Presidency of George W Bush

The presidency of George H.W. Bush seems to be one of those moments in American history that is sandwiched between two larger events; that being the Reagan 80s and the Clinton 90s. Regan was heralded as the conservative revolutionary who sought to shrink government and lower taxes while Clinton was praised for his work on balancing the budget and overseeing the economic boom during his tenure. While President Bush (41) may be most remembered for the liberation of Kuwait and the “Read my lips – no new taxes,” remark; his most impressive initiative would be the NAFTA legislation. Although he had lost the presidency when the legislation passed (it was signed by Bill Clinton), the proposal for free trade and lower tariffs between the U.S., Canada, and Mexico has allowed many businesses to survive and allowed for lower prices on goods for all three nations. While many may argue that NAFTA has cost the jobs of thousands of American workers as manufacturing jobs moved south to Mexico, one must remember that it is not the duty of a company to provide jobs – the company must provide goods or services. In order to achieve these means they must keep production costs low or face closure; if it costs less for a company to manufacture something in Mexico and import it to America then who would claim it to be wise business practices to stay in America and pay two or three times more money in taxes?

There are many overlooked moments in American history that have had a significant impact on a generation – such as the capital city of Liberia being named for James Monroe or James Polk extending America’s border to the pacific in 1846 – George H.W. Bush will be overlooked for his role in NAFTA. President George H.W. Bush has ushered in (and will continue to) a new era of economic trade for the growing global economy; he had the foresight and knowledge to see that the world would become more intertwined with the fall of the USSR and saw the benefits of free trade with our most...