Reply #23: I can say you've got a good argument there.

[jobycom]

I would point out that Reagan was atrocious, too, and that any president is going to seem worse while in power than after he leaves, just due to the emotions involved, and due to the fact that he is still screwing things up so everything seems more urgent. I honestly didn't think the nation would survive Reagan, either. Those who bash Bill Clinton don't fully realize just how precarious things were when he took over.

But yeah, when all is said and done and history takes it's long, hard look at Bush, he could well come out lower than Harding. Although Reagan has come out better than he should have, so far, thanks to a well-funded effort to make him look decent. History will probably reverse that opinion of him eventually. But I wouldn't be surprised to see W undergo a polishing of his image in a decade or so. Someone will look back fondly on him. Long term, historians won't be fooled. But in that void between history and current events, W might undergo a revival for a while.