Historians disagree on whether Bush is another Truman
He led the United States into war and saw his popularity plummet, yet some 60 years later his reputation has never been higher: It's small wonder Harry S. Truman seems to hold a special fascination for President Bush these days....
"I know that President Bush admires Harry Truman -- we have talked about that," [David] McCullough said, though he was cautious about offering any snap assessments of the Bush presidency. "About 50 years has to go by before you can appraise a presidency -- the dust has to settle."
He did say he sees similarities between Truman and Bush, especially in their capacity to endure "merciless criticism and personal abuse" that he doubts "many of us could take."...
Historians are divided about this kind of assessment from the administration. Fred I. Greenstein, a Princeton scholar regarded as a preeminent authority on the presidency, alluded to one major difference between Bush and Truman, often cited by Democrats. "The Marshall Plan was part of a broad-based diplomatic effort, and it was enacted by Truman's bipartisan leadership of a Republican Congress," he said in an e-mail. "Bush's efforts have been heavily unilateral internationally and divisive internally, except those just after 9/11."
James G. Hershberg, a Cold War historian at George Washington University, said he doubts that history will judge Bush as kindly as it has Truman, saying Truman's roles in fostering European recovery and building the NATO alliance were seen as solid accomplishments at the time. "Bush, by contrast, lacks any successes of comparable magnitude to compensate for his mismanagement of the Iraq war and will be hard-pressed to produce any in his last two years," he said.
But Greenstein said he has been struck by parallels between the two presidents, including their feistiness, the fact that neither seemed up to the job in their early months in office, that both had responses to crises that made them seem more presidential and that both saw their approval levels drop after stalemated wars. "As one who remembers the Truman presidency," he said, "I often have a sense of deja vu."
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"I know that President Bush admires Harry Truman -- we have talked about that," [David] McCullough said, though he was cautious about offering any snap assessments of the Bush presidency. "About 50 years has to go by before you can appraise a presidency -- the dust has to settle."
He did say he sees similarities between Truman and Bush, especially in their capacity to endure "merciless criticism and personal abuse" that he doubts "many of us could take."...
Historians are divided about this kind of assessment from the administration. Fred I. Greenstein, a Princeton scholar regarded as a preeminent authority on the presidency, alluded to one major difference between Bush and Truman, often cited by Democrats. "The Marshall Plan was part of a broad-based diplomatic effort, and it was enacted by Truman's bipartisan leadership of a Republican Congress," he said in an e-mail. "Bush's efforts have been heavily unilateral internationally and divisive internally, except those just after 9/11."
James G. Hershberg, a Cold War historian at George Washington University, said he doubts that history will judge Bush as kindly as it has Truman, saying Truman's roles in fostering European recovery and building the NATO alliance were seen as solid accomplishments at the time. "Bush, by contrast, lacks any successes of comparable magnitude to compensate for his mismanagement of the Iraq war and will be hard-pressed to produce any in his last two years," he said.
But Greenstein said he has been struck by parallels between the two presidents, including their feistiness, the fact that neither seemed up to the job in their early months in office, that both had responses to crises that made them seem more presidential and that both saw their approval levels drop after stalemated wars. "As one who remembers the Truman presidency," he said, "I often have a sense of deja vu."