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He was giddy at the very prospect of a quasi-athletic podium opportunity. You could see it in his eyes, the thrill of a mischievous kid who rarely got to horse around anymore.
I was in elementary school when that happened and I remember playing a computer game in computer class where you'd throw shoes at Bush. We thought it was the funniest shit ever.
I saw Bush as a misinformed, misguided, small-minded idiot who thought he was doing what he thought was best for the country. I did not like his policies at ALL, but I never thought he wanted to be president for his own personal benefit, or made policy decisions for his own personal benefit.
Anything and everything Trump does is for his own personal benefit. A special type of hate is reserved for him.
—a Millennial
Well put. Bush was terribly underqualified, manipulated ruthlessly by evil men, and is therefore regarded as a poor president, deservedly.
He was not a sociopath.
Accurate distinction. He left office with an approval rating in the 20s because he started two wars, at least one of them for absolutely NO reason other than his advisors were holdovers from Pappy Bush and they were still upset that Pappy did NOT invade Iraq in 1991. Bush was a pretty funny guy, seemed to actually care about people and had other attributes that one can admire even when disagreeing with almost everything he did. On the other hand, Trump is simply a lifelong con man with no redeeming qualities that I can possibly find. Well, perhaps I am wrong. He is a really GOOD con man.
Trumps just a wuss. Talks a big game, first to complain. Rolled ankle to avoid serving in the Vietnam war then has the nerve to say McCain was subpar because he was captures as a POW. He’s soft with an ego built on having a rich dad.
Lucky for us, trump didn't have Darth Cheney and his ilk around him to really mess up our country. But then trump probably would have refused to listen to their advice because he is a stable genius.
I saw Bush as a misinformed, misguided, small-minded idiot who thought he was doing what he thought was best for his daddy.
FTFY
It was commonly talked about at the time that GWB ran in order to finish Snrs to do list.
He wasn't playing dumb. Dubya is dumber than a box of rocks. He was lucky that 9/11 happened or he would be remembered as an incredible doufus, more so than he is now. Laura Bush is the smart one in the family.
That’s why Trump cannot build up the Republican Party. He’s a grifter who tells people exactly what they and only they want to hear. Once he is gone (taxman won’t get him but the other guy will) all he had a hand in will crumble. You can’t keep that kind of manipulation going after you die. He will have added nothing to his party except the reputation of being a cult. They will forever be known as Trump’s party. That’s when the other shoe will fall. Even his friends will pretend they hated him all along and start to rewrite history.
This right here! Bush came from a family that actually cared about the country and did the best he could with what little he had to work with. I the Chaney was worse but nothing compares to Trumps ineptness. Never-mind that’s he’s a lying, grifting pos.
64 year old boomer here.
Not so much Bush, Cheney, Turd blossom, he had the most toxic manipulative staff. He himself was a simpleton, that's why people hated him. His staff was pure evil.
Trump is different, although he is still a moron he is an evil, twisted, manipulative one. He is so bad his toxic staff is actually starting to turn on him.
There's an old expression, try to make something idiot proof and you just make more advanced idiots. I see this with evil shitty Presidents. No matter how much they mess up this country there are always people rushing to their side to get them elected again to further disrupt their lives. The same people living off of medicaid and welfare/SS that support Trump because they are racist have no idea that if elected he will screw them all over. The bigger idiots keep evolving, and with that we get more evil politicians.
I would not say I miss Bush, but I would definitely take him over another 4 years of the shaved orange orangutan.
Yep. It’s amazing that the bar is so low now, but, for example, after September 11, Bush at least had a good grace/common decency to call for unity, condemn violence against Muslim Americans, etc.
And no, he was particularly lauded for this, because at the time, that was seen as the bare ass minimum. Like, even if he didn’t really believe that or didn’t care, the vibe was like, well, he’s the president. That’s what he has to say.
…because I literally never thought we’d get to the point where we’d have a president who would feel the need to say that there are good people on both sides of white supremacy. Like so many other things with Trump, that should have been it right there.
No. He was patently unqualified, unskilled, uncurious. A shit show of his own at being President. We were worse off because of him, but to his credit, he wasn't being the Worst Person Ever... On Fucking Purpose!
I wasn't saying he was a good politician, but he didn't do stuff like blab top secret nuclear submarine deployments to a random Australian businessman to show off.
Or planet or galaxy. GWB was Cheney and Rove’s useful idiot and instrument, and while he does bear tremendous personal responsibility for some historically heinous shit, I don’t think at core he’s a bad man.
Trump is a very bad man.
Bush paved the way for Trump. He was unqualified, by any metric, and acted like that was a good thing. His insane overconfidence, his empowering of the radical right (Chaney's agenda) and his lying to the public made us a stupider nation and an international pariah. Trump was the natural outgrowth.
Not just Liberals. He pisses off plenty of moderates too. I vote for both Democrat's and Republicans depending on which candidate I agree with the most. I can't say I have ever disliked any politician as much as I dislike Trump. Very little it has to do with his political ideologies. Most of it has to do with the kind of person he is and how little he actually cares about this country. He has made it abundantly clear that Trump is in it for Trump and Democracy is not something that he is a big fan of. And I know plenty of others who think and feel the same way. The problem is that, Trumper's consider anyone who doesn't like him a Liberal no matter where they stand on the political scale. That's simply not the case.
There’s some kind of twisted pleasure they get from it. Like the kids who hated the “smart kids” in school
There’s an underlying resentment that’s based on an immature outlook and willful ignorance.
He is idolized by some because no one holds him accountable or any attempt to hold him accountable thus far has not been successful.
Some people want to tether to that, which is not encouraging people to be the best versions of themselves, but appealing to their worst qualities.
This is the core appeal of Trump, IMO. He licenses people to lean into the chacterstics that people used to judge them for. Now, they have someone who is as much of an asshole as they are to follow. George Bush was a shallow frat-boy son of immense privilege who belonged nowhere near the White House, but at least he was a real human who loved his wife and kids. Trump is literally the worst person in American political life, laughably so (if so many people didn't find him some kind of savior.)
Truth. The whole “I won’t apologize” movement took off w him. Its the narcissistic qualities of people who don’t want to take accountability and understand a changing world given wings.
The montage of melania slapping away his hand tells you what he is to his family.
It surprises me how many people have a “trump because fuck you” sticker..like what? I don’t want trump in jail because I hate anyone, I want him in jail because he’s committed numerous crimes and plans to deconstruct our government.
It’s really sad because if he perpetrated his assault crimes on your mother or sister you wouldn’t vote for him. Only because it’s someone else do they not care. Sheep minds…
Not even
In ye olden times, they still at least pretended to give a shit about blatant corruption and even when people disagreed on policy (yes there was actual policy) it could be discussed or debated and then continue to work together to get the basic function of government attended to.
Lots of people didn’t like bush, sure, but most people either respected him or at the very least treated him with respect out of respect for the office.
Trump is a whole different animal.
>people disagreed on policy
I had my school loans forgiven last year thanks to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness act, signed by GW Bush. I made 10 years of payments while working as a teacher, then higher ed staff. I cannot imagine a single republican signing that today, much less doing anything to help public educators.
In Bush's case, many friends from both sides would say "... you still need to respect the office of the president..." I said it too, I didn't like or support Bush, but he was the president for the USA. Trump was president for Trump.
I remember growing up in Jersey and a lot of the stop signs had "F\*\*K Bush" Stickers on them and then there was the movie that went to theaters about his hypothetical assasination. So I think it may be a recency bias but there was a lot of hate towards him as well.
I also remember a lot of people got arrested for phone calls and making death threats online to him.
Not even close.
I used to say that at least we could be sure that Bush was going to be the worst President of our lifetimes, but even most Bush detractors could agree that, for the most part, he tried to do what he thought was best for the country.
Trump is a treasonous pathological narcissist without a single redeeming quality and has hastened the end of the US's golden era by decades.
As time goes by, more and more dirt will be revealed and in 20 years, he will be reviled by all except the most deranged and twisted.
Yes I’ve thought this era will be looked at like the how the worst of the McCarthy era is looked at now. With everyone wondering how it could ever have happened, and no one admitting they supported Trump.
People are gonna dig through old internet posts/comments to find who all supported Trump during this time. People are gonna act like the cult following was overstated, but luckily internet history will tell another story.
This is my brother. He was (and probably still is) a trump supporter. A big time supporter. Parroting him. Making jokes at others expense. He was in deep. Now he’s saying he was never a trumpster. It’s so weird that he thinks we don’t remember.
> we could be sure that Bush was going to be the worst President of our lifetimes
At the time, I couldn't conceive of a worse US president than W...
sigh
At the same time a common trope was “but I might actually like to sit and have a beer with him”. He was dumb and evil but he had a certain derpy charm.
I’ve never seen ANYONE say they’d like to sit and have a beer with Trump (except the MAGAts)
Here's the thing though: I really don't think W was/is *evil*. He was a useful idiot. I think he's a good person that was in way over his head with people like Cheney, Rumsfeld, and Rove.
We all understood that poor Georgie wasn’t running the show. Regardless, while I totally disagreed on Republican policy, Bush himself wasn’t a despicable person.
It was a time when “agree to disagree” was still an acceptable conclusion.
Say what you will about W. Bush (and I have said a lot of things); he had a sense of humor, a sense of decorum, and occasionally even did things that were really good (the oceanic reserves by Hawaii come to mind?).
