2007年VOA标准英语-Political Opposition to America's Wartime Presi

By Peter Fedynsky
Washington, D.C.
22 January 2007
 
watch War Presidency¹ report

President Bush's State of the Union address on Tuesday will be delivered at a joint² session of Congress, where a majority now opposes his call for a troop increase in Iraq.  Mr. Bush recognizes his plan is not popular, but he insists that presidents must often make difficult choices.  VOA's Peter Fedynsky looks at some of America's wartime presidents and how military results determined³ their standing⁴ in history.

 
President Bush delivers a speech to troops and their families at Fort Benning, 11 Jan 2007
George W. Bush is hardly the first president to face stiff political opposition⁵ for his war plans.  President Lincoln was opposed -- even by members of his own party following setbacks in the first years of the U.S. Civil War.  Early difficulties during World War II prompted calls for U.S. isolationism in opposition to President Roosevelt's decision to fight Nazi⁶ aggression⁷.

American University history professor Allan Lichtman says President Bush is being criticized today for the same reason as Lyndon Johnson was during the Vietnam War. "Increasing the troop levels and pursing a war that seemed to have no clear objectives and no end."

President Bush says the mission in Iraq is clear: to create a democracy in the Middle East and to protect America against terrorism.  But public opinion polls indicate about 70 percent of surveyed Americans disapprove⁸ of Mr. Bush's handling of the war.  And some critics predict he will go down in history as one of America's worst presidents. 

Mr. Bush, America's 43rd chief executive, seems unconcerned. "Everybody is trying to write the history of this administration even before it's over. I'm reading about [President] George Washington still. My attitude is, if they're still analyzing⁹ number 1, [number] 43 [Mr. Bush] ought not to worry about it and just do what he thinks is right."

Historically, success has often vindicated¹⁰ unpopular presidential war plans.  President James K. Polk's war against Mexico in 1846 was opposed by nearly half of the U.S. population.  But victory brought annexation¹¹ of what are now the states of California, Arizona and New Mexico, and also … public approval.

More than a century ago, President William McKinley benefited from victory in the Spanish-American War after initial criticism that he launched the war under false pretenses¹².

 
Stephen Hess
But Stephen Hess, a scholar at the Brookings Institution think tank in Washington, D.C. says military defeat can damage a president's legacy¹³. "If you have a war like Vietnam, it's very hard to turn it into a victory.  And those presidents who were most closely identified with it, primarily Lyndon Johnson and then Richard Nixon, have to bear the brunt of being a president during a losing war."

President Bush rejects proposals to withdraw U.S. forces and accuses the opposition of forgetting the persistence¹⁴ of Presidents Franklin Roosevelt during World War II and Harry¹⁵ Truman during the Korean War.  Both were Democrats¹⁶.

"The Democrats offer nothing but criticism and obstruction¹⁷, and endless second-guessing,” said Mr. Bush. “The party of FDR and the party of Harry Truman has become the party of cut-and-run."

 
Allan Lichtman
Professor Lichtman notes that Truman left office with a 23 percent approval rating at a time when communists fought America to a stalemate in Korea and seemed on the march elsewhere.  President Bush says the Truman presidency has been vindicated by history.  But Allan Lichtman says President Bush is misreading it. 

"Truman's policy of containment¹⁸, of keeping the communist empire confined within its boundaries – not being too provocative¹⁹, not necessarily using military means is quite different from what George Bush is pursuing in Iraq, which is essentially²⁰ an attempt to use military means not only to overturn a regime but to utterly²¹ reconstruct a country."

Professor Stephen Hess notes that public assessments²² of former presidents often change when their papers are eventually declassified²³ and provide insights into once unpopular decisions.  And Professor Lichtman adds that victory in Iraq would improve President Bush's standing more quickly.

