Comparison between President Obama and President Bush - Essay Example

Comparison between President Obama and President Bush Whereas President Bush is a former USA President, President Obama is currently the President of America. The two Presidents have had stark differences in their policies and methods of leading the state of America. Nevertheless, as with any comparison, similarities in their rule also exist. As such, the paper will evaluate, analyze and compare the Bush administration with the Obama administration. Consequently, the assessment of the two Presidents will be based on the items on their domestic agendas, political assumptions and the policies they engineered either successfully or unsuccessfully. President Obama in his early moments in office was normally painted as being anti-Bush. As such, a lot of his ideas for example his approach to terrorism and foreign policy were considered mainly to be anti-Bush initiatives. Therefore, President Obama has differentiated himself from President Bush’s style of leadership and governance in many ways. However, the line of differentiation has withered over the years in some aspects. Where people once made bold and glaring distinctions between President Bush and Obama, they now draw blurry unclear lines or parallels. After all, as Mr. Sabato the center for politics director at the University of Virginia puts it “American Presidents have never or are never independent actors; they are influenced by partisanship, congress, specific circumstances, federalism, economic realities, world and domestic opinion and resources. Thus, Presidents over time tend to end up making similar decisions as other Presidents or agreeing a lot more than disagreeing or comprehending why the previous Presidents made the choices they made on a variety of controversial matters. Nevertheless most of the similarities between the Obama and the Bush administration are absolutely dwarfed by the glaring differences in their specific substantive failures or errors. In order to choose or determine who the best President was, their failures and errors have to be taken into consideration. As most political experts state, a President’s legacy is often remembered more for its failings than for its achievements. President Bush’s failed domestic initiatives and failed political assumptions seem to be inconsequential to a lot of people when compared to his biggest catastrophic mistake; the Iraq war. Bush started the Iraq war after the September 9/11 attacks. The war which was supposed to run for six months turned out to be a 7 year very costly war. During the war, a lot of many more Americans were killed than those who died during the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The war resulted in thousands of American soldiers being amputated and disabled in addition to the thousands or countless cases of PTSD. Abroad, thousands of people were killed as a result of the war Bush started. Additionally, the Iraq war alone would cost the American taxpayer more than 6 trillion dollars. As such, the Iraq war alone indented Bush‘s image and legacy. The war has resulted in the weakening of the United States of America. Bush’s next weakness can be described as a moral weakness. During his reign, thousands of people were tortured while others were held in detention. President Bush being the American President allowed all these atrocities to happen under his watch and reign. Internally, President Bush’s tax cuts and his failure to prevent the 2008 financial crisis combined with his profligate spending made him leave the country in a worse state than before he was elected into office. The 2008 financial crisis was the worst crisis in the United States after the great depression. President Bush failed in the sense that he did not foresee it coming. Additionally, a 9/11 commission report claimed that the terrorist attacks could have been prevented. As such, the Bush administration was lax in taking the necessary steps to avert the attack which led to the loss and maiming of American people. On the other hand, President Obama’s failures are different from his predecessor’s failures. President Obama has not presided over a major event as catastrophic as the 9/11 attacks. Additionally, his actions up to now have not proved to be as costly and unpopular as the Iraq war. Although the two leader’s choices are influenced by events happening during their reigns, they have the options to make the right or wrong decisions. Obama’s moral level can be assumed to be on the same level as Bush’s. Whereas Bush held people in indefinite detention while torturing others, President Obama kills people from afar using drones. Through the use of drones, President Obama has annihilated thousands of terrorists or militants. Also, the drones have led to the deaths of a lot of innocent people as collateral damage. For instance, under the Obama administration, the government has bombed funerals and wedding convoys in addition to killing for instance an American citizen (a sixteen year old American). These indiscriminate airstrikes sometimes makes it appear as if the CIA does not even know its targets properly. To judge President Obama at the moment seems too early. It is a bit early to feel and subsequently assess the effects of his policies. However, the policies made under the Obama administration seem to be costly in the long run. His strategy of fighting terrorism through the mass surveillance program is a major failing since it makes American citizens to be vulnerable to intimidation and abuses from the surveillance agency. Form history, we have learnt that Governments often misuse private information to their advantage. Additionally, the whack a whistleblower approach he has taken in an effort to fight terrorism seems to shift focus from the fact that the Obama administration has no long term strategy to fight terrorism. Both the Bush and Obama administration stimulated economic growth during the recession via the use of expansionary fiscal policies. As a consequence, the US debt increased during their presidency. While Bush added 5.8 trillion dollars, Obama by 2014 has added approximately 7 million dollars. Also, since World War II, both Bush and Obama have spent the largest amount of taxpayers’ money on defense. Obama led a successful hunt for Osama bin laden. A venture which Bush failed. The death of Osama bin landed marked the end of the Afghanistan war which was started by Bush. Furthermore, President Obama officially ended the Iraq war. However, he has been dragged back into Iraq in order to safe guard US interests (Rynhold 2008). The Bush administration led to the creation of the 2008 financial crisis since he did not regulate the use of derivatives by banks. The Dodd Frank Wall Street Reform Act proposed by Obama regulates prepaid and debit cards, credit, banks and ended payday loans. In regard to health care, President Bush proposed the bankruptcy prevention act of 2005 which made it more complex for citizens to be declared bankrupt. Mortgage defaults increased by 14% as a result of the act. According to experts, health care costs are the main cause of people becoming bankrupt in America. Also, the Medicare part D drug program commenced under the Bush administration. The program resulted in a donut hole in regard to costs to seniors. Additionally, the program led to an extra 550 billion dollar debt. President Obama in response proposed the affordable care act. To begin with, the act closed the donut hole left by Bush. Consequently, the affordable care act led to a decrease in health costs since it provided health insurance to all citizens. Due to the act, most Americans currently receive preventive health care which decreases health or hospital costs. Lastly, according to approval ratings before their reelection into office, both Presidents had about a 50 % approval rating. Nonetheless, at 41% Obama has a slight edge over President Bush who had 37%. Conclusion Both President Bush and President Obama have their failures and successes. However, failures are the major determinant in whether an administration is considered to be performing or not. Therefore, during his rule, the Iraq and Afghanistan wars were the major failures while the mass surveillance and drone strikes characterize Obama’s failures (Rynhold 2008). To determine who between the two Presidents is better, their failures and successes have to be compared. In regard to this, President Obama stands out to be performing better than his predecessor. Obama during his rule has made far fewer mistakes than President Bush. During President Bush’s tenure, America experienced the worst incidences in its history; the 2 wars, a terrorist attack on American soil and the 2008 financial crisis. As such, Obama is a better President than Bush. Work cited Rynhold, Jonathan. "President Obama and the Middle East Challenge." BESA Center Perspectives Papers 50 (2008). Print. Read More