Charles Krauthammer is in my opinion the finest columnist of his generation and one of the finest columnists America has ever produced. His pieces are always worth reading, but his climate-changing piece in today’s Washington Post, on the Bush legacy, is especially so.
Krauthammer argues that George W. Bush is a wartime president, and that this is how history will both remember and judge him. Krauthammer then offers a brief assessment of the President’s record on–among other topics–Iraq. The war turned out to be longer and more costly than expected, Krauthammer argues, but
the question remains as to whether the now-likely outcome — transforming a virulently aggressive enemy state in the heart of the Middle East into a strategic ally in the war on terror — was worth it. I suspect the ultimate answer will be far more favorable than it is today.
Krauthammer writes about the President’s “one unambiguous achievement, keeping us safe for seven years–about 6 1/2 years longer than anybody thought possible at the time of 9/11.” And he writes about Bush “bequeathing to his successor the kinds of powers and institutions the next president will need to prevent further attack and successfully prosecute the long war. ”
In this sense, Krauthammer argues, Bush is much like Truman, who left office as unpopular and out of favor, but about whom history has revised that verdict. “I have little doubt that Bush will be the subject of a similar reconsideration,” Krauthammer concludes.
The other thing Krauthammer picks up on, based on his hour-long interview with the President, is his equanimity. As it happens, that is precisely the quality that I have increasingly come to admire and place a premium on based on my experiences serving in three different Administrations (Reagan, Bush 41, and Bush 43).
Composure, an inner calmness, self-possession, and the capacity to remain grounded and unruffled by the buffeting that accompanies life in high public office are enormously important qualities. They are not by themselves sufficient to guarantee success, but they important nonetheless. And in a media culture in which minor issues explode on the scene for a few days and then evaporate and are forgotten, in which reporters and pundits often speak in sweeping, careless, and apocalyptic terms, and in which there exist an unrelenting intensity and wide mood swings, equanimity is an especially important character trait.
President Bush has that, and he has, if not a flawless record, then quite an impressive one. Charles Krauthammer is right, I suspect: history will treat America’s 43rd president well. George W. Bush understands that, and I imagine he takes some comfort in it.
