Who will pick up the pieces?
DAVID NONINI
Issue date: 10/13/08 Section: Politics
George W. Bush could be the
most controversial, polarizing
president ever to occupy the
Oval Office, an assessment that is
shared in the Bucks Social
Sciences Department.
The most recent Gallup poll
placed the president's approval
rating at an all-time low of 27
percent. He shares this honor
with only two other presidents:
Richard Nixon and Harry S.
Truman.
During his presidency,
America has launched invasions
into Afghanistan and Iraq resulting
in a multi-trillion-dollar debt,
a crumbling economy and
extreme partisanship by both
sides. With only four months left
in his term of office, and the
main focus on who his successor
will be, the question now
becomes: What will be the lasting
impact of the Bush presidency?
The Bush administration's foreign
policy and handling of terrorism
has been a main focus, if
not the focus, of the public during
the past two terms. The war
in Iraq has since been defined as
part of the "Bush doctrine,"
which reserves the right to start
a war if it is in the national interest.
The current difficulties facing
U.S. forces in Iraq stem from how
the war was initially implemented.
Tom Mazurek, a Bucks history
professor, said that until Iraq,
all U.S. military actions in the
past three decades have followed
the "Powell doctrine." This strategy,
created by Colin Powell in
the 1980s in response to the handling
of the Vietnam War, specified
for a clearly defined war
strategy and exit plan.
The cost of the war has forced
the U.S. to borrow money from
other countries. So far, the war
has cost the United States $1.3
trillion.
But not all of Bush's policies
regarding terrorism have been
unsuccessful.
Since Sept.11, the U.S. has not
suffered another terrorist attack
on its soil, which some attribute
to the creation of the Department
of Homeland Security.
Relations with other countries
most controversial, polarizing
president ever to occupy the
Oval Office, an assessment that is
shared in the Bucks Social
Sciences Department.
The most recent Gallup poll
placed the president's approval
rating at an all-time low of 27
percent. He shares this honor
with only two other presidents:
Richard Nixon and Harry S.
Truman.
During his presidency,
America has launched invasions
into Afghanistan and Iraq resulting
in a multi-trillion-dollar debt,
a crumbling economy and
extreme partisanship by both
sides. With only four months left
in his term of office, and the
main focus on who his successor
will be, the question now
becomes: What will be the lasting
impact of the Bush presidency?
The Bush administration's foreign
policy and handling of terrorism
has been a main focus, if
not the focus, of the public during
the past two terms. The war
in Iraq has since been defined as
part of the "Bush doctrine,"
which reserves the right to start
a war if it is in the national interest.
The current difficulties facing
U.S. forces in Iraq stem from how
the war was initially implemented.
Tom Mazurek, a Bucks history
professor, said that until Iraq,
all U.S. military actions in the
past three decades have followed
the "Powell doctrine." This strategy,
created by Colin Powell in
the 1980s in response to the handling
of the Vietnam War, specified
for a clearly defined war
strategy and exit plan.
The cost of the war has forced
the U.S. to borrow money from
other countries. So far, the war
has cost the United States $1.3
trillion.
But not all of Bush's policies
regarding terrorism have been
unsuccessful.
Since Sept.11, the U.S. has not
suffered another terrorist attack
on its soil, which some attribute
to the creation of the Department
of Homeland Security.
Relations with other countries
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