This week, some have been comparing Bush's low approval ratings to Richard Nixon's, shortly before that beleaguered president resigned. Lubbock, Texas calls him the worst president of this century compared to Nixon, Hoover, and Carter (but probably a good buddy!), and the Japan Times solicited Ted Rall to explain why Bush should resign.
But I think the closer parallel would be to Johnson, when his approval ratings hit the low side of 40%:
The major initiative in the Lyndon Johnson presidency was the Vietnam War. By 1968 the U.S. had 548,000 troops in Vietnam, and had already lost 30,000 of them. Johnson's approval ratings had dropped from 70 percent in mid-1965 to below 40 percent by 1967, and with it, his mastery of Congress. "I can't get out, I can't finish it with what I have got. So what the hell do I do?" he cried out to Lady Bird. Johnson never did figure out the answer to that question.
Although scandals plague the White House inner circles, it is really the war that is marring the president's image.
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Comments: 6
The problem is, they can show just one burning truck on the evening news and the American public gets the sense of "Oh my God! We can't beat these guys!"--that sense is cultivated becase there is little news of the positive developments. And there are, most assuredly, positive developments every day.
On the surface the war may seem a disaster, but if one actively looks for information a different story is told. Unfortunately, most Americans aren't habituated to looking deeper on most issues.
Part of the public image problem stems from the Bush administration hoisting itself by its collective petard, by conflating the war in Iraq with the "War on Terror" -- which even shallow minded folks are starting to realize might not be an open-and-shut issue any more than the created "War on Drugs."
Personally, if we're going to have an ill-defined war of principles, can we go back to the "War on Poverty?" I kind of miss that one.
Saddam did, in fact, have extensive ties to terrorism--they are well documented. What's more, it's the lack of freedom and economic opportunity that creates such a fertile breeding ground for terrorism (yes, yes, not only those two things, but they contribute a lot). By creating a thriving democracy in the Middle East we're working to change that dynamic (yes, yes, it's not thriving yet, but it's moving in the right direction).
I, personally, would rather be cheering for the hopeful side.
You bring up the past, as if this administration is a monolithic thing. It's not--we are not slaves to the sins of the past. In fact, if anything, our past deeds should compell us now to atone for them by not abandoning the Iraqis to a cruel fate. Patience, we will leave later than you want and sooner than you think.