Panorama of a Presidency: How George W. Bush Acquired and Spent His Political Capital

209 Pages·2008·2.3 MB·English

by  Steven E. Schier

P a n o r a m a
o f a
P r e s i d e n c y

P a n o r a m a
o f a
P r e s i d e n c y

How GeorGe w . BusH
Acquired And spent His
politic Al cApit Al
steven e. schier
M.E.Sharpe
Armonk, New York
London, England
Copyright © 2009 by M.E. Sharpe, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form
without written permission from the publisher, M.E. Sharpe, Inc.,
80 Business Park Drive, Armonk, New York 10504.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Schier, Steven E.
Panorama of a presidency : how George W. Bush acquired and spent his political capital /
by Steven E. Schier.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-: 978-0-7656-1692-0 (cloth : alk. paper)
1. United States—Politics and government—2001– 2. United States—Foreign relations—
2001- 3. Bush, George W. (George Walker), 1946– 4. Political capital—United States—
History—21st century. I. Title.
E902.S425 2009
973.931092—dc22 2008024989

Printed in the United States of America
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of
American National Standard for Information Sciences
Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials,
ANSI Z 39.48-1984.
~
BM (c) 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Dedicated to six people who have taught me much about American
politics—
Jonathan Rauch
Larry Jacobs
John F. Harris
Barry Casselman
John McConnell
Tom Hauser

Contents
Preface ix
1. the Presidency 3
2. Public Politics 29
3. Washington Governance 60
4. Domestic Policy 95
5. Foreign Policy 125
6. Legacies 158
Appendix 165
Bibliography 173
Index 191
About the Author 198
vii

PREFACE
Analyzing a contemporary presidency is no easy task. One is confronted with
mountains of information and opinion through which one must trudge. Too
much information, a common affliction nowadays, is as problematic as too
little. In my efforts, I have been guided by the advice of Arthur Conan Doyle’s
Sherlock Holmes: “It is of the highest importance in the art of detection
to be able to recognize out of a number of facts which are incidental and
which vital. Otherwise your energy and attention must be dissipated instead
of being concentrated” (The Adventure of the Reigate Squire). The reader can
judge my success at identifying and analyzing the vital facts of the George
W. Bush presidency.
My thanks go to the Faculty Grants Committee, President Robert Oden,
and Dean Scott Bierman of Carleton College for granting me the time and
financial support to finish this book. I also profited immensely from the op-
portunity to conduct Carleton’s off-campus program in Washington in 2001,
2004, and 2007, when I was able to conduct many interviews and much useful
research for this project. My student research assistants—Andrew Kaufman,
Adam Smith, and Jill Rodde—provided invaluable help in bringing this project
to fruition. Several political scientists who read and commented on earlier
versions of this work, particularly Charles O. Jones, Justin S. Vaughn, and Ray
La Raja, deserve my thanks. My colleagues in the Carleton political science
department proved unfailingly supportive of my efforts. Patricia Kolb and
her staff at M.E. Sharpe publishers have been able stewards of this project.
My family—Mary, Teresa, and Anna—are due my greatest thanks for their
abundant support and encouragement as I followed the many ups and downs
of George W. Bush’s time in the White House.
ix