Before we talk about North Korea, let’s talk about the two things Barack Obama and George W. Bush have in common. The first is their respective legacies, which are filled with much more failure than success.

Obama’s positive legacy boils down to America’s first black president — which is no small thing on its own, but it is within the context of a two-term president.

Bush’s legacy is that he kept us safe. In the aftermath of September 11, additional terror attacks were inevitable. Thanks to Bush, they never happened. Again, no small thing.

For both men, though, their tenures are marked by failure after failure.

Bush mismanaged his wars and limped out of office. The triple fumble of Hurricane Katrina, a push for mass amnesty for millions of illegal aliens, and his failure to see the coming collapse of the economy, drove down his approval ratings (and deservedly so) into the 20s. Bush’s other big mistake was his refusal to fight back. Katrina was not his fault. Local Democrats caused that catastrophe. But Bush mistakenly believed it was his Christian duty to turn the other cheek as our media and the Democrats beat him with an ax handle.

Had Obama just gotten out of the way of the economy and done nothing, it would have roared back to life all on its own and Obama could have taken the credit (Bill Clinton was smart enough to do that). Instead, and in countless ways (Obamacare, the constant threat of tax increases, Dodd-Frank), Barry put his boot on the throat of the economy, which resulted in a lost decade.

Overseas, his stunning mismanagement resulted in the rise of ISIS and what I believe will be remembered as the biggest foreign policy debacle of the last hundred years: Libya. I am not even talking about the shame of Benghazi. By toppling Muammar Gaddafi, Obama (and Hillary) removed the cork between Africa and Europe, and due to that catastrophic mistake, millions of refugees who will never assimilate invaded Europe. I fear much of Europe — and, with it, much of Western Civilization — is lost.

The second thing both have in common is that they did things the way you are supposed to do things, the way the establishment expects you to do things, the way the media (who act primarily as behavior enforcers for establishment conformity) demand you do things. And this is why…

…Bush rolled over like a dog while being whipped with a bicycle chain.

…Everyone in the establishment lacked the outside-the-box-thinking to see the coming 2008 financial crisis.

…Obama’s failures and scandals were covered up with an attempt to gaslight the public into accepting this as a New Normal.

…The right track/wrong track number in this country has been upside-down by a massive margin for more than a decade.

Maybe this is too simple, but 1+1=2. In other words, Bush and Obama are failed presidents because they did everything the way you are supposed to do everything.

And so, there we were, stuck in a massive rut, a rut filled with endless rules about how we do things. But those rules were no longer in place to make things better. Rather, they were in place to protect the Rule Makers, to conceal their failures, to keep the tire spinning in a vicious circle that said, Hey, we’re following the rules, so it ain’t us. Welcome to the New Normal, which is as good as it can get because, as you can see, we are following the rules, so it ain’t us. Welcome to the New…

And then along came Trump.

When I looked at that stage of 15 Republican presidential wannabes standing alongside Trump, sure, any one of them would have been an improvement over Obama, but I also saw an extension of 16 years of failure. Those 15 guys were dedicated to proving they were dedicated to the way things are supposed to be done — dedicated to the rut, terrified or too unimaginative to do or suggest anything that might be a violation of the rules and the punishing news cycles that comes with such a heresy.

The “15 Dwarves,” I began to call them. But instead of heigh-ho, heigh-ho, it was free trade, entitlement reform, multilateral, and all the other buzz phrases used to communicate fealty to our unelected Rule Makers in the Deep State and media.

But there in the middle of this generic pack stood this swaggering billionaire who refused to conform (despite media pressure unlike any we have ever seen), who refused to spout the buzz phrases, whose every act telegraphed one all-defining characteristic: Donald Trump is his own man.

I had no idea if Trump was the right man or if he had the right answers. But three things he had exactly right: 1) He took no shit from the media.  2) He loves his country. 3) He’s eager to try something different.

Fast-forward 16 months into Trump’s presidency, 16 months of the failed establishment screaming This is not how you do things, and we are as close to peace and denuclearization on the Korean peninsula as we have ever been.

I realize it could still all fall apart, that North Korea could be conning us to buy time. But Little Rocket Man has ceased flying his little rockets, has declared the war between North and South over, and has come to the table hat in hand. That simply would not have happened had we elected anyone else, because President Anyone Else would have done things the way they are supposed to be done. I am also confident Trump will not pull a Bill Clinton and declare victory with North Korea when there is no victory. Trump is either going to disarm this monster or make his life miserable.

On top of that, our economy is humming and Trump’s additional refusal to follow the rules with respect to the Pious Commandment of Free Trade appears to have resulted in actual concessions that will help our workers, something else we were told could never be done.

All I want for my country is peace and prosperity, and after 16 years of failed wars and economic stagnation, it was obvious that the only way there was through a fearless iconoclast.

Kanye put it best, “Sometimes you need some crazy [bleep] to change something.”

Follow John Nolte on Twitter @NolteNC. Follow his Facebook Page here.