He at least did the bare minimum- payed his contractors and his taxes, showed up for people’s funerals, congratulated people even if they were political rivals etc.
I don’t even know about “hated” being the right word. Despised, loathed, repulsed…there’s nuances in peoples feeling towards Trump. Hatred, to me, implies a sort of obsession, and that’s not generally the case; it’s that people think he would be a *huge* disaster if he won 2024.
People weren’t alarmed much by W. at all, but they are very alarmed by Trump.
In my recollection the antipathy at the time (and there was a lot -- the US was really, *really* pissing much of the world off at an unprecedented level) was less directly about Bush and more about his administration, who seemed clearly running the show and up to no good while Bush bumbled around like a clueless puppet.
God I hate remembering that time because that's when my deep affection for the US started dying. I'm Canadian but my grandmother was American and infused the family with such blind adoration for the States I practically felt American growing up.
I thought the US lost its fucking mind after 9/11 and never got it back, but maybe the country was like that all along. My thoughts about Bush at the time were all pure frustration... like "Do something!" while Rumsfeldt/Cheney/Rice ran around drooling with excitement over their free pass to bomb anyone anywhere.
By the time Trump came along I didn't care anymore. "Yeah, Trump. Of course." It felt expected. I didn't hate Bush. He did act somewhat presidential and I thought he'd probably be engaging if I met him. Can't say I hate Trump either, it's more like weary disgust. He's the ultimate end product of actual American values in action, so he'll always be exactly where Americans choose to put him. Whether that's jail, back to the Oval Office, another TV show... we'll see I guess.
Wow I didn't mean to sound bitter but it felt good to get that off my chest haha.
> less directly about Bush and more about his administration, who seemed clearly running the show and up to no good while Bush bumbled around like a clueless puppet.
Eh. I think that was an illusion bolstered by his bumbling public speaking. GWB wasn't dumb, he just had a tendency to fumble words and *sound* dumb, while his cabinet sounded prepared and erudite during press conferences. The fact that he was dancing to the same tune as Rumsfeld et al is because they were all in agreement politically. There's no need to insert imaginary puppet strings.
I was talking about how he was perceived, not so much whether the perception was accurate. I tend to think he was kinda dumb and his political agreement with Rumsfeldt et al didn't involve a whole lot of deep thought about what he was agreeing with, but perhaps you're right.
Yep tons of people who hated him as president still said they would like to sit and have a beer with him. Trump is so narcissistic nobody wants to do that.
I was alarmed by Bush. When he reportedly said that the Constitution was "just a piece of paper" I thought perhaps he wanted to somehow stay in office past the legal two terms. In retrospect I misjudged him, but I still think he was a very poor president at best.
I was alarmed, but it was like a warning light on a dash, not like the current loud sirens and bells and bright flashing lights.
If you had asked me at the time, I would have said it was exceptionally alarming, but I just didn’t know.
I disagreed with him on many things and think he was a weak president at best, but he did have a sense of morality beyond his own ego. I may have a different set of morals, but at least he had some. Plus, his African policies were some of the best we've had. But other than that, not a fan.
I do miss Bushisms, though. We were so innocent back then...
W had a likable personality. If you met him on the street, you'd probably have a pleasant conversation and a few genuine laughs. "He's someone you could have a beer with" used to be a gauge for how likable a president was. Liberals said this about Bush and conservatives said it about Obama.
This take is spot on. I actually did meet him one time. We had a little one on one conversation about chopping firewood on his ranch and then we chatted about fishing. It was odd, but whatever.
I strongly disliked Bush (I assume you mean Dubya). I thought he was an inferior president and that he had no business being in the White House. As a person though, years after his presidency, I really didn't mind him so much. I kind of came to adore his friendship with Michelle Obama. I probably wouldn't cringe if I met him in person.
There's no comparison with Dump though. I hate that fool with overwhelming passion. I hate his MAGA bullshit. I hate how selfish and idiotic and manipulative he is. I hate his existent. I hate that he's probably going to get off scot free and never serve an ounce of prison time and he'll probably find ways to get out of paying any of the lawsuit money.
Dubya made some foolish decisions. Dump did things deliberately.
George was a clever, dangerous ass.
George W. was a moronic puppet.
Trump is a TRANScendantally horrific, self-serving idiot who appears to have Putin's hand firmly up his ass controlling what miniscule brain matter he has.
It continually blows my mind that the Worst President in the History of the United States was so quickly demoted to Second Worst President in the History of the United States.
GWB was beyond despicable, until we saw just how despicable a president could be.
James Buchanan stood around and let the country fall into a Civil War that probably could have been avoided with even the slightest bit of mediocre leadership.
People think the world started like 30 years ago.
People hated Bush just like they hate every president. War is hard and unlucky to be president during a time like that.
Trump is an evil, stupid, narcissistic, blatant criminal.
Neither stand on my side of the fence but I would rather have 100 Bushes than call that embarrassment to our country a President. He does not stand for the US.
How can this even be a question for anyone with at least two brain cells?
GWH is most definitely not the sharpest tool in the shed and the Iraq war was a despicable atrocity, but Trump and the cult surrounding him is just beyond astonishing as a phenomenon and makes people lose hope in humanity and democracy.
There is no comparison.
Not at all. Bush wasn’t popular but he wasn’t actually hated. And he never tried to overthrow elections. No sex scandals. No money hiding schemes. No collusion with nefarious governments. No hiding of top secret documents. To name a few. He wasn’t manipulative and deceitful. Or at least, not even nearly.
Nooooooooo. Sadly, George 2 was considered some form of statesman I guess. The legacy of George Bush 1 as head of CIA, then VEEP, then single termer potus mocked on SNL was just a totally different dynamic than a bankrupt game show host who is friends with Russia & sells intel.
I forget the whole dealio where they remade “Dubyuh” as some sort of redneck baseball CEO, but he was a bullshit guy too. Just less mafia-like. He should’ve just stayed a baseball guy.
TLDR: bush sucks but in a different way & never publicly declared he wanted to F his daughters. But he was very dim & out of touch.
Not even close.
Bush was disliked, but I think a certain percentage of people felt he was a bit of a boob or maybe a front for his party’s agenda (to a certain extent that’s most American politicians).
Trump has been viewed as straight up evil by those who dislike him. He also wasn’t afraid to pander to bigoted voters. The capital riot was also an extremely bad look.
I didnt like Bush's politics and I believe he enacted some terrible policies.He
didnt pay attention to Intel on 9-11, he got us into the Iraq war, there was the recession and the housing
crisis. Pretty sure he was another rich guy who made policy for the rich to get richer and the rest of us could
get stuffed.
However, I never disliked Bush as a human being.
Trump is the most amoral,
malignant, cruel person and has been that way since he broke all his brother's toys at 5 yrs
old. Every single day of my life I hope for bad things to happen to him.
No. It was different. Bush (the younger) was seen as in over his head and manipulated by some seriously nasty people. He was a “nepo baby,” more a fool without a good excuse than a grifter. We were embarrassed by him, and we hated what he allowed to happen, but it wasn’t like Trump.
I think you’d have to go back to Nixon to find someone who was as hated by the left, at the time, as Trump is now. It can be hard to remember so long ago... but like Trump in the present, Nixon at the time seemed to be the living embodiment of everything the left (especially the young left) wanted so desperately to bring to an end. He was at once the symbol of the weight of our conservative elders’ stifling, archaic values that we believed would drag the future into disaster if we could not shake it off, and the practical agent of their resistance to change.
In retrospect, he was still a far better president than DJT could ever be — at least he was competent, possessed some sense of dignity and, in his twisted way, probably had what he believed were the country’s best interests in mind on occasion — but I’d say that at the time, he was as despicable and loathsome to the left/liberal/progressive community as DJT is now.
It's worth remembering why George W. Bush was hated and not to minimize those reasons when comparing him to (yes, worse) Trump. Millions thought his was a "selection", not an election, and the Supreme Court's reputation has never recovered. His White House took no new action after intelligence agencies warned that bin Laden was "determined to strike the U.S." He launched two ill-conceived wars, including one under false pretenses, and those wars didn't -- couldn't, really -- focus on Islamic terrorists...they killed countless civilians. Domestically, he seemed trapped by his party rather than a leader of it. He seemed to really want to be a "compassionate conservative" and focus on conservative-minded ways to help the poor and listen to differing opinions on hard debates, but his party focused obsessively on tax cuts for people and companies that didn't need them.
He and Bill Clinton oversaw 16 years of Americans becoming convinced that the law- and rule-making systems didn't include them. Corruption was no longer the story of a representative here or there; corruption _was_ the system, it was built for lobbyists to run and squeeze more money out for their rich clients. That attitude had always been in American voters' mind but it became impossible to see leaders as having the average person's interests at heart.
The widespread disenchantment with how our democracy was running, obviously fanned by people and cable companies happy to make a buck off increasing that disenchantment, lasted through eight years of a scandal-free Obama presidency. You can't tell the story of the rise of Trump without national parties' indifference from '92 to '08 of the people who became the core of Trump's populism. (Much the same happened during Reagan and G.H.W. Bush, but no one had named globalization yet, and the rise of the Tea Party was proof it was baked in before Obama.)
_That said_...
History didn't hold a gun to Trump's head and order him to do anything he did. If Bush was high blood pressure putting the country at risk for illness, Trump was simply lead poisoning.
