Here's a way to have a more `successful' Bush term... 2005-2013. Gore actually wins in 2000. 9/11 happens. Gore invades Afghanistan but will not push for the invasion of Iraq, even though many pundits and congressmen are calling for it. Widespread criticism from the left that Gore is invading too much, and from the right that he's invading not enough. The GOP, already steaming because they feel Florida and the White House were stolen from them, feel they can run Bush again, though he faces stiff competition. They see it as divine fate playing out again. Some progressive anti-war candidate runs as an independent, diverting some of Gore's base. Bush wins in a squeaker.
First term, he invades Iraq. Similar to how it played out but quicker, and Iraq is more prepared. A bloody war and still unsuccessful, probably - but this time, it's more like Nixon coming in on Vietnam. He still had time to sell it to the American people, and had it not been for Watergate, Ford probably could have been elected President in his own right in 76.
Also, the economy hits as it does OTL, but with Bush in the helm for only 4 years, the case can be made much stronger that it's the Dems' fault. The Dems' control of Congress is also delayed until 2010, most likely.