Like him or not, George W. Bush inspired Americans to believe in the government again...

Like him or not, George W. Bush inspired Americans to believe in the government again. Why was he so inspirational in terms of getting people to trust the federal government, and why have Obama and Trump failed to maintain Bush's legacy?

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b8

bush
>911 happened
>nobody talked bad about the president, it was considered unpatriotic
>he was seen as your typical country boy who couldn't hurt a fly

obama
> felt like his skin color came before the man he really was
> was in constant gridlock an republicans an democrats alike blamed each other
>all obama did in 8 years was pass a healthcare bill


trump
> an entertaining president but not a well behaved or loveable person
> you hate or love him plus news constantly attacking him

>Trust in government skyrocketed in 2002
>Trust in government collapsed from 2003-2009
>GWB was an inspiration!

I found the Christian conservative/neocon troll, guys! They were thought to have gone extinct in 2011!

I think the "9/11 effect" is probably overrated. Other than the USA-PATRIOT Act being passed quickly, things were pretty much back to political normalcy by the 2002 mid-term elections in November.

WTF I LOVE THE FAILURE OF REPUBLICAN NATIONAL SECURITY NOW!

2002 is a little early, I would say America as a whole got over it by the time we sent troops abroad and nobody really knew why we were in a war other than "reports" of a nuke

>I think the "9/11 effect" is probably overrated.

Then you literally weren't alive at that time.

Anyone who was remembers how insane it was. It reached McCarthy-tier levels of nationalism; criticizing ANY government actions just simply wasn't acceptable in the mass media or in the political arena up until 2003-2004.

This.

Last year I was talking to my mother about how politics got to be the way they are now and I said

>It was really strange watching all of the adults losing their minds.

Just look at that crash because of LBJ and Nixon

I don't think it was quite like that, though. If you look at the Iraq war vote in October 2002, most Democrats actually voted against it. Even 6 or 7 Republicans voted against it.

Uh, what?

>82 (39.2%) of 209 Democratic Representatives voted for the resolution
>58% of Democratic senators (29 of 50) voted for the resolution.
>en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq_Resolution

You're really looking back with rose colored glasses, user.

It was a strange time. The Democrats still hated Muslims and gays. The Republicans sometimes spoke favorably of European style socialism. You supported the war in Afghanistan or you were a terrorist sympathizer. If you didn't say you loved New York and 9/11 was the greatest tragedy in American history, people accused you of being a sociopath.

The Iraq War was even popular for the first couple of years.

Yeah, like I said, the congressional Democrats voted against the Iraq resolution by a total of 111 to 147. The "national unity" was finished by then. Which in turn means that the higher trust in government which occurred under Bush was a product of Bush and his leadership; not of 9/11 as such.

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Numbers don't lie, but liars love numbers. Congressional votes are usually split entirely along party lines. Democrats voting with the Republicans was a post 9/11 anomaly.

Either you really don't pay attention to politics and are nostalgic for the Bush years (no judgement, people are nostalgic for the Soviets in the former USSR) or you are Jeb Bush.

Go to bed, Jeb.

Shut up, foreigner. No one cares what you think of our politics. Try giving a shit about your own politicians for a change and maybe your next PM (or whatever) will win with more than 30% of the vote.

There's already an obamaleaf thread

But if you don't remember the strong undercurrent of counterculture against Bush you're a newfag.

All of the liberal media bias normies perceive as "normal" was a product of Bush era counter-culture (and for good reason, Bush invaded a bunch of sovereign nations that had nothing to do with 9/11 and couldn't even catch bin laden even though his family)

With the exception of rural and suburban retards, Bush's approval continued to decline because of things he and his administration actually did.

Bush was a strong leader and actually got shit done. I remember seeing a study on how world leaders actually feared Bush whereas they liked Obama more because he wasn't a threat and he ceded US power to them.

Maybe among adults... As a freshmen in hs when 9/11 happened, we all grew up thinking of bush as the ultimate traitor to the country and were genuinely surprised he was not hung.

Uh, were you a freshman in Afghanistan? Do you not remember the American flags lining every suburb and the huge displays at every store selling them?

Oh, are you one of those Loose Changers? I thought the Truther movement didn't catch on until like 2004.

Not in Illinois. We remember the patriot act. We remember you selling our futures for 'muh terrists'.

>nobody talked bad about the president

Bush's second term was full of people making fun of him

The rise of social media destorying the msm narratives.

1994-2001 was a global economic surge, even the UK had a surplus.

This image is retarded made by retards with little knowledge of global economic cycles.

I think I just misunderstood you. Yeah, most everyone who grew up under Bush hates him.

I just don't think there was an immediate Bush is the devil reaction after 9/11 even among teenagers. The Iraq War bullshit, the torture bullshit, Halliburton profiteering bullshit, Blackwater bullshit, it took time for it to become apparent what criminal scum he was.