History will be kinder to President Bush

Throughout political history, there have been those who worked relentlessly to protect the people they represented only to be turned out at the polls or have low approval numbers. The most famous example of that phenomenon is Winston Churchill. After leading the United Kingdom through the darkest days of its history in its war with Hitler's Germany, Churchill was quickly defeated for re-election after the war against Germany concluded. In local politics, late McNairy County, Tennessee Sheriff Buford Pusser, of Walking Tall fame, would be defeated at the polls in his bid to re-take the Sheriff's job due to people tiring of the publicity around his methods that cleaned out the alleged "Dixie Mafia" from his county. President Harry Truman left office as the most unpopular President to date via polling, only to have his "Truman Doctrine" become the blueprint to win the Cold War with communism and ensure Truman near great status in the eyes of historians. In short, elected officials who decide to take on the big problems in protecting the people that they serve by every ounce of the power that they have often end up lampooned and condemned by the people that they serve and the political classes. Even Abraham Lincoln was called an ape and a tyrant.

Enter the case of President George W. Bush. After the attacks of September 11th, 2001, President Bush made it clear that he would dedicate the power of his office to protecting the American people from further terrorist attack. It can be argued that Bush's focus on such limited his vision on other pressing issues. However, as President Bush leaves office, he can claim success on the one thing he promised early on in his tenure as President of the United States. President Bush did keep the nation free from another homeland terrorist attack.

Seven years removed from September 11th, 2001, such does not seem to be a big deal. But it is. With all the doomsayers promising us more attacks on September 12th, 2001, no one in politics, and I mean no one, would have wagered their careers and reputations that another attack would not happen on Bush's watch. President Bush took that wager, and used every bit of his legal and political powers to keep the American homeland safe from attack.

Does that choice by President Bush make him a great President? No. However, it does fly in the faces of those who say the Bush Presidency was a complete failure. There are legitimate questions about the things President Bush decided to do. However, President Bush did do exactly what he told the American people he would do after the 2001 attacks. President Bush used every means at his disposal, even when it pushed to the edges of the law, to keep the American people safe from further terrorist attack. President Bush did so without regard to political conventional wisdom. President Bush kept his word on that issue and got the job done.

President George W. Bush made big mistakes. For those mistakes, he should be criticized. However, President Bush should also be applauded for his integrity and his success in keeping the War on Terror away from the American Homeland. President Bush made the hard calls in perhaps his most important role as President: protector of the American people from attack.

It is part of the beautiful irony of democracy that those who live within it reject or chastise leaders who exercise extreme power to protect it. That old and ironic truth should not prevent those of us with any sense of history and the threats our nation faced from thanking President Bush for doing what he said he would do above all else: keep the United States safe from further terrorist attack on his watch.

Thank you, President Bush. God Bless you as you move to your retirement. May we all pray that President-elect Obama has the same integrity and sense of mission in protecting the American people over the next four years.