Monday Morning Food for Thought: Will Bush Be the Next Truman?

Will Bush Be the Next Truman? Mark McKinnon thinks it's a question worth considering:

Truman holds the dubious distinction of achieving the lowest in-office job approval of 22 percent, edging out Nixon at 24 percent and Bush at 25 percent.

And yet, time and history have been kind to Truman. In the 2009 C-Span Historians Presidential Leadership Survey, the top four slots go to, no surprise: Lincoln, Washington, Franklin Roosevelt and Teddy Roosevelt. And No. 5? Truman. Today George W. Bush sits at 36, while his father comes in at 18.

Will time be as kind to Bush? There are some early indicators that his resurrection may well be under way. The media, notoriously tough on Bush, have already started turning their coverage around. Newsweek recently ran a cover story on Iraq headlined “Mission Accomplished.” And 60 Minutes, which arguably tried to take down the Bush presidency with Dan Rather’s bogus National Guard story, broadcast an Easter Sunday segment praising Bush for his implementation of HIV/AIDS treatment programs in Africa that are now credited for saving millions of lives across that continent.