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Worst President Ever?

Apr 9, 2008
5 comments

Scott Horton of Harper's Magazine at least acknowledges the folly of assessing the success or failure of a president *while he/she is still in office* but writes off the responsibility of historians to distance themselves from the fury of the times and claims that President Bush is a "special" case because he is disliked so much by the citizens.

I'm sorry, but that is not a sufficient excuse for Historians to discard their obligation to hold off judgement until the actual impact of a Presidents term can be assessed.

As much as I don't like President Bush (and I don't like him at all), I can't endorse this article like so many people have done today. It seems to me that people so willing to dislike President Bush (in my view for good reason) that they want to discard academic integrity. I think this is wrong.

Whatever your feelings of Bush, history requires some distance before we can truly weigh in on Bush's successes or his failure.