Had Bush fired every single Clinton appointee, as he should have (including the ones who "burrowed into" the Civil Service), it would by now be long forgotten, as were Bill Clinton's firing of the Bush people.
"Had Bush fired every single Clinton appointee"
That was his biggest mistake. He should have sacked everyone of them.
You are missing the point. The ones who "borrowed into" the Civil Service were protected by the law. That's why they glommed onto those jobs during the last months of the CLinton Administration. Had he tried to fire them, there would have been a public outcry from the Rats, possible impeachment, and they still would have remained.