| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
cwemory
Joined: 14 Jan 2006
Location: Gunpo, Korea
|
 Posted: Thu Mar 16, 2006 5:18 am Post subject: Bush Focused On How Revisionist History Will See Him |
 |
|
from theonion.com (America's finest news source),
| Quote: |
| WASHINGTON, DC—With many of his administration's policies facing growing public disapproval, President Bush is reportedly becoming more concerned with how he will be portrayed by future revisionist historians. "Just last summer, the president never reflected on how apologists would spin his increased lobbying for an unpopular war, or how future far-right generations would justify his failed domestic policy initiatives," presidential scholar Dr. Robert Dallek said. "He reportedly asked an aide if, decades from now, the deluded would see him as great, like Ronald Reagan, or merely as a fully redeemed elder statesman, like Richard Nixon." Margaret Meehan, a spokesman for the National Board Of Historical Revision, offered no comment on any future portrayal of "America's most beloved and accomplished president." |
http://www.theonion.com/content/node/46230 |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
Gopher
Joined: 04 Jun 2005
|
| Posted: Fri Mar 17, 2006 8:21 pm Post subject: |
|
|
My predictions:
W. Bush will go down in history as a problematic and unpopular president. But not nearly has despised as Nixon. He will be known for Iraq, just as LBJ is known for Vietnam (and pretty much only historians remember his Great Society and civil rights initiatives).
Here're the others:
Clinton will probably fade away and be one of those presidents hardly talked about by historians.
Same for H.W. Bush, except that he will be mentioned as W. Bush's father and his role in the Gulf War.
H.W. Bush will be overshadowed by Reagan, too, who will be mostly talked about as a Cold Warrior. He was a popular president.
Carter will continue to be warmly remembered for several things, including those which made him one of a very few Nobel Prize-winning presidents. Perhaps the most honest president we've had.
Nixon/Ford will forever be problematic. I don't know anyone who sees Nixon as "fully redeemed," by the way.
LBJ will forever by overshadowed by Vietnam, and this is unfair.
JFK is practically cannonized and unassailable.
Hard to say about Eisenhower and Truman.
FDR is remembered as one of the most important presidents in our history. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
On the other hand
Joined: 19 Apr 2003
Location: I walk along the avenue
|
| Posted: Fri Mar 17, 2006 8:37 pm Post subject: |
|
|
I'd pretty much agree with everything Gopher wrote, except....
| Quote: |
Clinton will probably fade away and be one of those presidents hardly talked about by historians.
|
For some reason, I have the idea that Clinton will be remembered for marking and epitomizing some sort of ideological shift, both at home and abroad.
I would imagine that right now there must be a lot of Clinton-era nostalgia among the liberal-centrist crowd in the US. Then again, I don't live there so I really don't know.
| Quote: |
Hard to say about Eisenhower and Truman.
|
I don't think there will ever come a time when it is once more respectable to trash Harry Truman in popular discourse. I think he benefits a lot from FDR's glow.
Hip, historically-aware liberals will probably always use Eisenhower's name as shorthand for stifling conformity. But since his presidency passed largely without any major foreign entanglements or domestic upheavels, I don't think you'll ever see a lot of serious hostility to the guy, even among liberals and leftists. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Gopher
Joined: 04 Jun 2005
|
| Posted: Fri Mar 17, 2006 8:57 pm Post subject: |
|
|
[deleted]
Last edited by Gopher on Sat Jun 17, 2006 3:25 pm; edited 1 time in total |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
TheUrbanMyth
Joined: 28 Jan 2003
Location: Retired
|
| Posted: Fri Mar 17, 2006 8:59 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Gopher wrote: |
JFK is practically cannonized and unassailable.
. |
Not exactly true. There are several popular books that have been published, which go into detail on his womanizing and other bad traits. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Ya-ta Boy
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Location: Established in 1994
|
| Posted: Sat Mar 18, 2006 2:04 pm Post subject: |
|
|
In 200 years, when the history books are written here is what they will say in their one-sentence evaluations of American presidents:
1. FDR was a good president who helped the Chinese people fight the Japanese invaders.
2. Truman was a bad president who sent soldiers to kill Chinese soldiers in Korea.
3. Eisenhower was a bad president because he delayed Chinese reunification with Taiwan.
4. Kennedy won't get mentioned.
5. Johnson will be stuck with Vietnam.
6. Nixon will be remembered as a great president who recognized the greatness of the Chinese people.
7. Ford and Carter will be lucky to get one sentence.
8. Reagan will be remembered as the president who dreamed up Star Wars and created a new threat to the world.
9. Bush I might be remembered as a good president, but got the US involved in an oil war in the Gulf.
10. Clinton will be ignored.
11. Bush II will be remembered for his moves to acquire an oil monopoly and for legitimizing India's nuclear status as part of his evil strategy to contain China.
And that's the way it is, March 19, 2006. Ya-ta Boy reporting from Swampville, S. Korea |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
On the other hand
Joined: 19 Apr 2003
Location: I walk along the avenue
|
| Posted: Sat Mar 18, 2006 8:59 pm Post subject: |
|
|
That's funny, Ya-ta Boy. But a couple of points...
| Quote: |
7. Ford and Carter will be lucky to get one sentence.
|
It was actually under Carter that the US established formal diplomatic relations with China and withdrew official recognition from Taiwan. Though Nixon paved the way of course.
| Quote: |
9. Bush I might be remembered as a good president, but got the US involved in an oil war in the Gulf.
|
Bush was also Chief of the U.S. Liaison Office in China for a time, prior to the establishment of diplomatic relations. As such, he was the closest thing the US had to an ambassador in China at that time. As well, I recall a lot of talk about him having pro-Chinese sympathies at the time of the Tiennamen Square massacre, and trying to prevent congress from imposing harsh penalties on China. And I recall Dan Quayle openly defending China's human rights record. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
