Was George W. Bush Treated Unfairly?
Daily Signal,
by
Victor Davis Hanson
Original Article
Posted By: Mercedes44,
7/14/2026 7:25:09 AM
If you look at George W. Bush, people—his reputation has gone up a little bit because he broke with [Donald] Trump, the next Republican. I’m not sure he voted for Trump, and he made his peace with [Barack] Obama.
There were three things that people fault Bush for. I’m not sure he was responsible. No. 1 was the Iraq War. No. 2 was the Afghan War. No. 3 was the 2008 financial meltdown. I think he was the most conservative Republican president that we have had since forever.
He was much more conservative than his father, George H.W. Bush. He tried to do a lot of things.
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Reply 1 - Posted by:
BarryNo 7/14/2026 7:31:07 AM (No. 2128150)
I think he's art of the Globalist conspiracy. He's the carrot, in the carrot stick routine. He looks like a good alternative to the madness of the Democrats, who weild the stick. But both parties are working toward getting the mule (the nation) to the slaughterhouse.
16 people like this.
Reply 2 - Posted by:
MissGrits 7/14/2026 8:04:22 AM (No. 2128160)
When he came into office he had the house and the Senate and could have done a LOT of things. But had he done only ONE thing ... And it was much talked about, but never acted on, that being the voting debacle. We would not be in the mess we are in today!
16 people like this.
Reply 3 - Posted by:
bpl40 7/14/2026 8:18:58 AM (No. 2128168)
W's biggest mistake was to assume that Democrats are patriotic, gentlemen with the country's good at heart. And his biggest contribution (for which most sins are forgiven) was to keep sc** like Gore and Kerry away from the White House. That is national service of an exemplary order.
12 people like this.
Reply 4 - Posted by:
Dodge Boy 7/14/2026 8:32:05 AM (No. 2128172)
In January 1991, President George HW Bush delivered his state of the union address to congress. During his speech, Bush proclaimed the need for a new world order. That moment, in effect, cast HW and W in a bad light.
Then came 9/11 in 2001. That day put W in a political straight jacket. The msm made sure of it. Who knows. If 9/11 never happened perhaps W could have been a more effective president. I don't blame W for the 2008 financial downturn.
8 people like this.
Reply 5 - Posted by:
paleoconserv43 7/14/2026 8:32:25 AM (No. 2128173)
I couldn’t disagree with VDH more. Bush was ineffective, inarticulate, and incompetent. His presidency was uninspiring and he only won two elections because the Democrats nominated two even bigger stiffs. He was no conservative and if it were not for Trump, Hilary would have been a two term President.
17 people like this.
Reply 6 - Posted by:
Venturer 7/14/2026 8:41:19 AM (No. 2128176)
Now there are 4 thing to hold against him. Sucking up to Obama and abandoning Trump.
18 people like this.
Reply 7 - Posted by:
Ebenezer 7/14/2026 8:46:40 AM (No. 2128178)
I remember standing in line outside on a cold, dark, drizzly morning to vote for him in 2000. I’m glad he was president instead of Gore or Kerry but his actions since then have been disappointing.
18 people like this.
Reply 8 - Posted by:
NorthernDog 7/14/2026 8:48:26 AM (No. 2128180)
He'll always be a mixed bag. Initially performed well after 9/11/01 (imagine if goofball Algore had been in charge) but lost our way in Iraq. Saddam is gone but thousands of American soldiers are dead too. We got Sam Alito but also Roberts on the Supreme Court. The list is endless....
7 people like this.
Reply 9 - Posted by:
BRDG 7/14/2026 8:50:55 AM (No. 2128182)
Totally disagree. He was a globalist.
Like his father, AND Clinton, AND Obama, AND Biden said: "...and bring about a NEW WORLD ORDER"
Good riddance.
14 people like this.
Reply 10 - Posted by:
homefry 7/14/2026 8:53:09 AM (No. 2128186)
On the day that W. took over from klinton, the country was in recession. W. immediately cut taxes and the recession went away and then took off on 6 years of a ROCKING strong economy. In that time, dim-0s controlled NOTHING, except for a short while that they had an extremely small majority in the senate thank to dasshole buying out jumpy jim jeffords.
