Speeches Are a History of Bush's Ups, Downs

Summary

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WASHINGTON -- Bound together, George W. Bush's State of the Union addresses are a history of the ups and downs of his presidency, of the times he got his way and the times his hopeful oratory was just that.

Last year, Bush implored a skeptical Congress to embrace his plan to send thousands more U.S. troops to Iraq. Despite growing gloom in the country about the war, Democrats failed to stop him or to set deadlines for troop withdrawals. The military buildup went ahead without impediment and is credited with lowering violence in Iraq, at least for now, even as progress in political reconciliation has proved disappointing.

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Extract

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Speeches Are a History of Bush's Ups, Downs

Some of the ideas Bush has pushed in the annual speech have fallen flat and even backfired.

In 2005, he advocated an overhaul of Social Security, saying the program was "headed tow...

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