When George W. Bush leaves office on January 20, 2009, his approval ratings will be among the lowest of any president in US history. For those who suffer from Bush-derangement syndrome, he can’t depart too quickly. Some have suggested he should step down early and get out of Barack Obama’s way. Even many of his long-time supporters will be relieved to see him go. The drubbing Republicans took in last month’s election is in no small part due to his unpopularity, as Barack Obama reminded Americans daily on the campaign trail.

An objective assessment of the man and his legacy must await the perspective of time. As political analyst Donald Lambro points out, “history is a funny thing that can dramatically re-evaluate past events in a far different light when they are compared in the mists of time to what follows them.” He reminds us of Harry Truman, another president who left office with similarly low approval ratings, now highly regarded as a decisive leader who led the country during two wars.

How you feel about George W. Bush today depends largely on where you stand on the political spectrum. Most of the activist left never got over the 2000 election. They considered him illegitimate from the beginning. After 9/11, when his popularity soared, their anger was muted, but Bush’s ill-fated pursuit of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq confirmed their opinions and gave them a new rallying cry. Bush’s re-election in 2004 only deepened their resentment.

Others who did not vote for him, but were not afflicted with the anti-Bush virus, rallied to his support as they would any US president. But as US efforts in Iraq began to falter, their support, along with that of many who did vote for him, waned. Whether they opposed or supported the war in Iraq, reports about Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo, rendition, water boarding, and warrantless wiretaps, along with the debate over the Patriot Act, made them uncomfortable.

The persistent criticism of Bush by his political opponents, that he was destroying US relationships with our allies and "going it alone," made things worse. These claims were exaggerated, but left-leaning governments in Germany and France during Bush’s first term criticized him frequently, while Bush’s attitude and demeanor turned off many at home and abroad. Relationships improved during his second term, but the label stuck.

Even many of those who supported Bush throughout his presidency, essentially the solid conservative core of the Republican Party, began to have their doubts. Bush had been elected, they believed, to limit government and control spending. He did neither. Republicans in Congress failed to remain true to conservative principles, and Bush failed to rein them in. 

On the positive side, no one can deny that Bush has kept America safe. He made the decision to go on the offensive and fight the terrorists on their own ground, wherever that may be, before they could attack us on ours. You can fault Bush for invading Iraq, but once there we could not afford to lose. After four years of a failed strategy, Bush fired Donald Rumsfeld, and General David Petraeus and the surge prevented that from happening.

Bush himself believes his legacy is what he did after the attacks on 9/11 and his toppling of two terrorist regimes. In his interview with Charlie Gibson of ABC News he pointed to his liberation of 50 million people in Afghanistan and Iraq and the establishment of democracies in the middle of the world's worst terrorist breeding grounds.

Bush is proudest of his $15 billion offensive against AIDS and malaria in Africa, that has saved the lives of millions, and of his market-oriented Medicare prescription-drug program that has lowered medical costs for the elderly.

George W. Bush will not go down in history as one of our worst presidents as many now say he will. And he’s certainly not another Richard Nixon, as filmmaker Ron Howard has attempted to describe him. Speaking at a viewing of his new film Frost/Nixon, reflecting the views of Bush’s harshest critics, Howard accused Bush of abusing his office in much the same way that Richard Nixon did. To his credit, Fox News anchorman Chris Wallace pointed out “Richard Nixon’s crimes were committed purely in the interest of his own political gain.” To compare Bush to Nixon “is a gross misreading of history both then and now.”

Nor will Bush rank with the likes of George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt, or Ronald Reagan. Their extraordinary triumphs were apparent before they left office. The life and death challenges that confronted Bush, an attack on the United States, two wars, and a global financial crisis, certainly rank in the same league. The war on terrorism, like the Cold War, however, will last for decades. We won't know the lasting impact of Iraq and Afghanistan for years to come. The financial crisis, which has dominated the final months of Bush's presidency, soon will be Barack Obama's problem to solve.

Whatever you think of George W. Bush, his saving grace is that he believed what he did was right and best for the country. He will retire to Dallas, Texas, and live out his life surrounded by friends and family without the self doubt that has plagued other presidents. You won’t see him gallivanting around the world in an attempt to redeem himself.

Much will be written about the man and his presidency, offering many explanations for his actions. One explanation makes a lot of sense to me. I recall how a senior administration official who interacted with President George W. Bush on a regular basis described him to me in 2001. “He’s one of the least curious men in high office I’ve ever known.”

Looking back over the past eight years, this insightful observation may explain a great deal. Bush’s unswerving belief in what he was doing, his baby-boomer confidence that everything would work out all right, too frequently led him not to ask the hard questions. He simply lacked the skepticism at critical moments that a President of the United States must have to avoid making flawed decisions. He hasn't been a bad president, but he could have been a better one.

Like Harry Truman, George W. Bush has his successes and his failures. Which will prove more important, only time and history can judge. I suspect, when everything is said and done and presidents are ranked according to their accomplishments, George W. Bush will find himself beside the gentleman from Independence, Missouri. Not all that bad a place to be.