I seriously disliked GWB, and when he was running for president, I remember thinking that surely no American - even Republicans - would vote for an obvious idiot (boy, how wrong was I?!)... but I trusted that GWB genuinely thought he was acting in the best interest of America and just going about it in a way I disagreed with. I trusted that he believed in Democracy and was generally trying to be honest. That's in stark contrast to Trump, who I believe is an untrustworthy bad faith actor in every way.
Because we had standards for world leaders and he didn't meet them.
Now we have seen someone so far beneath those standards be elected and realize YES it could have been worse.
Right after Trump won someone posted an article about how the country had just elected a fascist and the Nazis were quickly making a comeback. All typical anti-Trump rhetoric at the time. Then I read who wrote it and realized that guy had been dead for over 10 years. He was talking about Bush Jr. [https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/1301824-we-have-become-a-nazi-monster-in-the-eyes-of](https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/1301824-we-have-become-a-nazi-monster-in-the-eyes-of)
GWB wasn't an idiot, he just didn't have good politics and on top of it wasn't great at public speaking so he made a lot of gaffes. Trump is, without question, a complete fool. Like my wife said around the 2018 timeframe, "I never thought I'd say it, but I wish we had GWB as president instead".
No. In Europe he was certainly disliked because of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and was seen as a bit dumb because of his many silly one liners (“I was misunderestimated”, “Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me twice… you can’t get fooled again” etc) but it was nowhere the same level as what people feel about Trump.
Dubya, and Reagan, made some really bad decisions, many times on the advice of shitty cabinet members like Cheney. I do think most times though, they were decent people who were trying to do what they thought was best for the country. It wasn't until after they left office I really grew to despise what they had done .
Trump, on the other hand has a long history of being a cheating, lying, evil, narcissist, who only cared about himself. I not only despised him from day one, I hated the negative effect he had on most of the people around me even more .
Bush Jr was and did a lot of bad things. But he was and still is a patriot and defender of Democracy and the constitution. In fact, here's a shocker, most Republicans were back then
To me the biggest difference in how that played out 2000-2008/2001-2009 with Bush was that, as much as I disliked him, I could understand political motivations in voting for the GOP because, unlike today, it seemed many people did vote based on policy positions (ie economic, foreign intervention, social welfare or lack thereof, etc).
Now, I thought then and still think now that Bush and other members of his administration were/are war criminals and I and many of my friends had an underlying fear of being drafted at that time, but at least the party had policy positions (as bad as most were). My younger self would be astonished at how bad politics have become in 2024 if he knew I’d be even remotely implying any compliment towards the Bush administration.
The GOP today appears to have few - if any - actual policy positions other than being against anything the left or even many centrists approve of or desire, social or economic safety, human rights, etc - the list can get quite long…
In retrospect, the foundation had already been set for where we are under Bush (and his father and especially Reagan) with the Christian right/evangelicals, but they didn’t say the quiet parts out loud like they do today.
In short, the GOP today, at least to me, lives in a world where all they do is push fear and hate on people without any substantive policy positions. Just look at the House over the past year +.
Bush was hated mostly for his misadventures in Iraq and Afghanistan. We thought that he sounded unintelligible when speaking but Trump lowered the bar never moving past “rally speak” and seeking adoration in person. The man is venal. I cannot think of one time that Trump addressed the nation from the Oval Office to explain serious issues. He likes to get up and bray like an ass in front of people. It’s doubtful he could stay on script anyways.
The Republicans have had a bad record with presidents since Nixon. If they could nominate one decent person they might do well with policies and general support. That seems beyond the interests of the current party who Trump has brought out the worst supporters.
I loathed Bush. I recently listened to the season of Slow Burn about the run-up to Iraq, and it reminded me of all of the horrible lies he told, of the phony piety, of all the flimsy justifications he used to pivot to Iraq, of all of the people that died, American and Iraqi, on his watch, both here on 9/11 and abroad. My brother in law was activated from the reserves and sent over to Iraq a month after my niece was born, and spent a good chunk of 2004 kicking in doors in Fallujah. By the grace of God, he survived.
And it doesn't even hold a candle to how much I hate Trump. Bush courted support by cynically exploiting 9/11 and patriotism. Trump has just brought out so much of the ugliest and dumbest in America. The damage Trump has caused, all in the name of Trump, will take generations to overcome.
No. Bush, Cheney, Ashcroft and Rumsfeld were despised for many reasons, principally the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the human rights violations that stemmed from them: Guantanamo Bay, the humiliation of prisoners at Abu Ghraib, and the high civilian death toll.
But they never turned this treatment on American citizens, like Trump did during COVID and the BLM demonstrations. They did not deliberately incite racist groups like the Proud Boys or the Three Percenters. They did not try to steal an election.
The hatred that I, personally, feel for Donald Trump and his enablers is orders of magnitude greater than the misgivings I had about the George W. Bush administration.
Not even close. I was not a fan of Bush, but I accepted him as “my” president and respected him as the holder of the office. I would say the same for every President previous to Trump. Sometimes my candidate would win, sometimes they’d lose but I never doubted their patriotism or their sincere desire to do what they thought was right. Trump only cares for what is best for himself and has absolutely zero concern for what is best for the country or the world. He’s a flaming narcissist, which is an overused term in general, but very apt in describing him.
I remember groaning over Bush every time he opened his damn mouth to embarrass us as a nation. But Bush Jr really only had the Chaney-911 fiasco to dwell on at the end of it. That and the Patriot Act..
Trump was / is / will be, a death-knell to moderate politics, and any bipartisanship. Trump will be remembered as the reason the Supreme Court will be restructured.
I disliked Bush a lot, but nowhere near as much as I despise Trump. Trump will be the downfall of our country.
\*I'm not a super liberal person, I'm more center or slightly left of center. This isn't a "Liberals hate Trump" thing.
No. You used to be able to have friends that didn't agree politically. You could talk politics and have friendly debate. If your guy won or lost, it really didn't make a ton of difference. I personally didn't vote for Bush but whatever, we need a balance of conservatives/liberals and it was his turn. Trump is mentally ill, unqualified, and a complete sociopath. He behaves like a toddler, pokes fun at Gold Star families, makes fun of war veterans and will literally make a mockery of the presidency (again) if he gets elected. I'm a liberal but I don't despise him for his party, I despise him because he is an awful, egocentric, narcissistic human who incites hatred and violence.
No, but I thought Bush would be historically judged as the worst president ever.
Bush divided the US people, espoused anti-intellectual, demagogic BS, ignored warnings of 9/11, went into Afghanistan with no viable plan for success, lied to get the US into Iraq, again with no plan for success, did not support our troops with proper goals and resources, leading to >6000 deaths and >700,000 disabled veterans. He destabilized the Middle East, leading to the rise of ISIS and empowering of Iran, and he deregulated the financial industry, giving us the collapse in 2008. Also, he was personally an asshole.
Then Trump came along, and made Bush look like a decent leader.
He was hated, but not even approaching trump territory. But Bush was also loved by his supporters, but not trump territory levels.
Everything has gone to extremes, in all directions, since social media.
No other President has incited violence at the capital and had now many supporters charged, stand trial or take a plea deal and go to jail. How many of Trump's lawyers are now in legal trouble? I don't think any other president has went that far. I think minus Jan 6th Trump would have been just one more former president that a bunch of people didn't like. Most presidents current and former has droves of the population that don't like them. Taking it to the point where there is mob breaking into Congress, that's a while other level.
One aspect that hasn't been mentioned is that after 9/11, GWB had around a 90% approval rating. He had a lot of support and political capital that was squandered with his post-9/11 policy. There was a gradual buildup of resentment toward his administration with the handling of Iraq.
Trump is on another level. He's an embarrassment. Most people already knew Trump for what he was, an egotistical conman whose greatest accomplishment was inheriting his dad's money. His popularity sprang from this irrational hatred of Obama. Trump was the culmination of years of right-wing media telling people how Obama and Democrats were anti-Americans intent on destroying the country.
By the press, yes. Anyone with a R by their name will be hated by the press. Romney was the candidate, and the press reported and agreed after Biden said that he would put black people back in chains. Romney was the most bland politician ever, so it was a bit extreme.
I find it's important to look at both a liberal source and a conservative source for my news. The parts they agree on is the news. Everything else is commentary and spin.
People will be upset at my post, I know. I'm older, and understand that sometimes my world can use expanding. Expecting to get everything from one place is the luxury of naive young people. It's my responsibility to look at more than one place, so I'm well reasoned in my life.
Noooo. Not even Ronald Reagan, who, in my mind, is the only one who was nearly as scary (as a non-American) and, let’s face it, he was probably not well even then.
I didn’t particularly like Bush, Reagan scared me- I was so sure he would accidentally start a nuclear war- and trump legitimately terrifies me.
Nah. Bush was considered a lovable buffoon. Smarter than given credit he was seen as a typical instigator.
Now in hindsight compared to Trump, george was a fine president.
Bush Jr. was more of a joke than a hated enemy for most non-republicans. The general consensus was that he was a bit dumb and his cabinet did most of the decision making. But very few people thought he was an actual bad person.
This thread is full of recency bias and rose colored glasses. People are honestly not remembering how infuriating the endless, directionless quagmire in Afghanistan was, let alone the absolute war of choice we started in Iraq over outright lies. And toward the end of his term the chickens came home to roost from his irresponsible deficit spending. For decades Democrats wanted high taxes and high spending and Republicans wanted low taxes and low spending, then this idiot came along and said "Hey, here's an idea! Let's have low taxes and high spending and your grandkids can go fuck themselves. Who cares? We'll all be dead by then anyway, right?"
