On January 20th President-elect Barack Obama will be inaugurated in Washington D.C. Our nation will celebrate, the world will celebrate, France will celebrate, the College Democrats will have another excuse to miss class, and President Bush will leave office amid international discord and economic recession.

President Obama will replace President Bush. As the world hopes the Obama Administration can turn a country bound by “cowboy” diplomacy into an advocate for multilateral relations, and as Americans hope Mr. Obama can wave a magic wand over the recession and fix the economy, Mr. Bush will silently collect his things while Cheney burns the last remaining files in his “constitutional” cabinet of secrets. Pundits across the country will embrace the President-elect. Except for Fox of course, they will probably show pictures of Obama during his time at an Indonesian school hoping to convince Americans that Obama is a Muslim. Within months Guantanamo will be closed and troop withdrawals will begin. The New York Times will transform from the pinnacle of liberal dissent to the pinnacle of liberal propaganda and Keith Olberman will finally be fired. Eight years of neoconservative rule will end. Yet, what will President Bush be remembered for? What will be the 43rd President’s legacy? Certainly history textbooks will discuss 9/11, the Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, FEMA’s feeble response to Hurricane Katrina, and the credit crisis brought on by lack of government oversight. But beyond literal actions, what will be President Bush’s role in American history?

I believe that President Bush will be Obama’s James Buchanan. Abraham Lincoln is remembered for winning the Civil War, ending slavery, and reuniting America after the Confederate states seceded following Buchanan’s futile role as President. Lincoln would not be quite as revered in modern America if President Buchanan had not allowed our Union to splinter into two disparate factions. America’s great leaders need America’s poor leaders to justify their relative greatness. Without Hoover’s inaction following the Great Depression FDR’s New Deal would not have seemed revolutionary. Without the relative failure of the Nixon, Ford, and Carter Administrations, Reagan’s “Reagonomics” and “Star Wars” defense programs would not have been nearly as popular. Walter Mondale might still have his dignity. President Bush will leave the Oval Office amidst an economic recession, an unpopular War in Iraq, an ineffective War in Afghanistan, an increasingly hostile Russia, and a disintegrating Pakistan. Lucky for Obama, he has so many problems to fix he cannot possibly be a bad President. In fact, there is hardly any way for Obama to even fail. Theoretically he could take the Nixon approach and never even end the Iraq War, blame it on Bush, and still get elected in 2012 when Bush’s economic failure is still fresh in America’s public opinion. I hope that Obama does succeed as President, brings closure and stability to Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Russia, China, North Korea, Iran, and any other soon-to-be volatile nation. I hope Obama can refocus our nation for the future, highlighting not only short-term problems like the War in Iraq and the recession but also long-term issues like climate change, alternative energy infrastructure, and Social Security and Medicare reform. I hope he does not allow his Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac affinities to cloud his judgment when deciding which banks to spin his regulatory net around the most. The risky mortgage lenders, who loaned with little restriction to great numbers of Obama supporters, or the more stable larger banks, run by McCain supporters, who survived the crisis because of their foresight. I hope he takes office and inspires Americans to exemplify greatness as we work towards international reconciliation, economic solvency, and energy independence. But, in all honesty, President Bush was so bad that Obama only has to be average to be remembered as great. Bush’s Administration was like the 2008 Michigan football team, so bad that any change will be perceived as good. I think that Bush’s historical legacy, like Buchanan, Hoover, and Nixon, will be to set up another President for greatness. Obama’s chance at greatness begins January 20th, and for America’s sake I hope he is like Lincoln, a man Obama has referenced often as a guiding light for his campaign and future Presidency. Let us all hope that Obama can take America’s reigns and lead our nation forward. And let us also thank President Bush because without his awful Administration any change Obama makes during his Presidency would not be nearly as appreciated. On January 20th when Obama swears his oath let all of America remember Bush as the man who allowed Obama to be great. And let us never forget that without his failure, Obama’s election would not have been possible.