Bush Vs Truman

As President Bush goes further and more involved in the war on terror, his approval rating goes down. Right after September 11th, President Bush declared a war on terror. He had much of America’s support, but as the war continued his support dropped. This could be for countless reasons, including the loss of American lives. However, compared to prior wars, the loss is minimal. During his commencement address at West Point earlier this year, President Bush compared the war on terror to the Cold War, and himself to president Truman. The President was correct on the comparison of the wars, as well as the comparison he made of himself to President Truman.

During the Cold War, American citizens were frightened for their lives. The American people thought that at any moment, the Communists would drop a nuclear warhead on American soil, changing their lives as they knew it. The thought of a nuclear weapon being dropped on American soil frightened the American citizens, which kept them in favor of the war. However, as the war went on, public opinion of President Truman dropped. However, Truman did not care how he looked in the polls. He said, “How far would Moses have gone if he had taken a poll in Egypt? What would Jesus Christ have preached if he had taken a poll in the land of Israel? What

would have happened to the Reformation if Martin Luther had taken a poll? It isn't polls or public opinion of the moment that counts. It's right and wrong and leadership.” Similarly, as the War on Terror progresses, the public opinion of President Bush has dropped since the start of the war. According to a CNN poll, 58% of Americans are opposed to the war, and 55% of the people polled would not vote for someone who has supported the Bush Administration policies. This was due to the lack of support that the war on terror had from the American people. However, people would start to support the war on terror if they had the same threat of nuclear war hanging over their heads as the American people had during the Cold War.

Stopping the spread of communism was one of the factors of the cold war. Like the cold war, the spreading of democracy is important to the president. President Bush was trying to stop the dictatorships that were occurring in the Middle East. With the dictators, millions of people were brutally slaughtered by the governments of these countries, much like the Soviet Union. President Bush felt it was America’s duty as a world power to step in and help these people. By giving them a new government, perhaps these people could live in peace for a change. However, the majority