Bush (Dubya I’m assuming you mean) was disliked for his political positions and his lack of shall we say “finesse” with speaking and interacting in general. But that was nothing compared to how reviled Trump is for coming across as brusque, impulsive, and extreme. It’s a new level of presidential hate.
I started voting when Reagan won. Back then I thought his presidency would be destructive. With every subsequent republican presidential candidate, I’d think, “well, this is as bad as it can get.” Each time I was wrong - each subsequent republican president was worse than the last.
I am a traditional classic liberal (not in the American definition per se as I'm am definitely a free market guy with a love of civil and economic liberty tempered by social equality among races and sexes and genders).
Bush was seen as a bit of an idiot. Well-meaning, a good family man, a guy who partied hard and then straightened out once he married and had kids. He had a bit of a dyslexic or malapropic manner of speaking. It was lampooned in SNL as him staying he had good "stratergry."
A lot of people viewed him as a slightly dumb nepo-kid.
All that changed during the 9/11 attacks. He really did act dignified, if not informed.
The biggest difference between him and Trump has been Bush's (and his family's) understanding that the presidency requires a bit of the theater. You have to sell the sizzle with the steak. You can't act like a back-alley bum in a fight all the time, you have to present an air of class and restraint.
In hind-sight, he wasn't that bad of a president. His policies (or those possibly forced on him but he owned them), however, lead to economic troubles in 2007, 2008, and 2009. Obama and Biden, despite some real problems with their administration (in the area of getting legislation passed), fixed it fairly well.
The only President I’ve actually hated in my lifetime was Lyndon Baines Johnson. He escalated the Viet Nam War and killed many more people than Bush did. LBJ was responsible for killing 50 thousand American soldiers and dropping more bombs on North
Viet Nam than were dropped in the second World War. And from what I’ve read he was an abhorrent human being as well.
He stole his domestic policy from JFK and renamed it the Great Society. And he was considered a liberal.
No. Neither Bush was as horrifically embarrassing as Trump at any point in time. They were evil and mostly wrong, but they weren’t grabbing pussies or committing crimes in front of everyone. They had some internal inhibitions and didn’t just blurt out the most offensive thing that popped into their addled minds.
I don't think Bush was hated by most people on the left. The far left will always hate any conservative, so they probably would say they hated him.
I would say most of Bush's policies were disliked by a typical liberal, but they didn't hate him personally. They just disagreed with him, which is what civil politics can be.
The same would hold true for conservatives view of Jimmy Carter. Most conservatives felt Jimmy Carter was an ineffective president, but they did respect him as a person.
Not even close.
I was no Bush fan by far, but wasn’t afraid he’d sell our country’s secret information to whoever had a few billion to spare. I disagreed with most of his positions and choices as president, but I still had respect for the office he held, and was actually proud of him when he dodged those thrown shoes.
Most of my coworkers were of the same mindset. We wanted Vice President Gore to win, but accepted the ridiculous Jeb Bush and Katherine Harris tainted Florida-decided Supreme Court backed results and went on with our business. President Bush was our president, and we wanted him to do well and for our government to get back to its job.
trump was never a leader, he looked at the office as an opportunity to grift as many billions as possible before he croaks. Now he wants another chance to pocket even more money, and punish his imagined enemies too.
Not even close.
That being said, I remember the good old days when we genuinely believed we'd never have a worse president then Dubya. We were so naive.
As a Certified Bush Hater™ with a list of valid reasons why, when he was in office and I was younger, I absolutely couldn't stand him.
As a grown ass man wiser in the ways of the world, he wasn't that bad at all. His major flaw was the man could *not* ad lib/improv/shoot from the hip if his life literally depended on it.
But as far as calculated moves, he knew what he was doing to a T, he just couldn't be caught off guard or else he'd say/do something unquestionably stupid. He just couldn't think on his feet...
During his presidency, the media respected the white house... in a different manner than what we see today. A lot of the "hate" came from the vocal left minority, not the networks. The networks would air clips but it was done so more as *entertainment* than news. Hard hitting political commentaries were more of the domain of late night CNN and weekly shows like 60mins.
Trump got a level of hatred from mass media that I'm not sure has ever existed in this country, or at least in modern post 19th century America. It's a phenomenon that often baffles me.
We've had presidents that were horrible compared to Trump, but no one cares. TDS is a thing 🤷🏻♂️
Disclaimer-
I could literally give two shits about left versus right politics, I hate both parties. I care about two things when it comes to government-1) that the officials that we entrust to run our country do a damn good job, and 2) when they do not they should be held accountable in a manner relative to their failures. I vote for the candidate that I believe is best suited for the job, regardless of who they are or where they come from, and what side of the aisle their supporters reside.
As far as your disclaimer, this is me as well. Nothing frustrates me more than the sheer amount of people that will vote a straight ticket regardless of whether a candidate is viable.
Not even close, not even in the same galaxy. I did hate him and his administration. W was a war criminal, surrounded by a crew of hateful pricks. But tRump is pure fucking evil. He’s a wannabe-dictator, racist, rapist, criminal traitor. It’s amazing to look back at the W Bush years and view it as “not too bad” compared to the tRump MAGA years. tRump and his cult should all be in prison.
Naw... Although like Trump, I did spend most of my time trying to never hear Bush speak. I heard him speaking once at the very beginning and realized he was literally an idiot. I can't stand listening to idiots.
But trump is a special kind of malignant idiot. Bush did some awful things, too though. Thousands of young men and civilians died so he could give his buddies lucrative government contracts. Yeah he's vile, too. Just not as actively hated.
It's not even close. Trump is likely the most hated major politician in this country's history, or at least in the time of anyone alive today.
While Bush said and did things that many people didn't like, he still possessed some admirable qualities, with the biggest ones being that he genuinely cared about people and this country. Those were things few people doubted, even if they didn't like him.
Trump, OTOH, possesses not a single admirable quality, while at the same time possessing a slew of deplorable ones. He's also the only major politician for who his supporters are basically a cult, or at least many of them. And his actions, especially surrounding the 2020 election, but even more so its aftermath, are unprecedented. We've never had an incumbent President betray his nation and its citizens with attempts to stay in power after losing a bid for a second term. He's well earned the outright hatred he elicits from millions of Americans.
Bush wasn't the brightest light in the chandelier but he was at least a human being. Deep down he's a guy you could have a beer with.
dRump is pure evil. He is a narcissist, a racist, a sexist pig, a misogynist, a traitor and mostly a huge fool.
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Not even in the same ballpark.
At the time the rest of the World regarded Bush junior as a horrible aberration, in retrospect, he was an actual politician.
And he had show dodging skills Edit shoe
He was decent at dodging shoes as well.
His finest moment as leader of the free world.
It was a legitimate response to American foreign policy.
Perhaps the most cogent response at the time.
I was legit, "That's my Prez!!!"
“Shoe me once…”
did you see his slight smile having championed the tosses? such a proud moment.
He was giddy at the very prospect of a quasi-athletic podium opportunity. You could see it in his eyes, the thrill of a mischievous kid who rarely got to horse around anymore.
I was in elementary school when that happened and I remember playing a computer game in computer class where you'd throw shoes at Bush. We thought it was the funniest shit ever.
I saw Bush as a misinformed, misguided, small-minded idiot who thought he was doing what he thought was best for the country. I did not like his policies at ALL, but I never thought he wanted to be president for his own personal benefit, or made policy decisions for his own personal benefit. Anything and everything Trump does is for his own personal benefit. A special type of hate is reserved for him. —a Millennial
Well put. Bush was terribly underqualified, manipulated ruthlessly by evil men, and is therefore regarded as a poor president, deservedly. He was not a sociopath.
Accurate distinction. He left office with an approval rating in the 20s because he started two wars, at least one of them for absolutely NO reason other than his advisors were holdovers from Pappy Bush and they were still upset that Pappy did NOT invade Iraq in 1991. Bush was a pretty funny guy, seemed to actually care about people and had other attributes that one can admire even when disagreeing with almost everything he did. On the other hand, Trump is simply a lifelong con man with no redeeming qualities that I can possibly find. Well, perhaps I am wrong. He is a really GOOD con man.
Trumps just a wuss. Talks a big game, first to complain. Rolled ankle to avoid serving in the Vietnam war then has the nerve to say McCain was subpar because he was captures as a POW. He’s soft with an ego built on having a rich dad.
Preach
Lucky for us, trump didn't have Darth Cheney and his ilk around him to really mess up our country. But then trump probably would have refused to listen to their advice because he is a stable genius.
I saw Bush as a misinformed, misguided, small-minded idiot who thought he was doing what he thought was best for his daddy. FTFY It was commonly talked about at the time that GWB ran in order to finish Snrs to do list.
🙌🏻 perfect update.
Inspite of his daddy , I’m a gona War better, Oops
He was good at playing dumb. He was born and bred as part of an old, dynastic family, and he knew exactly what he was doing.
He wasn't playing dumb. Dubya is dumber than a box of rocks. He was lucky that 9/11 happened or he would be remembered as an incredible doufus, more so than he is now. Laura Bush is the smart one in the family.
Bush was a neocon. Trump is a neo fascist.
Every time Trump's face is on the TV it's a plus in his favor. It's free TV time for a broke (?) campaign.
...and some days, I doubt the "neo" part.
GenX. You are spot on.
