From Jonathan Bernstein:
President George H.W. Bush’s first paragraph – the most important thing he accomplished in his life – was the successful conclusion of the Cold War. It may seem somewhat less impressive these days, given the path Russia has since taken and the various strains on Europe, from Brexit to immigration.
But make no mistake: When Bush took office in January 1989, there were more ways that things could’ve gone wrong than anyone today can readily imagine. Civil war between nuclear-armed factions within the Soviet Union? Desperate attempts by the Soviets to keep control over Warsaw Pact nations? Europe fracturing along any number of fault lines? Instead, Bush and other responsible world leaders managed to avoid the nightmare scenarios, and the world arrived within four years at a post-Soviet order in which the primary U.S. interests of peace and stability in Europe were almost entirely preserved.
Achieving that took preparation, sound judgement and courage, including the courage both to refrain from action under pressure and to act when necessary. It’s a seriously underrated performance. The truth is that every Cold War president contributed to what turned out to be an overwhelmingly successful foreign policy (just as all of them made mistakes along the way), and other than Harry Truman, Bush deserves more credit than anyone.
Other than that? There’s plenty of room to argue about Bush’s other choices as president, whether it was in China, Iraq, Panama or, domestically, in reacting to a recession or managing budget politics.