Whether one agrees with his politics or not, it seems quite difficult to categorize many of his efforts as being legitimately successful. even the men who have had the ‘worst’ tenures as President have been able to say that yes, they accomplished some important things or died too soon. Nixon, Andrew Johnson, Ford, Carter, Fillmore, Grant, Pierce, Buchanan (okay, maybe not Buchanan) all got some things very right. I’m sure that GWB has too but what? Please help me out.

So far, this is my list…

John Roberts

labeling Darfur a genocide

racial diversity

Roberts is probably going to be a very good Justice and it was an excellent choice to stick him in the CJ spot. Scalia would have generated too much ill will and Thomas is over his head as it is so Roberts was as good a choice as probably could have been made.

Darfur is a phenomenally dangerous place and to continue pretending that there is no organization to the murders there would have continued a horrible legacy of indifference to mass murder. It was brave and right for the U. S. to lead the way in labeling the situation correctly. Now, as with all things Bush, one good turn was followed by a bad one. After Roberts was selected, the ridiculous choice of Harriet Miers immediately followed. After Colin Powell led the way in describing Darfur as a genocide, the administration directly announced that simply because the U. S. knew a genocide was happening didn’t mean anything needed to be done about it. Ish. (Is this how any of us want our country to proceed?)

Finally, Bush has been a real advocate for racial diversity in top positions in his administration. Powell and Rice have been the most important Black political figures in American history. While he’s been the leader of the national Republican party, Black Republicans have also managed to secure nominations for numerous governorships. The negative here? Powell was globally embarassed by his bogus UN testimony. Any prospect he had of retiring as a wholly heroic figure was negated by that disgusting episode. (I feel especially bad for him because he was sold out by Bush and Cheney.) If Condi does run in 08 she’ll have to create significant distance from GWB. Of course, her closeness to him is the only reason she’s in the position to be a contender. And despite his support, in Ohio and Pennsylvania, neither of the Black GOP candidates for governor actually won. (Neither did Michael Steele win his Senate race but he always had an uphill battle there. Of course, Harold Ford lost too, but he lost in a state in which it was widely assumed he had an inherent 10 point gap due to race.)

Okay, so there’s the list. Please let me know what I’m missing!

TP