Presidential authority Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. undertook to rank the U.S. presidents in a 1997 Political Science Quarterly article, and President Bush can be ranked similarly according to Schlesinger's ranking system (Schlesinger, 1997). Schlesinger (1997) noted in his article that all of the "Greats" and "Near Greats" among the presidents "took risks in pursuit of their ideals" and "provoked intense controversy;" the same can be said of George Bush.
Using Schlesinger's five-point scale, I would rate Bush a four. All of the Greats and Near Greats identified by Schlesinger (1997), with the sole exception of Washington, "divided the nation before reuniting it on a new level of national understanding."
Bush used his expanded power to respond to the threat of weapons of mass destruction, or WMD, believed to exist in Iraq. His response in 9/11 resulted in the country "[rallying] to the president's side" with a 90% approval rating (McGrory, 2001). Bush's response to the problems in Iraq, however, have been met with hostility and a massive ratings slip.
Bush set some precedents during his term in office, augmenting the power of the presidency (Weigant, 2008). Scholars face challenges in trying to assess recent presidents because public opinion is still too much in influence, with the American people mostly panning Bush. However, I believe that in the long term, President George W. Bush will be remembered as a courageous and insightful president.
Lindgren, J. (2000). Ranking Our Presidents. Retrieved on October 21, 2008 from: http://falcon.arts.cornell.edu/govt/courses/F04/PresidentialRankings.pdf
McGrory, M. (2001). Context of 'Mid-September 2001: President Bush's Popularity Ratings Soar Over 90 Percent; Journalists Feel Reluctant to Criticize His Handling of 9/11.' Washington Post, (Sep 18). History Commons. Retrieved on October 21, 2008 from
...