Actually, it wasn't. The two dips during President Bush's terms were mild compared to some we've had and the gains were some of the strongest. Just because the media and politicians called it the 'worst economy in 50 years' doesn't make it so. You can't argue with the math.
Bush inherited the Clinton/Greenspan recession (the one republicans weren’t allowed to talk about because it was caused by us talking about it...sarc)
and then after 9 months in office, he and Cheney steered our nation and our economy through the worst domestic attack since Pearl Harbor, right in the heart of our nation’s financial center
Oh, and our last REAL MAN of a president took the battle against terror to the terrorists’ sandboxes instead of ours
and also talked India and Pakistan out of nuking each other over terror attacks in Kashmir
Miss Him Yet?
YEAH Baby!