The judgement of history will take a while.
Can I remind all that Harry Truman was considered a failure as president at the time. But historians have given him higher ratings in recent years.
We didn’t know that the Soviet Union and communism in Eastern Europe would collapse on the day that Ronald Reagan left the White House. Yet setting things in motion for that to happen is one of the enduring legacies of Reagan.
And with Bush, we’ll have to see how the middle east and the world situation vs. Islamic terror plays out in the years ahead. If Iraq becomes a peaceful stable country and contributes to stability in the middle east, historians will praise Bush for taking us to war against Saddam, and also invading Afghanistan to go after Al Qaeda. It’s way too soon to judge the place in history of Bush, just as it would have been to soon to judge Reagan on the day he left office.
On the other hand, you can accurately assess failure the day a President leaves office.
I give you: Carter, Jimmeh
Actually, it didn't collapse on the day he left the WH, which was January 20, 1989. The Berlin Wall didn't come down until November 9, 1989. When Gorbachev didn't interfere, that marked the beginning of the collapse of the Soviet Union (although the real beginning could be traced to the success of the Solidarity movement in Poland).