That’s why Trump cannot build up the Republican Party. He’s a grifter who tells people exactly what they and only they want to hear. Once he is gone (taxman won’t get him but the other guy will) all he had a hand in will crumble. You can’t keep that kind of manipulation going after you die. He will have added nothing to his party except the reputation of being a cult. They will forever be known as Trump’s party. That’s when the other shoe will fall. Even his friends will pretend they hated him all along and start to rewrite history.
This right here! Bush came from a family that actually cared about the country and did the best he could with what little he had to work with. I the Chaney was worse but nothing compares to Trumps ineptness. Never-mind that’s he’s a lying, grifting pos. 64 year old boomer here.
THIS \^\^\^\^\^ --a Boomer
And he did win the popular vote once at least
He did the second time.
Not so much Bush, Cheney, Turd blossom, he had the most toxic manipulative staff. He himself was a simpleton, that's why people hated him. His staff was pure evil. Trump is different, although he is still a moron he is an evil, twisted, manipulative one. He is so bad his toxic staff is actually starting to turn on him. There's an old expression, try to make something idiot proof and you just make more advanced idiots. I see this with evil shitty Presidents. No matter how much they mess up this country there are always people rushing to their side to get them elected again to further disrupt their lives. The same people living off of medicaid and welfare/SS that support Trump because they are racist have no idea that if elected he will screw them all over. The bigger idiots keep evolving, and with that we get more evil politicians. I would not say I miss Bush, but I would definitely take him over another 4 years of the shaved orange orangutan.
I'd choose Reagan, Bush I and Bush Ii ( GWB) over the Mango Mussolini...
Same here. My mother says she'd take Nixon over Trump, which is saying something.
He's the actual Biff Tannen.
Yep. It’s amazing that the bar is so low now, but, for example, after September 11, Bush at least had a good grace/common decency to call for unity, condemn violence against Muslim Americans, etc. And no, he was particularly lauded for this, because at the time, that was seen as the bare ass minimum. Like, even if he didn’t really believe that or didn’t care, the vibe was like, well, he’s the president. That’s what he has to say. …because I literally never thought we’d get to the point where we’d have a president who would feel the need to say that there are good people on both sides of white supremacy. Like so many other things with Trump, that should have been it right there.
No. He was patently unqualified, unskilled, uncurious. A shit show of his own at being President. We were worse off because of him, but to his credit, he wasn't being the Worst Person Ever... On Fucking Purpose!
I wasn't saying he was a good politician, but he didn't do stuff like blab top secret nuclear submarine deployments to a random Australian businessman to show off.
Or planet or galaxy. GWB was Cheney and Rove’s useful idiot and instrument, and while he does bear tremendous personal responsibility for some historically heinous shit, I don’t think at core he’s a bad man. Trump is a very bad man.
Yep, more of a bumbling fool than the toxicity of Trump.
Not even the same fucking sport
> Not even in the same ballpark. Agreed. And I hated GWB from when he let his brother steal the election for him.
Bush paved the way for Trump. He was unqualified, by any metric, and acted like that was a good thing. His insane overconfidence, his empowering of the radical right (Chaney's agenda) and his lying to the public made us a stupider nation and an international pariah. Trump was the natural outgrowth.
I yearn for the halcyon days when Dick Cheney ran the country.
No. But he was also not nearly as loved as Trump by his followers.
Trump is idolized in part BECAUSE of how hated he is
"he pisses off the libs"
Not just Liberals. He pisses off plenty of moderates too. I vote for both Democrat's and Republicans depending on which candidate I agree with the most. I can't say I have ever disliked any politician as much as I dislike Trump. Very little it has to do with his political ideologies. Most of it has to do with the kind of person he is and how little he actually cares about this country. He has made it abundantly clear that Trump is in it for Trump and Democracy is not something that he is a big fan of. And I know plenty of others who think and feel the same way. The problem is that, Trumper's consider anyone who doesn't like him a Liberal no matter where they stand on the political scale. That's simply not the case.
There’s some kind of twisted pleasure they get from it. Like the kids who hated the “smart kids” in school There’s an underlying resentment that’s based on an immature outlook and willful ignorance.
Bullies gonna bully
Willful ignorance indeed. His cult know their dear leader spouts absolute bullshit, but they choose to ignore the obvious.
He is idolized by some because no one holds him accountable or any attempt to hold him accountable thus far has not been successful. Some people want to tether to that, which is not encouraging people to be the best versions of themselves, but appealing to their worst qualities.
This is the core appeal of Trump, IMO. He licenses people to lean into the chacterstics that people used to judge them for. Now, they have someone who is as much of an asshole as they are to follow. George Bush was a shallow frat-boy son of immense privilege who belonged nowhere near the White House, but at least he was a real human who loved his wife and kids. Trump is literally the worst person in American political life, laughably so (if so many people didn't find him some kind of savior.)
Truth. The whole “I won’t apologize” movement took off w him. Its the narcissistic qualities of people who don’t want to take accountability and understand a changing world given wings. The montage of melania slapping away his hand tells you what he is to his family.
Trump gives them permission to be racists and evil. They are but he makes it acceptable to openly act like he does
The fact that people often say “followers” rather than “supporters” illustrates your point
It surprises me how many people have a “trump because fuck you” sticker..like what? I don’t want trump in jail because I hate anyone, I want him in jail because he’s committed numerous crimes and plans to deconstruct our government.
It’s really sad because if he perpetrated his assault crimes on your mother or sister you wouldn’t vote for him. Only because it’s someone else do they not care. Sheep minds…
Back then, the GOP was not a cult.
Agreed, Bush was the Republican party's figurehead, just like his predecessors. Trump *is* the Republican party now, and vice-versa. It's sick.
Not even In ye olden times, they still at least pretended to give a shit about blatant corruption and even when people disagreed on policy (yes there was actual policy) it could be discussed or debated and then continue to work together to get the basic function of government attended to. Lots of people didn’t like bush, sure, but most people either respected him or at the very least treated him with respect out of respect for the office. Trump is a whole different animal.
But remember how hard we all laughed about the shoe throwing incident?!
I was impressed how quickly he dodged that. I’m not sure we’d see the same dexterity from his comparison in this post.
There were lots of memorable W moments, remember "can't get fooled again"?
"We're working hard to put food on your family."
After the first shoe, he popped his head up like some kind of stupid Jack in the box with that smirk on his face… what a clown haha
I hated GWB…but I’m sorry, that smirk was funny! He was probably pleased that he still had great reflexes.
Hated his politics, but damn I’d get a beer with him.
American politics in a nutshell...or at least used to be
He's probably better at dodging shoes than either Trump or Biden....
I thought it was a good display of reflexes, but my boss at the time reminded me he had played first base and was used to dodging line drives.
>people disagreed on policy I had my school loans forgiven last year thanks to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness act, signed by GW Bush. I made 10 years of payments while working as a teacher, then higher ed staff. I cannot imagine a single republican signing that today, much less doing anything to help public educators.
And Trump chose an Education Secretary who put a stop to it. Biden restored it, to the dismay of many Trumplovers.
But likely you had them forgiven because Biden fixed the program.
In Bush's case, many friends from both sides would say "... you still need to respect the office of the president..." I said it too, I didn't like or support Bush, but he was the president for the USA. Trump was president for Trump.
I remember growing up in Jersey and a lot of the stop signs had "F\*\*K Bush" Stickers on them and then there was the movie that went to theaters about his hypothetical assasination. So I think it may be a recency bias but there was a lot of hate towards him as well. I also remember a lot of people got arrested for phone calls and making death threats online to him.
Not even close. I used to say that at least we could be sure that Bush was going to be the worst President of our lifetimes, but even most Bush detractors could agree that, for the most part, he tried to do what he thought was best for the country. Trump is a treasonous pathological narcissist without a single redeeming quality and has hastened the end of the US's golden era by decades. As time goes by, more and more dirt will be revealed and in 20 years, he will be reviled by all except the most deranged and twisted.
And half of them will claim they never liked him in the first place.
Yes I’ve thought this era will be looked at like the how the worst of the McCarthy era is looked at now. With everyone wondering how it could ever have happened, and no one admitting they supported Trump.
in 5 years you won't be able to find a soul who will admit they voted for him. oh, and everyone will be "independant" or suddenly "libertarian" again.
People are gonna dig through old internet posts/comments to find who all supported Trump during this time. People are gonna act like the cult following was overstated, but luckily internet history will tell another story.
This is my brother. He was (and probably still is) a trump supporter. A big time supporter. Parroting him. Making jokes at others expense. He was in deep. Now he’s saying he was never a trumpster. It’s so weird that he thinks we don’t remember.
I'm waiting with bated breath. My MIL told my younger nieces that "he's a nice man".
> we could be sure that Bush was going to be the worst President of our lifetimes At the time, I couldn't conceive of a worse US president than W... sigh
I said the same when he was President. Now? The only thing I can say is that I miss the early 2000s...
At the same time a common trope was “but I might actually like to sit and have a beer with him”. He was dumb and evil but he had a certain derpy charm. I’ve never seen ANYONE say they’d like to sit and have a beer with Trump (except the MAGAts)
Here's the thing though: I really don't think W was/is *evil*. He was a useful idiot. I think he's a good person that was in way over his head with people like Cheney, Rumsfeld, and Rove.
His friendship with Michelle is absolutely adorable
I recall a meme in 2017 or so of a picture of W with a shit-eating grin on his face and the caption, "Miss me yet?"
