President Bush Deserves Credit
This is my latest submission for my parallel writing endeavour.
The inauguration is over, and for many the initiation of the Obama Administration is bittersweet. While many of President Obama's rabid fans have seen their bizarre, insatiable obsession fulfilled, others will miss President Bush. His supporters will miss his support for issues that they feel to be critical to the continued success and prosperity of the United States of America and the world at large. The perpetually angry will miss the target of their irrational hatred. And, in a peculiar twist, late night talk show hosts in particular will miss the president whom they lambasted in good times and in bad, no matter how effective his policies or deliberate his attempts to limit "Bushisms". (Some have already claimed that they are reticent about making jokes about Obama due to his popularity, among other reasons.)
President Bush was certainly deserving of criticism, on a wide range of issues. He failed to accomplish all of the goals he set for his administration, some of his initiatives were ill-conceived, and others were poorly executed. On the other hand, now that he has left the Oval Office for the greener pastures of Preston Hollow, Texas, President Bush deserves to be exonerated for at least one policy that has been unrealistically criticized based upon historical misperceptions: his handling of the economy after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Many seem to look back on two of the last century's presidential administrations with rose-colored glasses: that of Bill Clinton, and that of Franklin Roosevelt. Misperceptions, inaccurate and incomplete information, and political bias have led many to unfairly color President Bush's post-9/11 economic policies as foolish and counter-productive. The most bizarre of these accusations posits that, rather than lowering interest rates and telling Americans to pour money into the faltering economy to fuel its reinvigoration, Americans should have been directed to tighten their belts. These claims have become particularly prominent during the recent economic downturn, and will no doubt conjure images of rationing and the command economy of the Great Depression and World War II.
Americans, particularly the members of what we now call the Greatest Generation, are proud of having endured, survived, and outlasted the Great Depression. They are also proud of having turned a sluggish industrial base into the Arsenal of Freedom that defeated Fascism; liberated Europe, Asia, and parts of Africa; and set the stage for America to serve as the economic and military juggernaut that would go on to crush the virtual slavery of Communism in the initial months of the 1990's. It was the Greatest Generation who endured attrocious hardship and turned it into the moral and social catalyst for making America the great nation that it is today. Those who perceive the influence of a Divine hand in the course of history can easily see the impact that the Great Depression had on this process, and upon American history. And, despite the astonishing successes of America's brave men and women in today's critical wars abroad, one might easily wonder if a generation raised in the decadence of the 1980's, 1990's, and the early years of the twenty-first century would have had the resolve to do what their predecessors were able to do. Indeed, the Great Depression is rightly seen to be as much a defining factor in the history of America as World War II, the Cold War, or the Golden Age of the post-war years.
Because he presided over nearly the entire Great Depression, and all but the final months of World War II, Franklin Roosevelt is credited with having accomplished the unimaginable: pulling America out of financial straits so dire that they would define the history of American economics both before and after, and defeating the seemingly unstoppable military engine of German, Italian, and Japanese Fascism. While his predecessor, Herbert Hoover, is derided and accused of having done "too little, too late", FDR's experimental strategy of massive deficit spending, extreme taxation, protectionist tariffs, and government-organized labor is credited with having saved America from these dire financial straits, paving the way for America's greatest military victory and its ensuing golden age. In addition, the so-called "alphabet agencies" - a core element of the national strategy for jump-starting the corpse of the American economy - are remembered for having employed the populace while building dams, bridges, and other public works that remain to this day. This is the perceived legacy of the so-called "New Deal".
The Greatest Generation should be proud of their accomplishments - perhaps more proud than any other generation in American history, save perhaps for the generation that won America her independence in the waning years of the Eighteenth Century. All living Americans should rightfully look on them with awe and wonder, and none should ever dare accuse them of anything less. In fact, as some authors now acknowledge, the Greatest Generation was able to accomplish these things despite the inept, negligent meddling of FDR - in a sense, their accomplishments are that much more astonishing when one considers that FDR's policies made the task of ending the Great Depression, fueling, and operating the Arsenal of Freedom more difficult than it could have been. Unfortunately, America's institutional memory of having accomplished such astonishing feats, coupled with the memory of failed policies like rationing and exorbitant taxation, have led many to believe that big government and a tightly controlled economy, and not the forces of the free market, are the solution to economic trouble.
The years of 1941 and 2001 were similar in several ways. Although many remember President Clinton as an otherwise effective administrator whose administration happened to coincide with certain personal scandals, few remember that President Clinton also passed a recession on to his successor following the collapse of the aptly-named "Dot-Com Bubble". When the worst attack on American interests since the bombing of Pearl Harbor occurred in the eighth month of President Bush's tenure, America was left with a recovering economy and a foreign security threat - similar in some ways to the dual economic and security challenges of President Roosevelt's ninth year in office. As a result, there was criticism in 2001, and criticism continues today, because President Bush neglected to shift America into a so-called "wartime economy" - massive deficit spending, epic government programs, a controlled economy, and rationing. Ignoring the root causes of the current softening economy, some cite President Bush's refusal to take these steps as the impetus for America's current woes.
