Simply put, the answer is George W Bush. Yes, the brother of Jeb Bush and the dismal eight years in office would hang around Jeb’s
neck if he announces his plans to run for President in 2016.
Peter Beinhart made this observation;
It won’t be enough for a candidate merely to keep his or her distance from [George] W. John McCain and Mitt Romney tried that, and they failed.
“I don’t think there’s any Bush baggage at all,” the former Florida governor said onFox News Sunday. “I love my brother. I’m proud of his accomplishments.” On Meet the Press, he added that “history will be kind to George W. Bush.”
Unfortunately for Jeb, history is written by historians. Three times since 2009, pollsters have asked them to rank American presidents, and in those rankings, W. has come in 36th, 39th, and 31st. Only Millard Fillmore, Warren Harding, William Henry Harrison, Franklin Pierce, Andrew Johnson, and James Buchanan rank lower. Ordinary Americans agree. Three times since George W. Bush left office, pollsters have asked the public to rank recent presidents. And three times, W. has ended up second to last, ahead of only Richard Nixon.
Speaking for the majority of Americans in this country, and in agreement with those who took that poll, I think it is safe to say that we’ve had it up to here with the Bushes. We have successfully navigated ourselves out of the Bushes and we don’t plan on going back. The goal is moving forward, not back to the future.