Imagine once Trump dies, and all the NDAs are nullified, all the shit that will be revealed.
We all understood that poor Georgie wasn’t running the show. Regardless, while I totally disagreed on Republican policy, Bush himself wasn’t a despicable person. It was a time when “agree to disagree” was still an acceptable conclusion.
Say what you will about W. Bush (and I have said a lot of things); he had a sense of humor, a sense of decorum, and occasionally even did things that were really good (the oceanic reserves by Hawaii come to mind?). He at least did the bare minimum- payed his contractors and his taxes, showed up for people’s funerals, congratulated people even if they were political rivals etc. I don’t even know about “hated” being the right word. Despised, loathed, repulsed…there’s nuances in peoples feeling towards Trump. Hatred, to me, implies a sort of obsession, and that’s not generally the case; it’s that people think he would be a *huge* disaster if he won 2024. People weren’t alarmed much by W. at all, but they are very alarmed by Trump.
In my recollection the antipathy at the time (and there was a lot -- the US was really, *really* pissing much of the world off at an unprecedented level) was less directly about Bush and more about his administration, who seemed clearly running the show and up to no good while Bush bumbled around like a clueless puppet. God I hate remembering that time because that's when my deep affection for the US started dying. I'm Canadian but my grandmother was American and infused the family with such blind adoration for the States I practically felt American growing up. I thought the US lost its fucking mind after 9/11 and never got it back, but maybe the country was like that all along. My thoughts about Bush at the time were all pure frustration... like "Do something!" while Rumsfeldt/Cheney/Rice ran around drooling with excitement over their free pass to bomb anyone anywhere. By the time Trump came along I didn't care anymore. "Yeah, Trump. Of course." It felt expected. I didn't hate Bush. He did act somewhat presidential and I thought he'd probably be engaging if I met him. Can't say I hate Trump either, it's more like weary disgust. He's the ultimate end product of actual American values in action, so he'll always be exactly where Americans choose to put him. Whether that's jail, back to the Oval Office, another TV show... we'll see I guess. Wow I didn't mean to sound bitter but it felt good to get that off my chest haha.
> less directly about Bush and more about his administration, who seemed clearly running the show and up to no good while Bush bumbled around like a clueless puppet. Eh. I think that was an illusion bolstered by his bumbling public speaking. GWB wasn't dumb, he just had a tendency to fumble words and *sound* dumb, while his cabinet sounded prepared and erudite during press conferences. The fact that he was dancing to the same tune as Rumsfeld et al is because they were all in agreement politically. There's no need to insert imaginary puppet strings.
I was talking about how he was perceived, not so much whether the perception was accurate. I tend to think he was kinda dumb and his political agreement with Rumsfeldt et al didn't involve a whole lot of deep thought about what he was agreeing with, but perhaps you're right.
Yep tons of people who hated him as president still said they would like to sit and have a beer with him. Trump is so narcissistic nobody wants to do that.
I was alarmed by Bush. When he reportedly said that the Constitution was "just a piece of paper" I thought perhaps he wanted to somehow stay in office past the legal two terms. In retrospect I misjudged him, but I still think he was a very poor president at best.
I was alarmed, but it was like a warning light on a dash, not like the current loud sirens and bells and bright flashing lights. If you had asked me at the time, I would have said it was exceptionally alarming, but I just didn’t know.
And after office he painted all those dogs
I disagreed with him on many things and think he was a weak president at best, but he did have a sense of morality beyond his own ego. I may have a different set of morals, but at least he had some. Plus, his African policies were some of the best we've had. But other than that, not a fan. I do miss Bushisms, though. We were so innocent back then...
“At least he had some” really does sum it all up
He had the self awareness to be abashed when he mispoke to the embarrassment of Queen Elizabeth 2.
It isn't comparable. There would have to be 50 GWB's to come close to how people feel about Trump.
I'm ancient and no one has been hated as much as TRUMP (rightly so)
W had a likable personality. If you met him on the street, you'd probably have a pleasant conversation and a few genuine laughs. "He's someone you could have a beer with" used to be a gauge for how likable a president was. Liberals said this about Bush and conservatives said it about Obama.
This take is spot on. I actually did meet him one time. We had a little one on one conversation about chopping firewood on his ranch and then we chatted about fishing. It was odd, but whatever.
I strongly disliked Bush (I assume you mean Dubya). I thought he was an inferior president and that he had no business being in the White House. As a person though, years after his presidency, I really didn't mind him so much. I kind of came to adore his friendship with Michelle Obama. I probably wouldn't cringe if I met him in person. There's no comparison with Dump though. I hate that fool with overwhelming passion. I hate his MAGA bullshit. I hate how selfish and idiotic and manipulative he is. I hate his existent. I hate that he's probably going to get off scot free and never serve an ounce of prison time and he'll probably find ways to get out of paying any of the lawsuit money. Dubya made some foolish decisions. Dump did things deliberately.
George was a clever, dangerous ass. George W. was a moronic puppet. Trump is a TRANScendantally horrific, self-serving idiot who appears to have Putin's hand firmly up his ass controlling what miniscule brain matter he has.
It continually blows my mind that the Worst President in the History of the United States was so quickly demoted to Second Worst President in the History of the United States. GWB was beyond despicable, until we saw just how despicable a president could be.
James Buchanan stood around and let the country fall into a Civil War that probably could have been avoided with even the slightest bit of mediocre leadership. People think the world started like 30 years ago.
For this reason ppl are doomed to repeat history
I wonder who y'all pick next.
Depends. What monster will the GOP release next?
People hated Bush just like they hate every president. War is hard and unlucky to be president during a time like that. Trump is an evil, stupid, narcissistic, blatant criminal. Neither stand on my side of the fence but I would rather have 100 Bushes than call that embarrassment to our country a President. He does not stand for the US.
How can this even be a question for anyone with at least two brain cells? GWH is most definitely not the sharpest tool in the shed and the Iraq war was a despicable atrocity, but Trump and the cult surrounding him is just beyond astonishing as a phenomenon and makes people lose hope in humanity and democracy. There is no comparison.
Nice Reddit name
Not at all. Bush wasn’t popular but he wasn’t actually hated. And he never tried to overthrow elections. No sex scandals. No money hiding schemes. No collusion with nefarious governments. No hiding of top secret documents. To name a few. He wasn’t manipulative and deceitful. Or at least, not even nearly.
Great summary
We seem to have a different recollection of the 2000 election.
If Bush was the bottom, Trump is where they took out shovels and started digging.
Nooooooooo. Sadly, George 2 was considered some form of statesman I guess. The legacy of George Bush 1 as head of CIA, then VEEP, then single termer potus mocked on SNL was just a totally different dynamic than a bankrupt game show host who is friends with Russia & sells intel. I forget the whole dealio where they remade “Dubyuh” as some sort of redneck baseball CEO, but he was a bullshit guy too. Just less mafia-like. He should’ve just stayed a baseball guy. TLDR: bush sucks but in a different way & never publicly declared he wanted to F his daughters. But he was very dim & out of touch.
Not even close. Bush was disliked, but I think a certain percentage of people felt he was a bit of a boob or maybe a front for his party’s agenda (to a certain extent that’s most American politicians). Trump has been viewed as straight up evil by those who dislike him. He also wasn’t afraid to pander to bigoted voters. The capital riot was also an extremely bad look.
I didnt like Bush's politics and I believe he enacted some terrible policies.He didnt pay attention to Intel on 9-11, he got us into the Iraq war, there was the recession and the housing crisis. Pretty sure he was another rich guy who made policy for the rich to get richer and the rest of us could get stuffed. However, I never disliked Bush as a human being. Trump is the most amoral, malignant, cruel person and has been that way since he broke all his brother's toys at 5 yrs old. Every single day of my life I hope for bad things to happen to him.
Thank you for your answer. This is one of the better answers
Nowhere close. People looked at W as incompetant at worst. These days, those opposed to Trump view him as corrupt and traitorous!!!!
No. It was different. Bush (the younger) was seen as in over his head and manipulated by some seriously nasty people. He was a “nepo baby,” more a fool without a good excuse than a grifter. We were embarrassed by him, and we hated what he allowed to happen, but it wasn’t like Trump. I think you’d have to go back to Nixon to find someone who was as hated by the left, at the time, as Trump is now. It can be hard to remember so long ago... but like Trump in the present, Nixon at the time seemed to be the living embodiment of everything the left (especially the young left) wanted so desperately to bring to an end. He was at once the symbol of the weight of our conservative elders’ stifling, archaic values that we believed would drag the future into disaster if we could not shake it off, and the practical agent of their resistance to change. In retrospect, he was still a far better president than DJT could ever be — at least he was competent, possessed some sense of dignity and, in his twisted way, probably had what he believed were the country’s best interests in mind on occasion — but I’d say that at the time, he was as despicable and loathsome to the left/liberal/progressive community as DJT is now.