FDR was wrong, and President Bush was right. Whereas President Roosevelt's policies failed year after year to drag the American economy up by its bootstraps, President Bush's directives to cut key interest rates and encourage home ownership and automotive purchases helped to ensure that the recession that he inherited from his predecessor was a shallow one. While the rationing schemes of Roosevelt and his theorist economic advisors perpetuated an ultimately futile attempt to rewrite the rules of modern economics, President Bush's policies ushered in fifty-two months of economic growth. While the economy under FDR competed for primacy with those of the Soviet Union, Germany, Japan, and other strategic competitors, it currently appears that Americans may have already seen most of the worst effects of the global economic downturn as the American economy begins a long road to recovery, while both competitors and partners abroad continue to languish in uncertainty. And to be completely fair, the root causes of the current economic dilemma can be traced back to policies that were enacted during historically recent eras in which President Bush's political opponents controlled both the Executive and Legislative branches of the Federal government, while FDR deepened the Great Depression without any noteworthy political opposition.
The bottom line is that poor leadership lengthens and complicates difficult times, while good leadership shortens and dulls their sting. President Roosevelt's poor leadership and ignorance of economics resulted in a Great Depression that was both longer and more severe than it needed to be. It was only by putting every last able-bodied American male under arms, and sending the majority of America's able-bodied women to work as "Rosie the Riveter" in order to defeat Hitler and his allies that the Depression was finally brought under control - and truly, America's economy did not reach pre-crash normalcy until the post-war years. Meanwhile, despite claims that America is now in the midst of the worst economy since the Great Depression, it should not take an English literature student to realize that "worst since" means something wholly different than "equal to" - and it should not take an economic genius to realize that the current economy is nowhere near as bad as that of the Depression era.
President Bush deserves credit for leading us through what could have been a far more severe recession following 9/11, and history will remember him for acting swiftly, despite external pressure and unfair criticism, with effective measures that limited the impact of the current recession. Those who are not historically misinformed will also credit him with having resisted calls for rationing and big government programs - a surefire recipe for a longer and more severe recession. Imperfect chief executive or not, President Bush certainly deserves credit for this, among numerous other things.
For more information about the real legacy of the New Deal, consider reading New Deal or Raw Deal?: How FDR's Economic Legacy Has Damaged America by Dr. Burton Folsom, Jr. A lecture by the author is available as a podcast download from the website of the Heritage Foundation.
The inauguration is over, and for many the initiation of the Obama Administration is bittersweet. While many of President Obama's rabid fans have seen their bizarre, insatiable obsession fulfilled, others will miss President Bush. His supporters will miss his support for issues that they feel to be critical to the continued success and prosperity of the United States of America and the world at large. The perpetually angry will miss the target of their irrational hatred. And, in a peculiar twist, late night talk show hosts in particular will miss the president whom they lambasted in good times and in bad, no matter how effective his policies or deliberate his attempts to limit "Bushisms". (Some have already claimed that they are reticent about making jokes about Obama due to his popularity, among other reasons.)
President Bush was certainly deserving of criticism, on a wide range of issues. He failed to accomplish all of the goals he set for his administration, some of his initiatives were ill-conceived, and others were poorly executed. On the other hand, now that he has left the Oval Office for the greener pastures of Preston Hollow, Texas, President Bush deserves to be exonerated for at least one policy that has been unrealistically criticized based upon historical misperceptions: his handling of the economy after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Many seem to look back on two of the last century's presidential administrations with rose-colored glasses: that of Bill Clinton, and that of Franklin Roosevelt. Misperceptions, inaccurate and incomplete information, and political bias have led many to unfairly color President Bush's post-9/11 economic policies as foolish and counter-productive. The most bizarre of these accusations posits that, rather than lowering interest rates and telling Americans to pour money into the faltering economy to fuel its reinvigoration, Americans should have been directed to tighten their belts. These claims have become particularly prominent during the recent economic downturn, and will no doubt conjure images of rationing and the command economy of the Great Depression and World War II.
Americans, particularly the members of what we now call the Greatest Generation, are proud of having endured, survived, and outlasted the Great Depression. They are also proud of having turned a sluggish industrial base into the Arsenal of Freedom that defeated Fascism; liberated Europe, Asia, and parts of Africa; and set the stage for America to serve as the economic and military juggernaut that would go on to crush the virtual slavery of Communism in the initial months of the 1990's. It was the Greatest Generation who endured attrocious hardship and turned it into the moral and social catalyst for making America the great nation that it is today. Those who perceive the influence of a Divine hand in the course of history can easily see the impact that the Great Depression had on this process, and upon American history. And, despite the astonishing successes of America's brave men and women in today's critical wars abroad, one might easily wonder if a generation raised in the decadence of the 1980's, 1990's, and the early years of the twenty-first century would have had the resolve to do what their predecessors were able to do. Indeed, the Great Depression is rightly seen to be as much a defining factor in the history of America as World War II, the Cold War, or the Golden Age of the post-war years.
