WHEN GEORGE W. BUSH met privately with Senate Republican leaders a few days after Al Gore conceded, he vowed to pursue the same agenda he’d touted in the presidential race: sweeping tax cuts, a defense buildup, education reform with vouchers, faith-based programs, overhaul of Social Security and Medicare. Then, when senators offered their advice, one told Bush that any time he spent conferring with Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle would be time wasted. Daschle, the senator said, was deeply partisan and wants only to ruin Bush’s plans. If Bush disagreed, he didn’t say so.
Two days before his inauguration, Bush showed the same combative, resolute streak during an interview with Brit Hume of Fox News. To Democrats who don’t like his conservative cabinet nominees, Bush’s message was “too bad.” He insisted he won’t jettison any of his agenda in the spirit of bipartisanship. He didn’t win because of his personality. “The truth of the matter is, I am sitting here because of my firm positions on important issues,” Bush said. “And I am not backing off — quite the contrary.”
What to make of this? Only that the cheerful, optimistic, friend-to-all persona that Bush displayed as candidate and president-elect — Bush Nice — is the public side of his political style. The private side is different: tough, demanding, self-confident, impatient. His interview with Hume gave a glimpse of this, but not the whole picture. Bush is more bellicose, more ready to fight, than he lets on. So the question is whether this combination of charm and intensity will produce a successful presidency. A year from now, will he still be seen as a fluke president? The signs are good that he won’t be.
His inaugural address, beautifully written by chief speechwriter Mike Gerson, was the public Bush at his best. He called for unity, sacrifice, service, justice, and opportunity. “We affirm a new commitment to live out our nation’s promise through civility, courage, compassion, and character,” he said. His agenda got short shrift in the speech, a mere five sentences in which he promised to cut taxes and “recover the momentum of our economy.” He spoke vaguely of a military buildup. He also said, “We will confront weapons of mass destruction, so that a new century is spared new horrors” — a reference to deploying a missile defense system.
The way the speech was crafted, however, shows the private Bush at his best. He was focused, insistent, highly organized. He didn’t talk to Gerson about the address until he came to Washington as president-elect in mid-December, six weeks after Election Day. They talked briefly in D.C., then for two hours aboard Bush’s plane as he flew back to Texas.
Bush knew he wanted two things: a big theme (healing the cultural divide) and an indication of what kind of president he aims to be (compassionate conservative). Gerson promised an outline. Minutes later, as Bush left the plane, he demanded, “Where’s the outline?” Gerson returned to his home in Virginia to write the first draft. Bush and close aides tinkered a bit, and the speech was ready five days before Bush’s swearing in.
Bush harbors none of the illusions about Washington his father did. The elder President Bush had gotten along famously with Democrats while serving in Congress in the late 1960s, and thought that if he was nice as president, the Democrats in the House and Senate would reciprocate. The new President Bush believes Democratic leaders such as Daschle are mainly trouble. Bush senior took the support of conservative Republicans for granted. His son courts them. Nor does the new President Bush expect any help from the Washington press corps. (Actually, this is what his father thought, too.) Finally, Bush doesn’t believe he should act like a half-president or “president-select” just because he lost the popular vote and won only with the aid of the U.S. Supreme Court. His view: I may have won only 48 percent of the vote, but I’ve got 100 percent of the presidency.
Bush brims with self-confidence. He laughs at the notion, popular with reporters, that Vice President Dick Cheney will be running the White House. Rather, Cheney will be Bush’s chief agent on Capitol Hill, where he will speak with the full authority of the president. Cheney is said to have reminded Bush how easy it will be to curtail his power. “All you have to do is not call me,” Cheney told Bush.
Two more traits: Bush is more pugnacious than he appears in public, and he has a preference for strong aides who are willing to fight. Bush was ready to jump into the confirmation battle over John Ashcroft for attorney general, but he didn’t think it was necessary. He’s particularly taken with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, whom he didn’t know well beforehand. Bush sees Rumsfeld as a no-nonsense adviser who is strong and knowledgeable enough to carry the fight to increase military spending and install a missile defense system. And Bush presumably recognizes that Rumsfeld will be more than a match for Secretary of State Colin Powell in cabinet squabbles.
From the moment he arrived in Washington three days before his inauguration, Bush was in full demanding mode, first lady Laura Bush told Carl Cameron of Fox News. At Blair House, across Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House, he was welcomed by the imperious woman who runs the place. Would Bush like something to eat? Yes, he said, Fritos. Oh, we don’t have snacks, she answered. A few minutes later, she asked if he’d like a meal. A cheeseburger, he said. Sorry, the cook can’t provide that, she said. Bush was insistent. “Texas,” he said. “Cheeseburger.” Next time he asks, you can bet he’ll get his cheeseburger — pronto.
Fred Barnes is executive editor of THE WEEKLY STANDARD.