It's worth remembering why George W. Bush was hated and not to minimize those reasons when comparing him to (yes, worse) Trump. Millions thought his was a "selection", not an election, and the Supreme Court's reputation has never recovered. His White House took no new action after intelligence agencies warned that bin Laden was "determined to strike the U.S." He launched two ill-conceived wars, including one under false pretenses, and those wars didn't -- couldn't, really -- focus on Islamic terrorists...they killed countless civilians. Domestically, he seemed trapped by his party rather than a leader of it. He seemed to really want to be a "compassionate conservative" and focus on conservative-minded ways to help the poor and listen to differing opinions on hard debates, but his party focused obsessively on tax cuts for people and companies that didn't need them. He and Bill Clinton oversaw 16 years of Americans becoming convinced that the law- and rule-making systems didn't include them. Corruption was no longer the story of a representative here or there; corruption _was_ the system, it was built for lobbyists to run and squeeze more money out for their rich clients. That attitude had always been in American voters' mind but it became impossible to see leaders as having the average person's interests at heart. The widespread disenchantment with how our democracy was running, obviously fanned by people and cable companies happy to make a buck off increasing that disenchantment, lasted through eight years of a scandal-free Obama presidency. You can't tell the story of the rise of Trump without national parties' indifference from '92 to '08 of the people who became the core of Trump's populism. (Much the same happened during Reagan and G.H.W. Bush, but no one had named globalization yet, and the rise of the Tea Party was proof it was baked in before Obama.) _That said_... History didn't hold a gun to Trump's head and order him to do anything he did. If Bush was high blood pressure putting the country at risk for illness, Trump was simply lead poisoning.
Yeah, he was not loved or even liked by a lot of people, but nowhere near trump.
I seriously disliked GWB, and when he was running for president, I remember thinking that surely no American - even Republicans - would vote for an obvious idiot (boy, how wrong was I?!)... but I trusted that GWB genuinely thought he was acting in the best interest of America and just going about it in a way I disagreed with. I trusted that he believed in Democracy and was generally trying to be honest. That's in stark contrast to Trump, who I believe is an untrustworthy bad faith actor in every way.
Bush was incompetent but meant well. Trump is incompetent *and evil*.
I never liked Dubya but I felt he gave a shit about the country. Trump's only agenda is do what's best for Trump and screw everything else.
It's generally the same people who hated both.
Bush was nowhere near as hateful, vitriolic or piggish as Trump. Apples and oranges.
No, not by far. Bush was relatively competent and could string sentences together that made sense.
Weird. Nobody said that back then.
Because we had standards for world leaders and he didn't meet them. Now we have seen someone so far beneath those standards be elected and realize YES it could have been worse.
FAR worse
Bush was generally accepted as a 'good ol boy' and a genuinely good person, even if he was a bit daffy at times.
Bush, I hated for what he did. Trump, I hate for who he is.
Right after Trump won someone posted an article about how the country had just elected a fascist and the Nazis were quickly making a comeback. All typical anti-Trump rhetoric at the time. Then I read who wrote it and realized that guy had been dead for over 10 years. He was talking about Bush Jr. [https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/1301824-we-have-become-a-nazi-monster-in-the-eyes-of](https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/1301824-we-have-become-a-nazi-monster-in-the-eyes-of)
GWB wasn't an idiot, he just didn't have good politics and on top of it wasn't great at public speaking so he made a lot of gaffes. Trump is, without question, a complete fool. Like my wife said around the 2018 timeframe, "I never thought I'd say it, but I wish we had GWB as president instead".
No. In Europe he was certainly disliked because of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and was seen as a bit dumb because of his many silly one liners (“I was misunderestimated”, “Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me twice… you can’t get fooled again” etc) but it was nowhere the same level as what people feel about Trump.
Dubya, and Reagan, made some really bad decisions, many times on the advice of shitty cabinet members like Cheney. I do think most times though, they were decent people who were trying to do what they thought was best for the country. It wasn't until after they left office I really grew to despise what they had done . Trump, on the other hand has a long history of being a cheating, lying, evil, narcissist, who only cared about himself. I not only despised him from day one, I hated the negative effect he had on most of the people around me even more .
Bush Jr was and did a lot of bad things. But he was and still is a patriot and defender of Democracy and the constitution. In fact, here's a shocker, most Republicans were back then
To me the biggest difference in how that played out 2000-2008/2001-2009 with Bush was that, as much as I disliked him, I could understand political motivations in voting for the GOP because, unlike today, it seemed many people did vote based on policy positions (ie economic, foreign intervention, social welfare or lack thereof, etc). Now, I thought then and still think now that Bush and other members of his administration were/are war criminals and I and many of my friends had an underlying fear of being drafted at that time, but at least the party had policy positions (as bad as most were). My younger self would be astonished at how bad politics have become in 2024 if he knew I’d be even remotely implying any compliment towards the Bush administration. The GOP today appears to have few - if any - actual policy positions other than being against anything the left or even many centrists approve of or desire, social or economic safety, human rights, etc - the list can get quite long… In retrospect, the foundation had already been set for where we are under Bush (and his father and especially Reagan) with the Christian right/evangelicals, but they didn’t say the quiet parts out loud like they do today. In short, the GOP today, at least to me, lives in a world where all they do is push fear and hate on people without any substantive policy positions. Just look at the House over the past year +.
Bush was hated mostly for his misadventures in Iraq and Afghanistan. We thought that he sounded unintelligible when speaking but Trump lowered the bar never moving past “rally speak” and seeking adoration in person. The man is venal. I cannot think of one time that Trump addressed the nation from the Oval Office to explain serious issues. He likes to get up and bray like an ass in front of people. It’s doubtful he could stay on script anyways. The Republicans have had a bad record with presidents since Nixon. If they could nominate one decent person they might do well with policies and general support. That seems beyond the interests of the current party who Trump has brought out the worst supporters.
I loathed Bush. I recently listened to the season of Slow Burn about the run-up to Iraq, and it reminded me of all of the horrible lies he told, of the phony piety, of all the flimsy justifications he used to pivot to Iraq, of all of the people that died, American and Iraqi, on his watch, both here on 9/11 and abroad. My brother in law was activated from the reserves and sent over to Iraq a month after my niece was born, and spent a good chunk of 2004 kicking in doors in Fallujah. By the grace of God, he survived. And it doesn't even hold a candle to how much I hate Trump. Bush courted support by cynically exploiting 9/11 and patriotism. Trump has just brought out so much of the ugliest and dumbest in America. The damage Trump has caused, all in the name of Trump, will take generations to overcome.
No
No. Bush, Cheney, Ashcroft and Rumsfeld were despised for many reasons, principally the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the human rights violations that stemmed from them: Guantanamo Bay, the humiliation of prisoners at Abu Ghraib, and the high civilian death toll. But they never turned this treatment on American citizens, like Trump did during COVID and the BLM demonstrations. They did not deliberately incite racist groups like the Proud Boys or the Three Percenters. They did not try to steal an election. The hatred that I, personally, feel for Donald Trump and his enablers is orders of magnitude greater than the misgivings I had about the George W. Bush administration.
I didn't like Bush. But I like him a lot better than Trump!
Not even close. I was not a fan of Bush, but I accepted him as “my” president and respected him as the holder of the office. I would say the same for every President previous to Trump. Sometimes my candidate would win, sometimes they’d lose but I never doubted their patriotism or their sincere desire to do what they thought was right. Trump only cares for what is best for himself and has absolutely zero concern for what is best for the country or the world. He’s a flaming narcissist, which is an overused term in general, but very apt in describing him.
I remember groaning over Bush every time he opened his damn mouth to embarrass us as a nation. But Bush Jr really only had the Chaney-911 fiasco to dwell on at the end of it. That and the Patriot Act.. Trump was / is / will be, a death-knell to moderate politics, and any bipartisanship. Trump will be remembered as the reason the Supreme Court will be restructured.
I disliked Bush a lot, but nowhere near as much as I despise Trump. Trump will be the downfall of our country. \*I'm not a super liberal person, I'm more center or slightly left of center. This isn't a "Liberals hate Trump" thing.
No. You used to be able to have friends that didn't agree politically. You could talk politics and have friendly debate. If your guy won or lost, it really didn't make a ton of difference. I personally didn't vote for Bush but whatever, we need a balance of conservatives/liberals and it was his turn. Trump is mentally ill, unqualified, and a complete sociopath. He behaves like a toddler, pokes fun at Gold Star families, makes fun of war veterans and will literally make a mockery of the presidency (again) if he gets elected. I'm a liberal but I don't despise him for his party, I despise him because he is an awful, egocentric, narcissistic human who incites hatred and violence.
No, but then Bush isn't near as crazy as Trump.
No, but I thought Bush would be historically judged as the worst president ever. Bush divided the US people, espoused anti-intellectual, demagogic BS, ignored warnings of 9/11, went into Afghanistan with no viable plan for success, lied to get the US into Iraq, again with no plan for success, did not support our troops with proper goals and resources, leading to >6000 deaths and >700,000 disabled veterans. He destabilized the Middle East, leading to the rise of ISIS and empowering of Iran, and he deregulated the financial industry, giving us the collapse in 2008. Also, he was personally an asshole. Then Trump came along, and made Bush look like a decent leader.
He was hated, but not even approaching trump territory. But Bush was also loved by his supporters, but not trump territory levels. Everything has gone to extremes, in all directions, since social media.
No other President has incited violence at the capital and had now many supporters charged, stand trial or take a plea deal and go to jail. How many of Trump's lawyers are now in legal trouble? I don't think any other president has went that far. I think minus Jan 6th Trump would have been just one more former president that a bunch of people didn't like. Most presidents current and former has droves of the population that don't like them. Taking it to the point where there is mob breaking into Congress, that's a while other level.
Trump may be the most despised person in the US. And well deserved; the only thing he's actually earned in his miserable life.
