A President's Legacy, With All Its Complications
Not all listeners hear the right mix, as NPR balances Bush plaudits and criticism
All world leaders and high-profile public figures leave behind complicated legacies, even the great ones. For three major deaths in a row (former President George H.W. Bush, Sen. John McCain and religious leader Billy Graham) the Ombudsman Office has heard from unhappy listeners who feel NPR's coverage has skewed toward the laudatory, while overlooking flaws in the person's legacy.
If you look back in the archives at NPR's coverage of Bush — as former CIA director, Reagan vice president and 41 president — I'm certain it would show that NPR explored at the time many more of the criticisms than it has in the days following his death last Friday. That's logical and appropriate. One of the functions of