Because he presided over nearly the entire Great Depression, and all but the final months of World War II, Franklin Roosevelt is credited with having accomplished the unimaginable: pulling America out of financial straits so dire that they would define the history of American economics both before and after, and defeating the seemingly unstoppable military engine of German, Italian, and Japanese Fascism. While his predecessor, Herbert Hoover, is derided and accused of having done "too little, too late", FDR's experimental strategy of massive deficit spending, extreme taxation, protectionist tariffs, and government-organized labor is credited with having saved America from these dire financial straits, paving the way for America's greatest military victory and its ensuing golden age. In addition, the so-called "alphabet agencies" - a core element of the national strategy for jump-starting the corpse of the American economy - are remembered for having employed the populace while building dams, bridges, and other public works that remain to this day. This is the perceived legacy of the so-called "New Deal".
The Greatest Generation should be proud of their accomplishments - perhaps more proud than any other generation in American history, save perhaps for the generation that won America her independence in the waning years of the Eighteenth Century. All living Americans should rightfully look on them with awe and wonder, and none should ever dare accuse them of anything less. In fact, as some authors now acknowledge, the Greatest Generation was able to accomplish these things despite the inept, negligent meddling of FDR - in a sense, their accomplishments are that much more astonishing when one considers that FDR's policies made the task of ending the Great Depression, fueling, and operating the Arsenal of Freedom more difficult than it could have been. Unfortunately, America's institutional memory of having accomplished such astonishing feats, coupled with the memory of failed policies like rationing and exorbitant taxation, have led many to believe that big government and a tightly controlled economy, and not the forces of the free market, are the solution to economic trouble.
The years of 1941 and 2001 were similar in several ways. Although many remember President Clinton as an otherwise effective administrator whose administration happened to coincide with certain personal scandals, few remember that President Clinton also passed a recession on to his successor following the collapse of the aptly-named "Dot-Com Bubble". When the worst attack on American interests since the bombing of Pearl Harbor occurred in the eighth month of President Bush's tenure, America was left with a recovering economy and a foreign security threat - similar in some ways to the dual economic and security challenges of President Roosevelt's ninth year in office. As a result, there was criticism in 2001, and criticism continues today, because President Bush neglected to shift America into a so-called "wartime economy" - massive deficit spending, epic government programs, a controlled economy, and rationing. Ignoring the root causes of the current softening economy, some cite President Bush's refusal to take these steps as the impetus for America's current woes.
FDR was wrong, and President Bush was right. Whereas President Roosevelt's policies failed year after year to drag the American economy up by its bootstraps, President Bush's directives to cut key interest rates and encourage home ownership and automotive purchases helped to ensure that the recession that he inherited from his predecessor was a shallow one. While the rationing schemes of Roosevelt and his theorist economic advisors perpetuated an ultimately futile attempt to rewrite the rules of modern economics, President Bush's policies ushered in fifty-two months of economic growth. While the economy under FDR competed for primacy with those of the Soviet Union, Germany, Japan, and other strategic competitors, it currently appears that Americans may have already seen most of the worst effects of the global economic downturn as the American economy begins a long road to recovery, while both competitors and partners abroad continue to languish in uncertainty. And to be completely fair, the root causes of the current economic dilemma can be traced back to policies that were enacted during historically recent eras in which President Bush's political opponents controlled both the Executive and Legislative branches of the Federal government, while FDR deepened the Great Depression without any noteworthy political opposition.
The bottom line is that poor leadership lengthens and complicates difficult times, while good leadership shortens and dulls their sting. President Roosevelt's poor leadership and ignorance of economics resulted in a Great Depression that was both longer and more severe than it needed to be. It was only by putting every last able-bodied American male under arms, and sending the majority of America's able-bodied women to work as "Rosie the Riveter" in order to defeat Hitler and his allies that the Depression was finally brought under control - and truly, America's economy did not reach pre-crash normalcy until the post-war years. Meanwhile, despite claims that America is now in the midst of the worst economy since the Great Depression, it should not take an English literature student to realize that "worst since" means something wholly different than "equal to" - and it should not take an economic genius to realize that the current economy is nowhere near as bad as that of the Depression era.
President Bush deserves credit for leading us through what could have been a far more severe recession following 9/11, and history will remember him for acting swiftly, despite external pressure and unfair criticism, with effective measures that limited the impact of the current recession. Those who are not historically misinformed will also credit him with having resisted calls for rationing and big government programs - a surefire recipe for a longer and more severe recession. Imperfect chief executive or not, President Bush certainly deserves credit for this, among numerous other things.
For more information about the real legacy of the New Deal, consider reading New Deal or Raw Deal?: How FDR's Economic Legacy Has Damaged America by Dr. Burton Folsom, Jr. A lecture by the author is available as a podcast download from the website of the Heritage Foundation.
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