2:06
Interview Transcript
Question: What will be the legacy of George W. Bush?
Mitt Romney: Well there will be things that are great accomplishments . . . I think we will recognize that he kept us safe these last few years, and that was not easy to do. He fought for the Patriot Act. He made sure that when Al Qaeda was calling, we were listening. He made sure that terrorists that were caught, we interrogated to find out what they knew so we could protect our country. He kept us safe. That’s the first responsibility of a president. Secondly, he went after the guys that went after us. No more in this world do you say, “Hey, we can go after America and nothing happens.” He made sure people realize there are consequences for attacking us. They attacked us at the U.S.S. Cole. They attacked us in Saudi Arabia. They attacked us in our . . . in African embassies in Tanzania and Kenya. And actually they attacked our Marines in Lebanon. We didn’t respond. And finally when George Bush was president and they attacked us on 9/11, we did respond in a major and aggressive way, and they know there are consequences for attacking us. His commitment to education and “No Child Left Behind”, I also support. And his effort to help people get prescription drugs I think was a good effort, although I think we should’ve reformed Medicare as part of the process because the Medicare Part D alone, I’m afraid, added a huge new entitlement that I think will not be a positive part of his legacy. There are other elements that were not as successful. I wish we would have been able to see the reform of entitlements. That just didn’t happen. He tried, that was unsuccessful. And of course the conflict in Iraq was not superbly managed. Following the collapse of Saddam Hussein, we just did not have the right level of troop strength. We did not have the rules of engagement or the . . . the plans and preparations in place to . . . to have Iraq become stable in the timeframe it should have become stable. So there will be pluses and minuses; but overall we’ll know that this is a president who did what he thought was right for America at every turn.
Recorded on: 11/26/07
Mitt Romney: The Legacy of George W. Bush
Fmr. Governor, Massachusetts (R)
A mixed, but very strong record.
December 14, 2007 | In Politics & Policy
Discuss
jason phillips on January 16, 2008, 6:07 PM
Romney, what a bush toady! Bush will be remembered as the president that began the stripping of our civil rights and liberties and killed privacy. The Christian crusader who tried to cleanse the world of "evil doers" but only managed to created 10 times more enemies in the process. The president who tarnished the good name of America, the only person who took the support of the whole world after 9/11 and turned that into disgust and shame. He will be remembered as the worst president in history and it will take the work of many good men in the future to undo what he has done. He has set us back nearly a generation. He is more than a failure.
Warrantless wiretaps
Imprisonment without evidence or trial
Torture
Rendition
Exposing CIA operatives
Falsifying intelligence reports
billions of dollars in no bid contracts
hundreds of billions for cost of war
3,926 dead US soldiers all for lies
Katrina (need i say more there)
the list goes on and on..
jason phillips on January 16, 2008, 11:07 PM
Romney, what a bush toady! Bush will be remembered as the president that began the stripping of our civil rights and liberties and killed privacy. The Christian crusader who tried to cleanse the world of “evil doers” but only managed to created 10 times more enemies in the process. The president who tarnished the good name of America, the only person who took the support of the whole world after 9/11 and turned that into disgust and shame. He will be remembered as the worst president in history and it will take the work of many good men in the future to undo what he has done. He has set us back nearly a generation. He is more than a failure.
Warrantless wiretaps
Imprisonment without evidence or trial
Torture
Rendition
Exposing CIA operatives
Falsifying intelligence reports
billions of dollars in no bid contracts
hundreds of billions for cost of war
3,926 dead US soldiers all for lies
Katrina (need i say more there)
the list goes on and on..
Omar Sapayeen on January 17, 2008, 8:16 AM
George Bush's legacy?
The Iraq war, that's turned what was one of the most secular countries in the mid-east into a hotbed of militias and radical groups.
He will be remembered for being thoughtless and inarticulate. His Bushisms, comments reflecting his lack of intellect and rational process, will be remembered as evidence of all he lacked in when it came to brains.
He will be remembered for holding hands with Saudi Princes, and sharing with the Saudis shows of affection that even his wife would envy.
And yes, he will be remembered as the poster boy of America's lost moral backbone. The acceptance of torture as a means of collecting information, even when at the cost of torturing the wrong people occasionally. He will be remembered for authorizing Guantanamo Bay. Wiretaps. For the decline of the US economy after the Democrats left us with a surplus and a decent GDP growth rate.
God forbid Romney wins the primaries…But if he does win the Republican candidacy, I hope the Dems remember to point out that he's pretty much intending to walk in the same shoes Bush wore.
Omar Sapayeen on January 17, 2008, 1:16 PM
George Bush’s legacy?
The Iraq war, that’s turned what was one of the most secular countries in the mid-east into a hotbed of militias and radical groups.
He will be remembered for being thoughtless and inarticulate. His Bushisms, comments reflecting his lack of intellect and rational process, will be remembered as evidence of all he lacked in when it came to brains.
He will be remembered for holding hands with Saudi Princes, and sharing with the Saudis shows of affection that even his wife would envy.
And yes, he will be remembered as the poster boy of America’s lost moral backbone. The acceptance of torture as a means of collecting information, even when at the cost of torturing the wrong people occasionally. He will be remembered for authorizing Guantanamo Bay. Wiretaps. For the decline of the US economy after the Democrats left us with a surplus and a decent GDP growth rate.
God forbid Romney wins the primaries…But if he does win the Republican candidacy, I hope the Dems remember to point out that he’s pretty much intending to walk in the same shoes Bush wore.
d. t. cochrane on January 21, 2008, 10:52 AM
Didn't respond to the bombing of the U.S. embassies or the USS Cole? Those who died of preventable disease after the bombing of a Sudanese pharmaceutical plant might beg to differ. The Iraqis who died for want of clean water after repeated bombings of infrastructure and on-going sanctions maintained by Democratic presidents might beg to differ. They might beg to differ, if they weren't dead.
Attacks on the U.S. did not occur in a vacuum. To understand context is not to excuse and the context of these attacks is an American foreign policy that believes itself immune from international law and international norms.
The unfortunate part of Bush's legacy may be that people forget the war crimes of the presidents who preceded him because his own were so massive and apparent. Hopefully, part of the legacy will be a war crimes trial that proves even U.S. presidents are not above global justice.
d. t. cochrane on January 21, 2008, 3:52 PM
Didn’t respond to the bombing of the U.S. embassies or the USS Cole? Those who died of preventable disease after the bombing of a Sudanese pharmaceutical plant might beg to differ. The Iraqis who died for want of clean water after repeated bombings of infrastructure and on-going sanctions maintained by Democratic presidents might beg to differ. They might beg to differ, if they weren’t dead.
Attacks on the U.S. did not occur in a vacuum. To understand context is not to excuse and the context of these attacks is an American foreign policy that believes itself immune from international law and international norms.
The unfortunate part of Bush’s legacy may be that people forget the war crimes of the presidents who preceded him because his own were so massive and apparent. Hopefully, part of the legacy will be a war crimes trial that proves even U.S. presidents are not above global justice.
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