGeorgeW.BushAdministration:
Memoirs,History,Legacy*."DiplomaticHistory37.2(2013):190216.
AcademicSearchPremier.Web.28June2015.