ABSTRACT
George W. Bush left office as among the most unpopular American presidents. The critical reception Bush received is ironic, given the reality of Bush administration policies. Critics attackand often cherry-pick Bush rhetoric to lambaste the former president. European governments and trade associations chafed at Clintons support for extraterritorial sanctions, while American pundits criticized him for failing to win a Russian commitment to limit nuclear supply to Iran. The decision to invade Iraq was polarizing enough, but the May 1, 2003 Mission Accomplished celebration onboard the USS Abraham Lincoln was a self-inflicted wound to the president's credibility. A bipartisan Council on Foreign Relations task force on Iran chaired by Carter-era National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski and Robert Gates, the elder Bushes Director of Central Intelligence, chided the younger Bush for refusing to embrace diplomacy with Iran. A Defense Academy of the United Kingdom study found that Iranian policy shifted from anti-Zionism to anti-Semitism during the Khatami presidency.
