GEORGE W. BUSH
(BUSH 43)
The fifth study question asks you to react to the
generalization that, no matter
what one
thinks of Bill Clinton as a statesman, he is certainly a skilled
politician and
a good example of the generalization that nations get the
leaders they
deserve. The same might be said of
both
George W. Bush.
Initially,
at least, George Bush didn’t face the same kind of obstacles
Clinton
did: he
was nowhere near the same kind of long-shot candidate.
He came from a wealthy and powerful family
with plenty of political connections.
Unlike Hillary Clinton, Bush’s wife Laura was a more
traditional
political wife. She had a career of
her
own (first as a 2nd grade teacher, then, after
getting her
MA, as a
librarian), but she focused on more traditional “first lady”
issues
when her
husband became Texas governor (education, literacy, health
issues.) Bush earned his
undergraduate degree at Yale
and an MBA at Harvard. He worked in
the
oil business and, for a time, co-owned the Texas Rangers.
He was an unsuccessful candidate for
congress, but, in 1994, became governor of Texas.
Now
obviously it’s never easy to win the presidency, but Bush had a
big
head
start—with one glaring weakness. Bush
was
a terrible political speaker. It
was
painful to listen to him in the 2000 Republican debates.
Nevertheless, Bush won out over a fairly
impressive field of rivals, largely because the Republicans
needed (as
so
often) a compromise candidate, a man acceptable both to the
conservative
Republicans and to the establishment big-business Republicans.
The
Democrats likewise had something of a compromise candidate: Al
Gore. Gore likewise from an old
established
political family. Initially, he was
one
of those moderate-appearing southern Democrats that Ron Brown
believed
key to
Democratic success at the national level.
Gore was initially a pro-lifer—and his wife ultimately
led a
campaign to
try to tame-down some of the offensive stuff in the
entertainment
industry.
Gore had, of course, the problem that he was Clinton’s VP.
Yet, fortunately for him, the “it’s all about
sex” mantra meant that the scandals of the Clinton
administration
weren’t quite
the weight for him they might have been.
The
2000
election was exceptionally close, with Gore seeming to win the
popular
vote
total (once again, voter fraud was an enormous problem).
As to the electoral college vote—well, that
was a problem. Early on election
night—while the polls were still open in fact—the network news
shows
called
Florida for Gore. But, as the vote
totals
came in, they had to take back the call, and, when the dust had
cleared
in the
morning, it looked like Bush had won a narrow victory in FL and
the
presidency.
The
close
vote triggered an automatic recount.
Bush still came out ahead, but be an even narrower
margin. And so we were in for more
recounts—and, for
days and days, it wasn’t clear who the president was going to
be. Not until December 9—more than
a month
later—did the Supreme Court finally end the battle.
The Democrats were angry—and afraid.
The
Republicans controlled both houses
of
congress and the presidency—by slim margins, to be sure.
The senate was 50-50 with VP Dick Cheney the
tie-breaker vote. But it was a
scary
situation for the democrats and liberals in general—and we had a
situation very
much like the Hayes/Tilden aftermath.
There was going to be no honeymoon for this president!
Angry
Clinton
staffers even removed the “W’s” from keyboards in the Whitehouse
before
they
left!
Bush
responded very graciously. Here’s
his
inaugural address:
http://www.bartleby.com/124/pres66.html
Note
what
could have happened. Bush and the
Republicans now had the ability to investigate all the scandals
of the
Clinton
years—but they didn’t. Why not? Statesmanship? Other
priorities? Who knows?
In
any case,
the situation soon became considerably less scary for the
Democrats. On May 24, one
Republican senator, Jim
Jeffords, decided to jump ship—and the Republicans were in the
minority
once
again. Dems and Republicans would
have
to work together. A good thing? Not necessarily.
Bush
worked
with Jim Jeffords, Ted Kennedy and others to draft the No Child
Left Behind
Act. Sometimes, the only thing I
like
less that the disputes between are political parties is the
times when
they are
on the same page!
But
then:
the game-changer. September 11,
2001—a
terrorist attack directly on the United States.
Here was the big challenge of the Bush presidency: how
would he
respond?
Well,
the
best defense if a good offensive—and Bush went on the offensive,
but in
an
unusual way.
October
7,
2001—Operation Enduring Freedom. We
sent
troops to Afghanistan—and, in an amazingly short time, we had
the
Taliban on
the run.
Opinions
of
Bush changed drastically. His
speeches
during this period were extraordinarily well received, and
presiding
over a
military victory—well, it’s not hard to see why Bush,
all-of-a-sudden
went from
the approval gutter to the stratosphere.
And this led to something very unusual.
In midterm elections, a president’s party almost always
loses
seats. This time, the Republicans
gained
2 senate seats and 8 house seats—control of the senate again!
Naturally
enough, Bush followed up a sort-of electoral mandate with more
of the
same..
November
25,
2002—Homeland Security. We
established a
new government agencies to coordinate all efforts to identify
potential
terrorists and protect the Home front.
March
19,
2003—Operation Iraqi Freedom. We
invaded
Iraq and, in short order, Saddam Hussein’s government fell.
Looking
good
for Bush, and, in 2004 he won re-election over his Dem opponent
John
Kerry—while
the republicans gained 3 more senate seats and 4 house seats.
But
the left
still controlled one branch of government—the press.
And, just as with Nixon, the media began
hammering away, throwing everything they could at Bush—enough
negatives
that, in
2006, the Republicans lost 31 seats in the House—making Nancy
Pelosi
the
speaker—and the senate as well, with the Dems getting s slim
51-49
margin.
And
the
press continued to hammer away at Bush.
[Lecture
sometimes includes
material from on old “Thoughts on Bush” sheet that details the
may
complaints the press had about Bush and labeled
scandals. Most of
these were policy differences rather than charges of
corruption or
other wrong-doing. ]
Many
of the attacks on Bush were unfair, the Valerie Plame "scandal"
for
instance. Day after day of press coverage--and, in the
end, it
turns out that there was no wrong-doing at all.
More
legitimate were the complaints that Bush and his Republican
allies in
congress were abandoning the conservative economic principles
that had
got them elected. I once spoke at a political gathering
where I
complained about congressional Republicans spending like drunked
sailors. Afterward, a military vet told me I had been
unfair--to
drunken sailors. A sailor might was an entire paycheck on
a
drinking spree, but, when the money was gone, that was it.
Couldn't just keep drinking and pile up debts on someone else's
tab! Those Republicans that later morphed into the Tea
Party were
especially disgusted by Republican pork-barrel spending, and,
when you
alienate a core constitutiency, that's going to creat problems.
But,
when
all is said and done, I think the problem for Bush, in part, is
the
closing
number. In theater, the keys to a
memorable performance are a great first number that gets the
audience
hooked,
and a great closing number that sends them home with smiles on
their
faces and
a song in their hearts. 2008 turned
out
to be a not-so-good final song.
The problem, this time, really was the economy. Collapsing housing prices and unpaid mortgage liabilities led to a potential disaster in the banking industry that was already sending ripples across the entire economy. Bush’s first response to the initial economic slowdown was to push through Congress a stimulus package that sent $500 to taxpayers directly. Didn’t do any good. And then we ended up with a real crisis—and Bush and the Democrats in Congress responded with TARP—the toxic assets relief program--$750 billion to bailout the banks, etc. Now the majority of Dems voted for TARP, the majority of Republicans against it. But the Republicans got the blame because the president was a Republican—and Bush set the stage for some real difficulties for his party in 2008.