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Bush by the Numbers
The final report card for George W. Bush won’t be in the mail for another few years. (Nixon’s is still being revised -- and, for that matter, Lincoln’s.) But with just a few weeks to go before the 43rd president moves back to Texas, it’s not too early to measure the impact of his policies across American life.
Bush campaigned on a promise of smaller government, a pledge he kept only in part. He stripped staff members and resources from areas like environmental, health and corporate regulatory enforcement. But the extended wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the worst financial crisis in decades swelled the national debt to its highest level in absolute terms, and its highest since the 1950s relative to GDP.
We looked for numbers that meaningfully reflected the outcome of Bush’s specific goals, quirks and oversights as they played out in the span of eight years.
Our numbers are by no means comprehensive, and we invite readers to contribute their own by e-mail or by adding a comment to this message board. (Please include your sources.) We will update the list, with credit to readers, as new figures come in.
National Debt on Election Day
Average high school graduation rate
71.7%
74.4%
U.S. funding for global HIV/AIDS
Average number of endangered species listed per year
Average number of Superfund clean-ups completed per year
Percentage of federal contracts with open competition
Illegal immigrants deported
Number of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests
Number of personnel who process FOIA requests
5,378
5,367
Unemployment rate
Pounds of meat and poultry inspected per full-time employee of the Food Safety and Inspection Service.
Percentage of new Army enlistees with a high school diploma or higher
Days in office the president spent at his ranch
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