The Presidency of George H. W. Bush: Second Edition, Revised

391 Pages·2015·2.67 MB·English

by  John Robert Greene

The Presidency of
GEORGE H. W.
BUSH
AMERICAN PRESIDENCY SERIES
Clifford S. Griffin, Donald R. McCoy, and Homer E. Socolofsky, Founding Editors
George Washington, Forrest McDonald
John Adams, Ralph Adams Brown
Thomas Jefferson, Forrest McDonald
James Madison, Robert Allen Rutland
James Monroe, Noble E. Cunningham, Jr.
John Quincy Adams, Mary W. M. Hargreaves
Andrew Jackson, Donald B. Cole
Martin Van Buren, Major L. Wilson
William Henry Harrison & John Tyler, Norma Lois Peterson
James K. Polk, Paul H. Bergeron
Zachary Taylor & Millard Fillmore, Elbert B. Smith
Franklin Pierce, Larry Gara
James Buchanan, Elbert B. Smith
Abraham Lincoln, Phillip Shaw Paludan
Andrew Johnson, Albert Castel
Rutherford B. Hayes, Ari Hoogenboom
James A. Garfield & Chester A. Arthur, Justus D. Doenecke
Grover Cleveland, Richard E. Welch, Jr.
Benjamin Harrison, Homer B. Socolofsky & Allan B. Spetter
William McKinley, Lewis L. Gould
William Howard Taft, Lewis L. Gould
Theodore Roosevelt, Second Edition, Lewis L. Gould
Woodrow Wilson, Kendrick A. Clements
Warren G. Harding, Eugene P. Trani & David L. Wilson
Calvin Coolidge, Robert H. Ferrell
Herbert C. Hoover, Martin L. Fausold
Harry S. Truman, Donald R. McCoy
Dwight D. Eisenhower, Second Edition,
Chester J. Pach, Jr., & Elmo Richardson
John F. Kennedy, Second Edition, James N. Giglio
Lyndon B. Johnson, Vaughn Davis Bornet
Richard Nixon, Melvin Small
Gerald R. Ford, John Robert Greene
James Earl Carter, Jr., Second Edition,
Burton I. Kaufman & Scott Kaufman
George H. W. Bush, Second Edition, Revised and Expanded,
John Robert Greene
The Presidency of
GEORGE H. W.
BUSH
SECOND EDITION, REVISED AND EXPANDED
John Robert Greene
UNIVERSITY PRESS OF KANSAS
© 2015 by the University Press of Kansas
All rights reserved
Published by the University Press of Kansas (Lawrence, Kansas 66045), which
was organized by the Kansas Board of Regents and is operated and funded by
Emporia State University, Fort Hays State University, Kansas State University,
Pittsburg State University, the University of Kansas, and Wichita State University
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Greene, John Robert, 1955–
The presidency of George H. W. Bush / John Robert Greene. — Revised and expanded
edition.
pages cm. — (American presidency series)
Previous edition has title The presidency of George Bush.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-7006-2079-1 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-7006-2080-7 (ebook)
1. United States—Politics and government—1989–1993. 2. Bush, George, 1924–
I. Greene, John Robert, 1955– Presidency of George Bush. II. Title.
E881.G74 2015
973.928092—dc23
2015004158
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data is available.
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
The paper used in this publication is recycled and contains 30 percent postconsumer
waste. It is acid free and meets the minimum requirements of the American National
Standard for Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials Z39.48-1992.
For Patty, T. J., Christopher, and Mary Rose
And for my parents, Peg and Jack Greene

CONTENTS
Acknowledgments ix
Foreword xiii
1. “One Should Serve His Country” 1
2. “Jugular Politics” 29
3. “The Untouchables” 53
4. Domestic Policies 71
5. Paying for Reaganomics 95
6. “Enlightened Realism” and the End of the Cold War 107
7. Desert Shield 139
8. Desert Storm 163
9. President Bush 179
10. “The Situation Is About as Bad as It Can Be” 193
11. “The President Should Have Fired Us All” 215
12. The “F.L.F.W.” 237
Notes 261
Bibliographical Essay 321
Index 347
vii

