Hail the Conquering Hero

Bill Sammon's new book asks of President Bush: Great president, or the greatest president?

David Weigel | November 19, 2007

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"Tons" is right: There's an inexhaustible amount of slack and only a little popular willingness to call the Great Man on his mistakes. The last few years have seen a pile of books reassessing the presidencies of chiefs we all once thought corrupt (Ulysses Grant) or authoritarian (John Adams). Sammon's banking on a similar re-appreciation for Bush. Fifty years on, is "Mission Accomplished" really going to loom larger than the hanging of Saddam Hussein? Will Bush be pilloried for hiring cronies and installing a sock-puppet at the Department of Justice? Or will George W. Bush be a man who stuck by his friends and led with his gut?

To hell with Tolstoy. Sammon's going to be proven right. Nobody wants to believe that they were led by incompetents who were either dragged along by history or sped the momentum of decline. They want Great Men. Sammon's just ahead of the curve in giving them one.

David Weigel is an associate editor of reason.

Comments

|11.19.07 @ 2:26PM|#

Oopsie.

Russell Seitz|11.19.07 @ 2:33PM|#

If Millard Fillmore had Sammon at his side ,by now Iraq would be the center of the Whig Empire

|11.19.07 @ 3:07PM|#

Great, the more the better. I hope every passionate Iraq War supporter and George Bush booster writes a book like this.

They make for useful vaccinations for our body politic. The more people see this sort of "thinker" yammering on about treason, da troops, and the other old saws we've come to know so well, and doing so as everything they stood for falling down around their ears and highlights the vast distances between their words and reality, the less likely it will be that those tactics will be to work in the future.

|11.19.07 @ 3:10PM|#

Maybe they could sell that book at the Creation Museum.
You could put it right next to the display of Adam getting it on with a lamb.

|11.19.07 @ 3:10PM|#

This time, in English:

The more people see this sort of "thinker" yammering on about treason, da troops, and the other old saws we've come to know so well, and doing so as everything they stood for is falling down around their ears, it will only serve to highlight the vast distances between their words and reality. The more this happens, the less likely it will be that those tactics will be effective at swaying people in the future.

|11.19.07 @ 3:10PM|#

The delusions keep coming. This is the state of American politics and a good lesson for anybody who is incredibly incompetent. If you learn from the Bush Administration you simply never admit you mistakes, in fact it is best not to even attempt to explain things. You just tell people who disagree 'Fuck You' and proceed to the next unbelivable blunder...

Syloson of Samos|11.19.07 @ 3:15PM|#

Lots of historians have noted that during the Civil War the divided political scene in the Union north was a great aid to the prosecution of the war. If things do eventually turn out well in Iraq, etc. a similar argument can also be made about our particular time of war.

|11.19.07 @ 3:28PM|#

I think what this book shows is that there is still a sizable portion of the country(it has been falling during the past 4 years, still around 25%) which is actively living in a fantasy world. The neo-cons and the religous rightists are so wrapped in ideology/religion that they continue to feed delusion upon delusion and every time their worldview disagrees with reality they treat it as a 'he said-she said' situation.

R C Dean|11.19.07 @ 3:44PM|#

I think what this book shows is that there is still a sizable portion of the country(it has been falling during the past 4 years, still around 25%) which is actively living in a fantasy world.

Nah. Its much higher than that, and it hasn't fallen at all. Once you accept that not just neo-cons and fundies are reality-challenged, anyway.

|11.19.07 @ 3:46PM|#

Syloson,

I'm not sure if that is analogious. We fought our civil war. We are trying to prevent Iraq from fighting theirs.

"""The delusions keep coming."""

No kidding. Bush has done much to create an all knowing government, and push human rights back to the pre-Magna Carta days, deceiving the public the whole way.

|11.19.07 @ 4:00PM|#

"Its much higher than that, and it hasn't fallen at all. Once you accept that not just neo-cons and fundies are reality-challenged, anyway."

Oh of course...but these are the people who have believed the SAME lies over and over again...I at least like people to lie to me in different ways...show me a bit of respect:)

Bingo|11.19.07 @ 4:02PM|#

This book sounds so ridiculous i might have to pick it up

|11.19.07 @ 4:09PM|#

The best way to get a book deal is to either become a professional contrarian or to have a niche audience that will purchase whatever you write no matter what...this author has achieved both.

Andrew Glass|11.19.07 @ 4:59PM|#

I love this. David, you have a great sense of humor.

|11.19.07 @ 5:25PM|#

GWB is the best president we've ever had. He must have copied most of his policy from Clinton, the previous best president we ever had. I've heard the next one is going to be really great.

|11.19.07 @ 5:55PM|#

Adams and Grant may have a new coat of varnish, but Jackson and FDR have certainly collected some extra detritus in the past 10 years, and Johnson's rep just keeps getting worse and worse.

While there will always be those who are inclined towards a James Lipton-esque rimjob of their ideological heroes, I'm not so sure about the future of W's legacy outside of the Archie Bunker crowd.

"Mister, we could use a man like Herbert Hoover again."

Gleeful Reaper|11.19.07 @ 6:30PM|#

If GWB turns out to be the GOP's undertaker, who knows, perhaps history will be kind to him.

|11.19.07 @ 8:31PM|#

Bush's legacy? It will rank somewhere between James Buchannan and Chester A. Arthur.

In 100 years, he'll be best remembered for being the son of Geroge H.W. Bush, and standing on some ruble. That will be about all.

|11.20.07 @ 9:09AM|#

I wish I was as optimistic, Cesar.

I fear he will turn out to be of much greater consequence than that.

GILMORE|11.20.07 @ 1:11PM|#

Good article dave.

|11.21.07 @ 8:42PM|#

I hate how all GW can argue on is the premise for why we are at war and why we should still be there. I belive most Americans would follow with his thinking if given the chance to do so. But his incompetence did not allow sane people to stay on the Bush Train to Obscurity. If this war was waged properly Americans would still support the reasons for being there (and there are reasons are people.) Don't forget, other countries did help us with our Civil War too.

|11.22.07 @ 8:47AM|#

George Bush will not be judged a great man by future generations. He is dumb, and he surrounds himself with yes men, and cronies and the children of cronies. He is uninteresting.

My guess is that Rove, Wolfowitz and Rumsfeld will be much more interesting topics for historians.

The whole notion of "great man" turns my stomach. Presidents, like CEOs, are all "great men" in their own minds. In reality, they are narcisists verging on sociopathy, and no more capable than any other group randomly selected from amongst the general population of average intelligence citizens.

|11.22.07 @ 12:58PM|#

Actually he doesn't surround himself with yes men, he is the yes man. That's why I must agree Rove and company will be much more interesting for historians. They are the ones that made the crappy decisions.

I think the country would actually be worse if we followed any original ideas that came from Bush's head, because to date no ideas have ever been his.