In his final days in office, United States President George W. Bush leaves
behind two unfinished wars and the U.S. economy deep in recession. With record
low approval ratings, Bush has many critics who insist he will be remembered
as one of the worst President's in American history. His supporters - and
Bush himself - say history will be kind.

WASHINGTON D.C., UNITED STATES (JANUARY 20, 2001) POOL-
Most analysts say Bush's Presidency began in earnest on September
11th 2001.
Almost 3,000 people were killed that day when attackers flew planes into
the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon just outside
Washington, DC. Bush was informed of the attacks while sitting in an
elementary school class room in Sarasota Florida. Once he was whisked to an
undisclosed location he addressed the nation saying, "Freedom itself was
attacked by a faceless coward, and freedom will be defended."

Within days President Bush headed to New York City to Ground Zero where he
took a bull horn in hand, vowing to fight, his approval ratings soared as he
told a worker in the crowd, "I can hear you. I can hear you, the rest of
the world can hear you, and the people who knocked these buildings down will
hear all of us soon."

Within weeks the United States went to war in Afghanistan. Bush pledged to
rout the Taliban who had given sanctuary to Al Qaeda, he later vowed to track
down Osama bin Laden, dead or alive. Bush enjoyed almost unconditional support
at home, and the international community stood behind the US.

The widespread support Bush won in the aftermath of the September 11
attacks is long gone, weighed down by the unpopular war in Iraq, an inept
response to Hurricane Katrina and a meltdown on Wall Street that has spilled
onto Main Street. Russ Baker, author of Family of Secrets The Bush Dynasty,
the Powerful Forces that put it in the White House and What their Influence
means for America, says Bush squandered an opportunity. "In all
probably he will go down as the worst President in the history of the United
States, somebody who squandered opportunities, who was amazingly reckless and
who shamelessly fronted for special interests and totally abandoned his
obligation to the American people and the people of the world," Baker
said.

There was more war to come. By January 2003, as Bush delivered his State of
the Union Address he signaled the next US target. "If Saddam Hussein does
not fully disclose for the safety of our people and for the people of the
world we will lead a coalition to disarm him," Bush said.

The bombing campaign against Iraq began on March 20, 2003. That night the
Baghdad skyline was lit by bomb fire in a campaign that came to be called
Shock and Awe. Within a month a statue of Saddam Hussein was torn down in
Baghdad and a month after that Bush landed on the USS Lincoln, under a banner
that read Mission Accomplished. Bush declared that major combat in Iraq was
over and the US and its allies had prevailed.

But the war raged on. Iraq descended into all but a civil war, with
insurgents pursuing a campaign of increasingly deadly bombings in cities and
roadsides against US and allied forces and civilians.

Support for the war was beginning to erode at home. Adding fuel to the war
fire, photos that surfaced showing American soldiers at the Abu Ghraib prison
in Baghdad taking justice into their own hands in acts of humiliation and
torture against prisoners.

Bush called this one of the major regrets of his two terms in office.

While some presidential scholars have already issued a verdict that the
Bush presidency will go down as one of the worst in American history, Bradley
Blakemen who worked in the Bush White House, thinks history will be kind to
Bush.

"No leader has ever been appreciated in their time, it is only after
time when a full and fair assessment can be made, not only in their
accomplishments but their failures," Blakemen said. "When you are
living in the moment it is hard to justify tough decisions that maybe were not
popular at the time they we made, but necessary."

Analysts say one of the toughest decisions Bush made was when he tapped
General David Petraeus to take command of Iraq, and adopt a surge strategy --
adding more boots on the ground and deploying forces into the heart of the
fight.

"Petraeus was for the surge, and I think Petraeus and Bush looked at
each other and said despite everyone else saying that this is going to fail,
let's go ahead and take our shot here and gamble. Ultimately General Petraeus
made the surge work and validated President Bush's choice," said Roger
Carstens of the Center for a New American Security

On the domestic side, there was Hurricane Katrina, which struck the Gulf
Coast in August 2005 and caused massive flooding of the historic US city of
New Orleans. Parts of New Orleans were lost forever, people felt stranded and
abandoned, and more than 1,800 people died. Bush came under attack. In his
final days in office Bush balked at that criticism saying, "Don't tell me
the Federal response was slow when 30,000 people were pulled off the
roofs."

In his final year in office, Bush faced a once-in-a-century financial
crisis, the gravest since the Great Depression. The crash came, after six
years of presiding over an economy that would be the envy of most presidents,
that many believe may have dealt the crowning blow to Bush's legacy as his
administration has resorted to massive government intervention anathema to
his free-market roots.

"As President Obama takes office he will face an enormous budget
deficit that was bequeathed top him by the Bush Administration. So, I think in
domestic terms its' very difficult to find anything positive to say about the
Bush legacy," said William Keylor of Boston University.

Bush said he is not one to feel sorry for himself, telling reports at his
final news conference, "I think the phrase burden of the office, is
overdone. Or asking why me, why did the financial crisis hit me, it is just
pathetic isn't it, self pity."

Bush flew to Baghdad last month hoping to showcase security gains there,
but instead the enduring image will be of the president ducking shoes hurled
by an angry Iraqi journalist.

The death toll in Iraq - among both civilians and troops - fell
dramatically in the President's final year in office. But more than 4,200
American solders have died in the Iraq war.