1 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

2 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

3 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

4 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

5 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

6 Nazi   

n.纳粹分子，adj.纳粹党的，纳粹的

参考例句：

• They declare the Nazi regime overthrown and sue for peace.他们宣布纳粹政权已被推翻，并出面求和。
• Nazi closes those war criminals inside their concentration camp.纳粹把那些战犯关在他们的集中营里。

7 aggression   

n.进攻，侵略，侵犯，侵害

参考例句：

• So long as we are firmly united, we need fear no aggression.只要我们紧密地团结，就不必惧怕外来侵略。
• Her view is that aggression is part of human nature.她认为攻击性是人类本性的一部份。

8 disapprove   

v.不赞成，不同意，不批准

参考例句：

• I quite disapprove of his behaviour.我很不赞同他的行为。
• She wants to train for the theatre but her parents disapprove.她想训练自己做戏剧演员，但她的父母不赞成。

9 analyzing   

v.分析；分析( analyze的现在分词 )；分解；解释；对…进行心理分析n.分析

参考例句：

• Analyzing the date of some socialist countries presents even greater problem s. 分析某些社会主义国家的统计数据，暴露出的问题甚至更大。 来自辞典例句
• He undoubtedly was not far off the mark in analyzing its predictions. 当然，他对其预测所作的分析倒也八九不离十。 来自辞典例句

10 vindicated   

v.澄清（某人/某事物）受到的责难或嫌疑( vindicate的过去式和过去分词 )；表明或证明（所争辩的事物）属实、正当、有效等；维护

参考例句：

• I have every confidence that this decision will be fully vindicated. 我完全相信这一决定的正确性将得到充分证明。
• Subsequent events vindicated the policy. 后来的事实证明那政策是对的。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 annexation   

n.吞并，合并

参考例句：

• He mentioned the Japanese annexation of Korea in 1910 .他提及1910年日本对朝鲜的吞并。
• I regard the question of annexation as belonging exclusively to the United States and Texas.我认为合并的问题，完全属于德克萨斯和美国之间的事。

12 pretenses   

n.借口（pretense的复数形式）

参考例句：

• They obtained money under the false pretenses of patriotism. 他们以虚伪的爱国主义为借口获得金钱。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He obtained money from her under false pretenses. 他巧立名目从她那儿骗钱。 来自辞典例句

13 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

14 persistence   

n.坚持，持续，存留

参考例句：

• The persistence of a cough in his daughter puzzled him.他女儿持续的咳嗽把他难住了。
• He achieved success through dogged persistence.他靠着坚持不懈取得了成功。

15 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

16 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 obstruction   

n.阻塞，堵塞；障碍物

参考例句：

• She was charged with obstruction of a police officer in the execution of his duty.她被指控妨碍警察执行任务。
• The road was cleared from obstruction.那条路已被清除了障碍。

18 containment   

n.阻止，遏制；容量

参考例句：

• Your list might include such things as cost containment,quality,or customer satisfaction.你的清单上应列有诸如成本控制、产品质量、客户满意程度等内容。
• Insularity and self-containment,it is argued,go hand in hand.他们争论说，心胸狭窄和自我封闭是并存的。

19 provocative   

adj.挑衅的，煽动的，刺激的，挑逗的

参考例句：

• She wore a very provocative dress.她穿了一件非常性感的裙子。
• His provocative words only fueled the argument further.他的挑衅性讲话只能使争论进一步激化。

20 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

21 utterly   

adv.完全地，绝对地

参考例句：

• Utterly devoted to the people,he gave his life in saving his patients.他忠于人民，把毕生精力用于挽救患者的生命。
• I was utterly ravished by the way she smiled.她的微笑使我完全陶醉了。

22 assessments   

n.评估( assessment的名词复数 )；评价；（应偿付金额的）估定；（为征税对财产所作的）估价

参考例句：

• He was shrewd in his personal assessments. 他总能对人作出精明的评价。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Surveys show about two-thirds use such assessments, while half employ personality tests. 调查表明，约有三分之二的公司采用了这种测评；而一半的公司则采用工作人员个人品质测试。 来自百科语句

23 declassified   

adj.解密的v.对（机密文件等）销密( declassify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Thousands of classified documents have now been declassified. 数以千计的保密文件现在被解密了。
• The software used for Siemens S7-300 encryption logic block declassified. 此软件用于对西门子S7-300加密逻辑块解密。