It was Clinton who refused to get Ben Laden, after our embassies in Africa had been attacked, not Bush.
The Clintons for years treated terrorist as a law enforcement responsibility and wanted to try Ben Laden. Just like the rest of the Dems do now. They want to give terrorists Constitutional Rights, and treat enemy combatants (not in uniform) as criminals, not terrorists.
Both Clinton and Bush failed to get bin Laden, but the BIGGIE was when our troops in Afghanistan, there specifically to go after bin Laden, were told to stand down when they had him located in the Afghan mountains. While Bush was wringing his hands about the political fallout of getting him, bin Laden slipped into Pakistan.