[SeattleUte]

When Turman left office he was widely hated, at least as badly as Bush. It took a better understanding of the cold war and how Truman positioned us to win it to appreciate his greatness. Does Bush have a shot at being regarded a great president? I see two possiblities.

One, maybe historians will come to better understand the financial crisis as not of his or Republicans' making (I don't know), and give his administration credit for staving off a great depression with the Treasury's quick action (again, I don't know). Second, if the Middle East moderates, becomes secularized like Turkey, he may get credit for addressing a problem head on rather than responding with isolationism and pacifism (I don't know; but I kind of doubt it).