final comment from A Lincoln Blog:
Ranking Bush as the worst president in U.S. history while he is still in office? Please. There is no way any of us can properly evaluate Bush’s presidency at so short a chronological distance. We cannot know the long-term ramifications of any of the president’s policies or decisions. This is a fundamental tenet of professional history. I know that the idea of “objectivity” is rather old-fashioned in modern historical circles these days, but historians do need to maintain some degree of detachment from their subjects.
As a voting member of the American polity in 2006, I would have to agree with Professor Foner that our current president has made egregious errors of judgment and leadership. As a practicing, professional historian, however, I have no business using my professional status to turn that perspective into an historical judgment concerning Bush’s relative worth compared to other presidents in American history. To do so is impossible.
Could not have said it better myself…
C
