George Bush took over the office in the January of 2001 from Bill Clinton. There were several gains from the previous government that the country realized from various sectors of the economy. Productivity gains which were around 1.6% in the period of 1970 were now averring at around 3% when Bush was coming into office (Budget 32). The manufacturing sector was now having a productivity of more than 7% (Budget 33). During the Bush administration, many activities were happening in the country, and it was being affected negatively.
The most prominent events were the Iraq war and the erosion of civil liberties by the government. The Guantanamo Bay was also a shame while the economy of the country was collapsing on a massive stride. Within the two terms of service in office, the country was going into recession after the fall of the economy (Greenwald 45). The collapse of the economy was affecting other sectors of the economy such as unemployment which was now at an alarming rate of 5% (Greenwald 48). By the time he was leaving office, the debt of the country was now at an almost over 75% (Greenwald 49). There was also another issue of tax which was favoring majorly on the rich people who were living in the country. There was also another problem of people defaulting on mortgages loans which were affecting on a bigger scale the economy of the country as interests from the loans was funding the federal budget of the country. The deficits were from a record high of more than $900 billion which is a huge amount that is unaccounted by the federal reserve bank of the country (Grunwald 38).
The country was experiencing high oil prices more than ever before which was contributing to depreciate the value of the dollar. The dollar was now feeble in comparison to other currencies in the world (Greenwald 54).
Another major failure of the Bush administration had a big cut on the taxes of the rich which was enacted immediately after his ascension to power in 2001. The rich who had more than a million as income were receiving tax cuts of around $20,000 which was representing more than 30 times than what an average person was paying tax in the country (Budget 62). The government gave out another tax cut which was still favoring the rich for the second time in 2003.These bills became permanent, and the final tax cut for the wealthy was $162,000 for those having an income of more than $1 million shillings (Budget 67).
The Bush government undertook an expensive spending program of the great Iraq war which was very expensive while the government did not have enough money to go on with the war. Before the war, the gross domestic product was a surplus of 2.5 %, however after starting the war, the GDP was now in a deficit of 3.8% within five years of the administration (Budget 79). The result was the country running trade and budget deficits which were record high and hence crippling the running of other government departments.
After the term of Bush had come to an end, Barrack Obama took over as the next president of the United States. One of his major works was to repair the image caused by President Bush in his previous regime. The first major project was to ensure domestic and foreign policies align with what the country needs (Grunwald 83). The Obama administration was coming to clean up the mess left by the immediate former President Bush.
There are several changes that the new administration was implementing in the new government. Government departments and agencies were not allowed to carry out any new regulations and policies. The military was getting orders on how they start withdrawing from Iraq and end the war in that country (Grunwald 87).
The new government also came up with other strategies to handle diplomacy issues (Grunwald 92).The administration was to appoint the best emissaries who would be taking care of the problem in Israel and Pakistan and Afghanistan.
On matters regarding torture by the American forces, the president signed new executive orders that would end torture and interrogations would be done in according to the prescribed manuals of the army. Another order was to close the Guantanamo Bay within a year after assuming leadership during the suspension of all military tribunals for six months (Budget 98). The administration was developing a framework to ensure there is transparency when doing all its work.
The points above concerning the administration of Obama shows that it has been successful all through and has been helpful in returning to moderate levels more importantly in the economic sector. It then displays the country as having had an administration with the right management skills to run it unlike the previous government of George Bush.
Work cited
Budget, U.S. Office Of Management And. A New Era of Responsibility: Renewing America's Promise: President Obama's First Budget. Cosimo Inc, 2010.
Greenwald, Glenn. A Tragic Legacy: How a Good vs. Evil Mentality Destroyed the Bush Presidency. Crown/Archetype, 2007.
Grunwald, Micheal. The New New Deal: The Hidden Story of Change in the Obama Era. Simon and Schuster, 2012.
