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Bush and Nixon both let things get 'out of hand'
Saturday, December 6, 2008 6:09 AM PST
Last weekend, I happened onto the 1976 movie "All the President's Men," the story about Watergate, Richard Nixon and the downfall of his administration.
About halfway through, the "Deep Throat" character (played by Hal Holbrook) tells Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward (Robert Redford) to forget about "the myth that's built up about the White House."
"Deep Throat" warns: "The truth is, they're not very smart guys. Things got out of hand."
The reference was to Nixon's Chief of Staff H.R. Haldeman, Attorney General John Mitchell, and John Dean, all of who went to jail after the Watergate cover-up exposed them.
Thirty years later, we can certainly say that Nixon let things get out of hand.
Sadly, we can today apply the "not very smart" tag to George W. Bush's inside circle that also let conditions spin out of control.
How else can anyone assess Secretary of State Colin Powell, who bought into and then promoted the "weapons of mass destruction" myth?
Powell's successor, Condoleezza Rice, defended the war in Iraq that evolved from the WMD fairy tale. Donald Rumsfeld, Bush's first Secretary of Defense, blindly followed along.
Six weeks ago, Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson sold the administration a multi-trillion dollar bill of goods to save country from financial disaster. The benefits have yet to be seen, but the bill to American taxpayers is on the horizon.
Everybody came with such seemingly impeccable credentials. What went wrong?
Despite their glowing qualifications, what Powell, Rice, Rumsfeld and a list of others too long to detail here have in common is that when it comes to making policy, they are woefully — perhaps even criminally — ineffective.
Whether these central figures mapped the strategies that Bush signed off on or whether Bush charted the course and they followed won't be clear for some years to come.
But Bush, in the last six weeks of his presidency, has turned his attention to promoting what he amazingly refers to as his legacy.
With the country falling apart on virtually every front, it's impossible to imagine what the president is thinking. Perhaps Bush has completely lost touch with reality.
One Internet blogger with whom I agree calls Bush's legacy "death, debt and deceit." Whatever it may be, I know I'm glad I'm not responsible for selling it to the American people.
Bush is promoting himself on two relatively non-controversial fronts, one sort of valid but the other completely baseless.
First, Bush legitimately points to the $15 billion in worldwide contributions he's distributed to combat AIDS. Worth noting is that his largess is made possible by American taxpayers and not Bush himself.
But second, and completely off-base given what we know about American learners and the disaster that is No Child Left Behind, Bush is taking bows for advances in education even though there have been none.
Conveniently omitted from Bush's personal retrospective is any mention of Iraq, the deficit, the mortgage crisis and the Wall Street bailout.
Bush is correct to worry about his legacy. History poorly treats bad presidents who betrayed America.
As proof, let's return to where we started: Nixon.
On Dec. 5, more than 30 years after Nixon left office in disgrace, a new movie called "Frost/Nixon" opened in select theaters across America. Concurrently, a DVD release of the original taped interviews is also available.
And finally, the Richard Nixon Library and Birthplace Foundation released taped Oval Office conversations wherein the former president had unflattering things to say about blacks, Jews, Ivy League graduates, Spiro Agnew and George McGovern, as well as others.
All this new material serves as a reminder that presidential misdeeds live long after the perpetrators have departed from office and from earth. Americans have long and bitter memories when their leaders lie to them.
Bush shouldn't expect to be remembered any more favorably than Nixon. In fact, he'll be lucky to do as well.
Joe Guzzardi voted for Nixon in 1968 but not in 1972. He has never voted for a candidate named Bush. Contact him at guzzjoe@yahoo.com.
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Reader Feedback
Brian wrote on Dec 11, 2008 7:09 AM:
-Yep, oh how those pesky little facts get in the way of the liberal agenda. "
Brian wrote on Dec 11, 2008 7:06 AM:
Bush IS correct to worry about his legacy given there are people out there who have such contempt for him. "
Gator wrote on Dec 8, 2008 2:31 PM:
alone will judge it. You want WMD, try looking in Syria that is where Russia moved them!! Speaking of Russia the just moved some of their war
ships through the Panama Canal and are tied up at an old US Navy base. I
believe someone is going to get a test very early in his administration. As
for Obama I didnt vote for him but I believe in giving him a chance, as for
what Ive seen so far, far better than I expected, not to bad!! "
Patricia wrote on Dec 8, 2008 7:51 AM:
Cogito wrote on Dec 7, 2008 5:44 PM:
edumacation wrote on Dec 7, 2008 9:09 AM:
Gator wrote on Dec 7, 2008 8:19 AM:
for what its worth!!! "
edumacation wrote on Dec 6, 2008 8:56 AM:
Powell: All true but one over riding characteristic stands out. Life long government employee and YES man. No breadth, all depth.
Rice: Again accomplished, but look at her. She is an intelligent "politician" that how she survived in those jobs.
Rumsfeld: Its obvious; He IS a politician- a person that says what needs to be said to be elected/selected.
Paulson: He never said he was anyhing else other than a banker. Why would one be surprised by his behavior- bailing out his friends, other bankers.
What about this person?
GW Bush: I have scoured the internet and have not found ONE accomplishment other than is current position as POTUS. What are his skills? Again that's obvious. The "best" thing GW Bush EVER did was be a cheerleader in college. No academic accomplishments anywhere.
Cheerleader
"Yes" man
politician
politician
banker
And thats what we have for "leadership" "
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