I simply respect Bush because he is President and he's been a great figurehead during this whole bit, I do not agree with his politics and I do feel he gained the presidency through shady means.
I do not credit him with any post-September 11th successes as President, however. He is surrounded by two of the most brilliant people regarding the Middle East and our role there, Ms. Rice and Gen. Powell. This reminds me of a talk I heard given by a Planned Parenthood doctor regarding the fact that reproductive rights were in such jeopardy, "Bush may be personally stupid, but he has surrounded himelf by some of the smartest people in American politics." It's not HIM I'm impressed by (or scared of), it's the people with whom he does business.