This Bush family doctrine of post presidential politeness is handing Dems the keys to the revisionist bulldozer.
Think about the last Republican presidencies...Nixon, Ford, Reagan, Bush, Bush. No one wanted to defend the Nixon/Ford presidencies. At the end of his second term, Reagan was done with politics and GHWB was a reluctant defender of Reagan's policies. Clinton quickly learned he could say anything about his predecessor, and nothing would happen. The press will repeat any accusation a Dem makes, and as long as the Bushes maintain their family policy of remaining "above the fray", Obama's absurd claims about the economy, and the Pelosi budget he inherited, are morphing into revised history.
I think you're forgetting about Carter. The press did not like him much toward the end of his term.
We have a long way to go with Obama and much of the thrill is already gone. It seems to me you take a fairly short view of history.