This month, we have caught a few glimpses of our old boy, George W. Bush. Starting with the opening pitch for the Texas Rangers, then his first public speech in Calgary, and then a meeting in China for the Boao forum, George W. has been busy. Although I admittedly voted for him for his first term, I did not vote for him second term; hence I spent his final four years disliking him and his policies. The country agreed with my opinion, as his exiting approval rating in January 2009 was 34%. That was on the rise, from the 29% he was averaging during several months of his presidency.
In watching him the last few weeks, I kind of liked him again. Not as an ex-president, but just as a guy who I would like to grab a beer with (although he claims not to drink anymore). I started to remember some of the good times with ol’ Georgie, like when the economy was strong in 2003 and how after September 11th, the country as a whole was pretty safe. Let’s not get in an argument about who should get kudos for these things, in this case, because it is really irrelevant. The point is – I started to not hate him as a much.
Several presidents have left office with low approval ratings, such as Harry Truman’s 34% approval, Richard Nixon’s 24%, and Jimmy Carter’s 34%. Now, for me, Harry Truman was a great man and President ending WWII. According to Wikipedia, “Truman has been consistently ranked by scholars as one of the greatest U.S. Presidents.” As for Jimmy Carter, he may not have been a great president while in office, but he has since become a national hero and often called upon by world leaders as the negotiator of diplomacy. I do not know this for sure (yet), but I am guessing that if we took an approval rating of Jimmy Carter’s presidency today he would score much higher than 34%.
The truth of the matter, wisdom does change over time as does popular opinion. Now, I am not a fortuneteller because if I was, I would have accepted that Director of Sales job at Nvidia back in 1995 (hello dummy). But the way we view Bush in three years from now will be different than how we view him today, or how we viewed him 100 days ago.
Similarly with popular opinion, people change their mind, and hence wisdom changes. One of the biggest challenges with market research today is it is difficult to accurately attain accurate consumer sentiment real time. This may be a key contributor as to why 85% to 90% of all products developed ultimately fail in the market.
But those winds are changing, and TheCrowd is gathering…..
In watching him the last few weeks, I kind of liked him again. Not as an ex-president, but just as a guy who I would like to grab a beer with (although he claims not to drink anymore). I started to remember some of the good times with ol’ Georgie, like when the economy was strong in 2003 and how after September 11th, the country as a whole was pretty safe. Let’s not get in an argument about who should get kudos for these things, in this case, because it is really irrelevant. The point is – I started to not hate him as a much.
Several presidents have left office with low approval ratings, such as Harry Truman’s 34% approval, Richard Nixon’s 24%, and Jimmy Carter’s 34%. Now, for me, Harry Truman was a great man and President ending WWII. According to Wikipedia, “Truman has been consistently ranked by scholars as one of the greatest U.S. Presidents.” As for Jimmy Carter, he may not have been a great president while in office, but he has since become a national hero and often called upon by world leaders as the negotiator of diplomacy. I do not know this for sure (yet), but I am guessing that if we took an approval rating of Jimmy Carter’s presidency today he would score much higher than 34%.
The truth of the matter, wisdom does change over time as does popular opinion. Now, I am not a fortuneteller because if I was, I would have accepted that Director of Sales job at Nvidia back in 1995 (hello dummy). But the way we view Bush in three years from now will be different than how we view him today, or how we viewed him 100 days ago.
Similarly with popular opinion, people change their mind, and hence wisdom changes. One of the biggest challenges with market research today is it is difficult to accurately attain accurate consumer sentiment real time. This may be a key contributor as to why 85% to 90% of all products developed ultimately fail in the market.
But those winds are changing, and TheCrowd is gathering…..
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Great stuff. History is very kind to some and very cruel to others. Irony at it's finest.
ReplyDeleteThe Truth is that Truman was a horrible president. He had a monopoly on the Nuclear bomb for several years yet allowed Stalin to develop his own. He could have ended the pain and suffering and deaths of millions from Eastern Europe to Cambodia. He sat on his hands...
ReplyDeleteBush is a buffoon and always will be. History will not forgive him and Cheney for weakening our standing in the world. They had a better chance than Truman (with his bomb) after 9/11 to bring peace; instead they chose war and torture. I tend agree with Obama that we need not drag all of their wrong doings to court, but if people forget what they did because they are throwing out first pitches, maybe we should call them on the mat.
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