For a fresh academic perspective on current presidential politics, U.S. News & World Report turned to Gary Wekkin, a political science professor at the University of Central Arkansas.
In its May 27 “Washington Whispers” section, the magazine considers the historical legacies of President George W. Bush and his father, former president George H.W. Bush.
“One scholarly paper provided to Whispers offers an interesting theory. Gary Wekkin of the University of Central Arkansas says the two would have succeeded if they had switched places: 43 to fight the first Iraq war and domestic issues his dad failed at and 41 to handle the current war and international crises that followed. ‘Strictly speaking, neither Bush 41 nor Bush 43 has been a poor president,’ says Wekkin. ‘Rather, each seems to have been the right person for the presidency at the wrong time.’ It’s not curtains for 43, though. Wekkin says Bush may yet see his hope of having historians 50 years off judge him better. ‘It worked for Harry Truman,’ says Wekkin.”