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
A noted author once observed that acknowledgment pages in books
had grown so lengthy that soon writers would be thanking anyone who
had provided them with a paper clip. Perhaps. But writers understand
that they succeed only because caring people looked past their often
unreasonable demands, fits of impatience, and desire for perfection. I
am grateful to everyone who passed on ideas, suggestions, and encour-
agement—and, in general, put up with me—over the ten years it took to
research and write the first edition of this book.
Bright young minds, refusing to accept a shoddy phrase or idea,
blow a fresh breeze across the pages of a developing manuscript. I have
profited more than I can repay from the ideas of my undergraduate stu-
dents in history and government at Cazenovia College. Students in my
various classes and seminars—particularly those on the Modern Ameri-
can Presidency—have heard pieces of this work. I have utilized with
great profit the research essays of Jennifer Cross, Amber Dusenberry,
and Debora Hall, and I am also grateful for the research help of Chris-
tine Caffrey, Esther Day, Wendy Frias, Kelly Hegedus, Jennifer Hull, and
Erin Karasik. Particular thanks are due to Matthew Antonino, who has
served as a valued critic, sounding board, and friend for the past four
years.
All members of the faculty and staff at Cazenovia College consis-
tently show patience and give their support to any colleague who is
ix
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
undertaking the development of a major project. Every day, I am grate-
ful for their collegiality and encouragement. I am particularly grateful
to President Adelaide Van Titus, Dean of the College Michael Fishbein,
and Assistant Dean Timothy McLaughlin. I am also grateful for the col-
lege’s financial assistance, as I could not have completed the research
for this book without help from the Cazenovia College Faculty Develop-
ment Fund.
The George Bush Presidential Library, located on the campus of
Texas A&M University in College Station, is the newest addition to the
National Archives’ Presidential Library System. Many of its treasures,
as I have noted in the bibliographical essay, have yet to be opened for
scholarly perusal. Nevertheless, its facility is state of the art, and its staff
are first-rate, extending themselves to the researcher far beyond the call
of duty. I am grateful to Library Director David Alsobrook and to Kate
Dillon, Mary Finch, Warren Finch, John Laster, and Debbie Wheeler for
their help and good humor. Many other archivists and librarians have
helped me. Special thanks are due to Diane Barrie of the Ronald Reagan
Presidential Library; Geir Gunderson, David Horrocks, and William
McNitt of the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library; Stanley Kozaczka of
the Cazenovia College Library; and Carol Leadenham of the Hoover
Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace.
Former president George H. W. Bush was gracious enough to
take time out of his busy schedule to be interviewed for this book. I
am also grateful to the many other members of his administration,
and administration-watchers, who talked with me: James A. Baker III,
David Bates, Phillip D. Brady, Douglas A. Brook, Andrew H. Card Jr.,
Richard B. Cheney, David F. Demarest, Edward Derwinski, Geraldine
Ferraro, Barbara Hackman Franklin, C. Boyden Gray, Robert R. Green,
Donald P. Gregg, Robert T. Hartmann, Dr. Daniel R. Heimbach, Ronald
C. Kaufman, James R. Lilley, Frederic V. Malek, Edward N. Ney, Sean
O’Keefe, Michael A. Poling, Rob Portman, Sig Rogich, General Brent
Scowcroft, Hugh Sidey, John Sununu, Carol Trimble, Chase Untermeyer,
William Webster, and Clayton Yeutter. I also am thankful for the input
of those individuals who preferred not to have their names listed here.
Without breaking that confidentiality, I have used many of their ideas
and insights to corroborate my own thoughts; their anonymity does not
diminish the importance of their contribution to this book.
Since 1982, the Hofstra University Cultural Center, in conjunction
with the Departments of History and Political Science of that institu-
tion, has put on a series of extraordinary conferences dealing with the
x