THEN came the midterms, and dim-0s took over both houses of congress. Jan 07 they took over, the economy was growing at better than 4%. In one year, we were in the great recession.
0 people like this.
Reply 11 - Posted by:
red1066 7/14/2026 8:54:48 AM (No. 2128187)
Two things Hanson mentions are red flags for me when it comes to Bush. One, is the anti-Trump mindset, and the other is the acceptance of Obozo as anything other than a traitor to this country. Bush was weak, and closet globalist. He is part of the problem which REAL Americans are trying to fight. Victor David Hanson is usually right on the money on many things, but on this, he's dead wrong.
11 people like this.
Reply 12 - Posted by:
Rumblehog 7/14/2026 9:07:55 AM (No. 2128198)
George W. became an "Amnesty First" RINO, unfortunately from Texas. He was favorable to Mexicans because his dorkish brother married a Latin princess and sealed it by converting to Catholicism, whereupon Martin Luther rolled over in his grave. Thank God President Trump stopped the "Bush die-nasty" in its tracks with the ignominious political end of Jeb in 2016.
George W. Bush had his chance when he announced for all the world "Osama bin Laden... Wanted, Dead or Alive." But then, when the whiney-arse leftwing media began blasting a wartime POTUS for adopting an "American cowboy" reference, he wimped out and backed down, thereby showing the Muslim that "selective outrage" wins the war. The Pentagon had a PERFECT name for the Military Operation that was going to go down, which was, "Operation Infinite Justice," with Bush stating from the Oval Office, "this crusade, this war on terrorism, is going to take a while." This resulted in the limp-wristed wimps at the State Dept. pushing to rename it "Operation Enduring Freedom," and have POTUS Bush back away from any more speech that might enrage Muslims.
George W. Bush will always be remembered for that iconic moment he stood atop a Fire Engine's rubble at "Ground Zero" with Fireman Bob Beckwith at his side, speaking to those assembled, when someone in the crowd said, "We can't hear you!" At that point Bush went off-script to deliver the iconic line through the bullhorn, "I can hear you. The rest of the world hears you. And the people who knocked down these buildings will hear all of us soon!” After which the people at Ground Zero broke into chants of “USA, USA, USA...!”
He was best when he was simply himself.
3 people like this.
Reply 13 - Posted by:
Aubreyesque 7/14/2026 9:10:44 AM (No. 2128199)
No he was not treated unfairly. I see now he gaslit us, as did his father. He was a POS and we are in the trouble we are because of he and his father. The fact that they "made their peace" with the Muslim Marxist Obama tells me everything I need to know.
A pox on the House of Bush!
3 people like this.
Reply 14 - Posted by:
RussZilla 7/14/2026 9:16:13 AM (No. 2128200)
Hanson reports the fact that republicans are always judged by a different standard than dems. The MSM needs to be held to account for their continual bias.
4 people like this.
Reply 15 - Posted by:
cor-vet 7/14/2026 9:29:01 AM (No. 2128206)
I really have mixed emotions regarding 'W', because he was a veteran, he always treated veterans with dignity, it seemed to me and he managed a decent economic policy. His actions after he left office are more troubling to me, because everyone with a single working brain cell knows Obama is anti-American and should be shunned!
2 people like this.
Reply 16 - Posted by:
LC Chihuahua 7/14/2026 9:41:55 AM (No. 2128210)
The biggest problem with Bush II was he never fought back. The Democrats marched to the left and delivered on low blow after another. He never fought back. At first, you blame the Democrats, but when you see how he did not defend himself, you blame him.
The second was the rise of globalization and how it put Communism on the world stage everywhere. What did Bush II do? He embraced it. He didn't seem to understand what was going on and consequently did not know how to handle it.
Bush II started off strong. His response to 9/11 was spot on. By the end of the second term, the left was on the march, and Bush II was on the globalism bandwagon. At times It seemed he didn't know what to do and did nothing.
Bush II set the stage for both Obama and Trump. By the end of Bush II's second term, people were ready for change. Both sides were ready for that. The lefty Democrats gave us Obama. The voters gave us Trump. The Republican establishment certainly didn't want Trump, and in many ways, Bush II is still the leader of the Republican establishment.
3 people like this.
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