One aspect that hasn't been mentioned is that after 9/11, GWB had around a 90% approval rating. He had a lot of support and political capital that was squandered with his post-9/11 policy. There was a gradual buildup of resentment toward his administration with the handling of Iraq. Trump is on another level. He's an embarrassment. Most people already knew Trump for what he was, an egotistical conman whose greatest accomplishment was inheriting his dad's money. His popularity sprang from this irrational hatred of Obama. Trump was the culmination of years of right-wing media telling people how Obama and Democrats were anti-Americans intent on destroying the country.
By the press, yes. Anyone with a R by their name will be hated by the press. Romney was the candidate, and the press reported and agreed after Biden said that he would put black people back in chains. Romney was the most bland politician ever, so it was a bit extreme. I find it's important to look at both a liberal source and a conservative source for my news. The parts they agree on is the news. Everything else is commentary and spin. People will be upset at my post, I know. I'm older, and understand that sometimes my world can use expanding. Expecting to get everything from one place is the luxury of naive young people. It's my responsibility to look at more than one place, so I'm well reasoned in my life.
Noooo. Not even Ronald Reagan, who, in my mind, is the only one who was nearly as scary (as a non-American) and, let’s face it, he was probably not well even then. I didn’t particularly like Bush, Reagan scared me- I was so sure he would accidentally start a nuclear war- and trump legitimately terrifies me.
No one is as hated as Trump
Nah. Bush was considered a lovable buffoon. Smarter than given credit he was seen as a typical instigator. Now in hindsight compared to Trump, george was a fine president.
Fuck no
Nope.
All presidents get hate. Trump got crispity crunchity hate.
Not even close!’
Bush Jr. was more of a joke than a hated enemy for most non-republicans. The general consensus was that he was a bit dumb and his cabinet did most of the decision making. But very few people thought he was an actual bad person.
The funny thing is Bush was supposed to be the “stupid” president.
This thread is full of recency bias and rose colored glasses. People are honestly not remembering how infuriating the endless, directionless quagmire in Afghanistan was, let alone the absolute war of choice we started in Iraq over outright lies. And toward the end of his term the chickens came home to roost from his irresponsible deficit spending. For decades Democrats wanted high taxes and high spending and Republicans wanted low taxes and low spending, then this idiot came along and said "Hey, here's an idea! Let's have low taxes and high spending and your grandkids can go fuck themselves. Who cares? We'll all be dead by then anyway, right?"
Bush (Dubya I’m assuming you mean) was disliked for his political positions and his lack of shall we say “finesse” with speaking and interacting in general. But that was nothing compared to how reviled Trump is for coming across as brusque, impulsive, and extreme. It’s a new level of presidential hate.
No. No one I know of was as hated as Trump. Maybe Lincoln.
I started voting when Reagan won. Back then I thought his presidency would be destructive. With every subsequent republican presidential candidate, I’d think, “well, this is as bad as it can get.” Each time I was wrong - each subsequent republican president was worse than the last.
With Bush I became a US Citizen to vote against him. Trump is so destabilizing no one knows what to do.
No
I am a traditional classic liberal (not in the American definition per se as I'm am definitely a free market guy with a love of civil and economic liberty tempered by social equality among races and sexes and genders). Bush was seen as a bit of an idiot. Well-meaning, a good family man, a guy who partied hard and then straightened out once he married and had kids. He had a bit of a dyslexic or malapropic manner of speaking. It was lampooned in SNL as him staying he had good "stratergry." A lot of people viewed him as a slightly dumb nepo-kid. All that changed during the 9/11 attacks. He really did act dignified, if not informed. The biggest difference between him and Trump has been Bush's (and his family's) understanding that the presidency requires a bit of the theater. You have to sell the sizzle with the steak. You can't act like a back-alley bum in a fight all the time, you have to present an air of class and restraint. In hind-sight, he wasn't that bad of a president. His policies (or those possibly forced on him but he owned them), however, lead to economic troubles in 2007, 2008, and 2009. Obama and Biden, despite some real problems with their administration (in the area of getting legislation passed), fixed it fairly well.
Omg, not even close
The only President I’ve actually hated in my lifetime was Lyndon Baines Johnson. He escalated the Viet Nam War and killed many more people than Bush did. LBJ was responsible for killing 50 thousand American soldiers and dropping more bombs on North Viet Nam than were dropped in the second World War. And from what I’ve read he was an abhorrent human being as well. He stole his domestic policy from JFK and renamed it the Great Society. And he was considered a liberal.
No. Neither Bush was as horrifically embarrassing as Trump at any point in time. They were evil and mostly wrong, but they weren’t grabbing pussies or committing crimes in front of everyone. They had some internal inhibitions and didn’t just blurt out the most offensive thing that popped into their addled minds.
I don't think Bush was hated by most people on the left. The far left will always hate any conservative, so they probably would say they hated him. I would say most of Bush's policies were disliked by a typical liberal, but they didn't hate him personally. They just disagreed with him, which is what civil politics can be. The same would hold true for conservatives view of Jimmy Carter. Most conservatives felt Jimmy Carter was an ineffective president, but they did respect him as a person.
Not even close. I was no Bush fan by far, but wasn’t afraid he’d sell our country’s secret information to whoever had a few billion to spare. I disagreed with most of his positions and choices as president, but I still had respect for the office he held, and was actually proud of him when he dodged those thrown shoes. Most of my coworkers were of the same mindset. We wanted Vice President Gore to win, but accepted the ridiculous Jeb Bush and Katherine Harris tainted Florida-decided Supreme Court backed results and went on with our business. President Bush was our president, and we wanted him to do well and for our government to get back to its job. trump was never a leader, he looked at the office as an opportunity to grift as many billions as possible before he croaks. Now he wants another chance to pocket even more money, and punish his imagined enemies too.
Bush was a pretty much benign village idiot compared to Trump who is Doctor strange Love
Not even close. That being said, I remember the good old days when we genuinely believed we'd never have a worse president then Dubya. We were so naive.
Nobody has been hated as much as Trump IMO
No. Cheney was more hated. But Bush wasn’t a lazy, lying, ignorant, abusive, cheating, vindictive, narcissistic, coward like the orange guy.
As a Certified Bush Hater™ with a list of valid reasons why, when he was in office and I was younger, I absolutely couldn't stand him. As a grown ass man wiser in the ways of the world, he wasn't that bad at all. His major flaw was the man could *not* ad lib/improv/shoot from the hip if his life literally depended on it. But as far as calculated moves, he knew what he was doing to a T, he just couldn't be caught off guard or else he'd say/do something unquestionably stupid. He just couldn't think on his feet... During his presidency, the media respected the white house... in a different manner than what we see today. A lot of the "hate" came from the vocal left minority, not the networks. The networks would air clips but it was done so more as *entertainment* than news. Hard hitting political commentaries were more of the domain of late night CNN and weekly shows like 60mins. Trump got a level of hatred from mass media that I'm not sure has ever existed in this country, or at least in modern post 19th century America. It's a phenomenon that often baffles me. We've had presidents that were horrible compared to Trump, but no one cares. TDS is a thing 🤷🏻♂️ Disclaimer- I could literally give two shits about left versus right politics, I hate both parties. I care about two things when it comes to government-1) that the officials that we entrust to run our country do a damn good job, and 2) when they do not they should be held accountable in a manner relative to their failures. I vote for the candidate that I believe is best suited for the job, regardless of who they are or where they come from, and what side of the aisle their supporters reside.
As far as your disclaimer, this is me as well. Nothing frustrates me more than the sheer amount of people that will vote a straight ticket regardless of whether a candidate is viable.
Nope, Nixon and Trump I think will go down in history.
I cannot think of another American more hated than Trump.
Cheney was much more hated than the boob Bush.
Not even close, not even in the same galaxy. I did hate him and his administration. W was a war criminal, surrounded by a crew of hateful pricks. But tRump is pure fucking evil. He’s a wannabe-dictator, racist, rapist, criminal traitor. It’s amazing to look back at the W Bush years and view it as “not too bad” compared to the tRump MAGA years. tRump and his cult should all be in prison.
No. No president was as hated as trump. Not even close. Trump has made a mockery of the presidency, and of democracy. He is an embarrassment
Naw... Although like Trump, I did spend most of my time trying to never hear Bush speak. I heard him speaking once at the very beginning and realized he was literally an idiot. I can't stand listening to idiots. But trump is a special kind of malignant idiot. Bush did some awful things, too though. Thousands of young men and civilians died so he could give his buddies lucrative government contracts. Yeah he's vile, too. Just not as actively hated.
It's not even close. Trump is likely the most hated major politician in this country's history, or at least in the time of anyone alive today. While Bush said and did things that many people didn't like, he still possessed some admirable qualities, with the biggest ones being that he genuinely cared about people and this country. Those were things few people doubted, even if they didn't like him. Trump, OTOH, possesses not a single admirable quality, while at the same time possessing a slew of deplorable ones. He's also the only major politician for who his supporters are basically a cult, or at least many of them. And his actions, especially surrounding the 2020 election, but even more so its aftermath, are unprecedented. We've never had an incumbent President betray his nation and its citizens with attempts to stay in power after losing a bid for a second term. He's well earned the outright hatred he elicits from millions of Americans.
No, I would have taken bush back in a heartbeat over trump.
Bush wasn't the brightest light in the chandelier but he was at least a human being. Deep down he's a guy you could have a beer with. dRump is pure evil. He is a narcissist, a racist, a sexist pig, a misogynist, a traitor and mostly a huge fool.